And to think the USAToday just named Lawrence Yun one of the most accruate economists in America. I guess there were only five economists in America.

Click on the graphic to see the detail

Thanks to David at bubblemeter and lawrenceyunwatch for putting this one together. Picture is worth 1000 bad forecasts...

WTF??!! Special from LawrenceYunWatch: USA Today Names Lawrence Yun as Top Economic Forecaster

Special HP guest post from David, my partner in crime over at LawrenceYunWatch. And no, this is not an April Fool's joke. It's the real deal. And The USAToday is now the biggest joke in print media.

Take a minute and send this post to the USAToday with your comments - just hit the little envelope sign below this post to forward it

To report corrections and clarifications, contact USAToday Reader Editor Brent Jones at 1-800-872-7073 or e-mail accuracy@usatoday.com

- Keith


The USA Today named Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors as its fifth top economic forecaster.

The National Association of Realtors(R) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun has been named among the top 10 economic forecasters by USA Today. Yun is ranked fifth on the list and is responsible for NAR's real estate statistics and economic forecasting. The annual list recognizes accuracy in forecasting.

I'm honored to be recognized among some of the best economists in the country," said Yun. "The economy and housing industry are facing many challenging issues at this time, which makes this an interesting and stimulating position

USA Today certainly did not do its homework. Have they read the Lawrence Yun Watch?

In September 2005 Yun predicted "The chance of a housing price decline in the DC area is close to zero, in my view. I anticipate that prices in DC will outpace the national average price growth. DC prices will rise at close to a 7 to 10 % rate of appreciation. "

As we know prices have declined significantly in the DC area since Yun's wrong prediction. According to the S&P Case Shiller Index, since September 2005 DC area prices have fallen 8.4%.Do not trust Lawrence Yun.

Yun even recently admitted that "It is also fine for people to point the finger at me. In a fast changing market conditions, I too have been off on my forecast."

The general public and media need to be aware of his spins, predictions that have proven very wrong, and his contradictory statements. Mr Yun is a paid spinner who has lost his credibility. The USA Today should be ashamed of its shoddy work.

HousingPANIC calls for the firing of the NAR's "chief economist" Lawrence Yun

But hey, I'm not holding my breath.

Everyone by now knows that Lawrence Yun, and before him David Lereah, are completely and totally discredited by now. The MSM should never print one quote from this paid liar without first stating "Lawrence Yun, who is paid to lie by the NAR, ..."

Well, even Lawrence Yun is having to deal with the reality that housing is in the early days of a historic and epic crash. And even though just a few days ago he put out a report that 2008 would be rosy, today the NAR did an about-face and admitted that 2008 is gonna suck.

Although their definition of "suck" is still nowhere near reality. You have economists predicting a 25% decline in prices and the NAR is saying 1.2%.

Yeah, good luck with that.

realtors and the NAR are now beyond hope. The realtor profession is dead, it is discredited, it is disrespected and it is destroyed. And the NAR represents the very worst of the profession - corrupt, lying and anti-American.

F*ck the NAR. F*ck Lawrence Yun. And f*ck the realtors. The jig is up.

Home prices set to slide in '08 - National Association of Realtors pulls back on outlook and forecasts second consecutive annual decline in prices and sales

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In a fresh sign that the nation's housing crisis will worsen, home prices are likely to decline in 2008 for the second straight year, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

"We're seeing a pattern that is consistent with skimming along the bottom of the cycle, and sales could ease modestly," said Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, in a statement.

So Lawrence Yun, the discredited "chief economist" of the NAR, reads HousingPANIC and LawrenceYunWatch. OK, we have a message for him...

This is gonna be a bit direct, so sorry HP'ers, but it is deserved, and it is our responsibility:

LAWRENCE YUN, GO F*CK YOURSELF.

Shall I go on? Ok.

Lawrence Yun, you go to work every day and do evil. You help ruin lives. Your parents are likely ashamed of you. Your college professors wonder where they went wrong.

Just stop. Be a man. Quit the NAR tomorrow. Come clean. You'll make MILLIONS by doing the right thing, turning against the evildoers at the NAR, versus the thousands you're making today on their leash. You'll be the star of the 2008 Senate Hearings (instead of "I'll take the fifth"). You'll do your family proud. You'll regain your humanity. You'll do good.

Or not.

Seriously, Lawrence, life is too short to be a stooge, a pawn, a hack, a conman, a liar. Life is too short to be the paid shill of the most evil and disrespected organization in America today. Life is too short to spin lies for realtors. Life is too short to be Lawrence Yun. I truly want you to see the evil you're doing in your life, and step away from the dark side. Seriously, Lawrence. Join the forces of good. Send me a note. Quit your job. Be a man.

Meanwhile, HP'ers, here's the latest evil-doing from the man himself, care of Diana's blog at CNBC, followed by his lies to the media earlier today. God, I hope this person finds truth, reason and a sense of purpose. What hell it must be to be Lawrence Yun. Please join me in sending your personal messages to Lawrence Yun, and his masters at the NAR.

Lawrence Yun: "I'm glad we are living in a free society where we have the right for the bloggers to blog and have fun at it. So it's great that people can blog.

In terms of the forecast, we have revised down our forecast based upon all the fresh information that arrives in the latest month and as a result we think it's responsible to modify the forecast incorporating new information.

We have revised down our forecast by, I believe, by 8 straight months according to some bloggers. I have never kept track of it. I just try to make the most accurate forecasts, but because of this information I have been tracking the blue chip forecast on the housing starts, they don't have a forecast for the home sales, but on the blue chip which is comprised of Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and many others, and they have revised down their housing forecasts for 20 straight months.

The fact that NAR is getting a lot of publicity, that's all good for us that people are paying attention to what we are saying, but just factual information, I think everyone from Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs they are revising down their housing market forecast."

And here's the infuriating lies and disinformation Lawrence Yun was forced to put out by the NAR earlier today:

As bleak as the data are, the fundamentals of the market don't support a further decline in sales, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, who said low mortgage rates and job growth should keep sales from falling. While the subprime mortgage market has disappeared, the Federal Housing Administration is picking up its lending.

"I don't anticipate any further major sales declines," Yun said. However, the NAR didn't anticipate the sales declines of the past two years, and it's been predicting a bottom nearly every month since early 2006.

If sales do continue to fall because of negative market psychology aided by "sensationalized" news reporting, "it would be a major concern" and "would raise the risk of an economic recession," Yun said.