FLASH: The Corrupt David Lereah (TCDL) finally admits he f*cked up, housing bubble did exist, crash now underway

That's it folks. Put a fork in it. The housing bubble is dead, and even TCDL (sure miss the little guy eh?) now admits he was spewing lies.

HP note to TCDL: Your lies and spin ruined lives. You are a shameful, corrupt little man who knowingly enriched himself at the expense of America. History will not be kind to you or to your replacement stooge Lawrence Yun.

Perhaps the most prominent housing booster was David Lereah, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors until April. In 2005, he published a book titled, “Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?” In 2006, it was updated and rereleased as “Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust.” This year, Mr. Lereah published a new book, “All Real Estate Is Local.”

In an interview, Mr. Lereah, now an executive at Move Inc., which operates a real estate Web site, acknowledged he had gotten it wrong, saying he did not fully realize how loose lending standards had become and how quickly they would tighten up again this summer. But he argued that many of his critics have also been proved wrong, because they were bearish as early as 2002.

“The bears were bears way too early, and the bulls were bulls too late,” he said. “You need to know when you are straying from fundamentals. It’s hard, when you are in the middle of the storm, to know.”

The Corrupt David Lereah's lies and distortion blamed on his sunny personality

The excuse Blanche Evans, Realty Times Deceiver in Chief, gave for TCDL's lies are especially galling, blaming his distortions on his having a "sunny personality". For all I know TCDL is a nice sunny guy. But that doesn't excuse the lies and deception, and doesn't excuse the horrific mess he personally helped create. TCDL helped ruin lives folks. What TCDL did was evil.

And Miss Evans, a note for your reference, REAL economists don't lie, distort and deceive. They use theories and evidence to try to come to understandings and the truth.

FAKE economists, like whoever the NAR employs, are paid liars who manipulate data to fool the American people into thinking it's always a great time to pay a real estate clerk a commission.

Have you no shame?

Meanwhile, nice to see Reuters pick up on David at davidlereahwatch. I'm tellin' ya, the NAR and realtors around the country probably have "how can we silence the bubble blogs" meetings. And they know their days are up, because they can't.

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The economist who prodded investors into the U.S. housing boom and has been skewered by bloggers during the bust is leaving a top real estate trade association, the group said Monday.

Still, others excoriate the former bank regulator and economist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for maintaining a rosy outlook on the home market even while the demand for homes has evaporated.


One blog, David Lereah Watch, cites passages from Lereah's books and his encouraging words about the housing market and asks him to "admit he cheerleaded this destructive housing bubble."


In October, Lereah said that he expected "sales activity to pick up early next year." In recent months, Lereah has pushed his expectations for recovery deeper into 2007 and has trimmed his forecast for home sales for the year

Blanche Evans, the editor of Realty Times, an online magazine for real estate professionals, said Lereah's outlook for the market is a reflection of his sunny disposition.

"That is part of his personality. He is one of the most bright and energetic people but that does not mean that he's a Pollyanna," said Evans, author of "Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money in ANY Real Estate Market."

NAR to put out used home sales report tomorrow. Watch The Corrupt David Lereah spin his ass off

Don't be snowed when The Corrupt David Lereah spins the horrific drop in home sales by comparing March to February, when any idiot knows the real and only comparison is March 2007 vs. March 2006.

Watch the clueless and complicit MSM go with the March vs. February number. Also watch the MSM not question the median price number, which doesn't include incentives and cash back.

And watch the MSM take TCDL's "it was the weather" excuse and tell the frightened masses that "it appears we're bottoming", even though unsold and unwanted inventory will be soaring to close to a year's supply in many markets.

Regardless of the lies, deception and spin, the numbers tomorrow are going to be truly horrific. Even the NAR won't be able to hide the truth (spin as they may).

A HousingPANIC Message for the REALTORS (ramen-eating real estate clerks) of America

I'm baaaaccckkk... Now where do I even begin? Here's one for starters, a thought for our real estate clerk friends.

Dear REALTORS of America,

It has come to our attention that unsold home inventory is at record levels, with more and more homes are being put on the market every week, and we're just getting started. This is called "exploding supply".

It also appears that home sales velocity has plummeted, as people have come to realize that you and the NAR were lying, and that real estate values can fall. People aren't buying anymore (even if they could - thank you subprime implosion), since the smart people know the same house will be cheaper next month or next year. This is called "plummeting demand".

Now, when supply is rocketing, and demand is cratering, there's this third variable called "price" that gets impacted. For homes to sell, the prices will need to come down. Drastically. And this is your job now, to help Desperate Homedebtors understand that nobody wants their home anymore, especially at last year's price.

So, it's time to do the unimaginable. It's time for you, REALTORS of America, to embrace HousingPANIC. Make HP your friend, not your enemy.

Send your sellers the link to HP. Help them understand that the game is up, homes are insanely overvalued, the fundamentals do matter, and if they want out from under their debt trap, they're gonna have to cut the price, cut it bigtime, and cut it now. And if they don't it'll get even worse tomorrow. Trust us.

Then send your prospective buyers the link to HP. Help them understand that now is a great time to buy - at 50% off. Teach them all about foreclosures, lowballing, and Desperate Homedebtors. Then get out there and lowball!

Finally, listen to the HP community when it comes to The Corrupt David Lereah, the NAR, and the usual REALTOR spin. At your next REALTOR gathering, be the one who calls for TCDL's resignation. Next time the media interviews you, or you blog, write about what a joke the NAR, your fellow REALTORS, and TCDL have become. And try telling the truth for a change - it can only help at this point. Yes, telling the truth is against your normal business model, but times have changed.

I know the idea of embracing HP is like eating glass to many of you. But at least you'd be eating something! Good luck out there. Now get those prices down - they're gonna crash anyway, so wouldn't you rather it be sooner rather than later?