Another ridiculous statement by a local realtor. Honestly, I hate to keep going there. I was going to make a blanket statement that the local media should put a moratorium on interviewing real estate agents about the real estate market.
"Hey, Mr. Used Car Salesman, are your cars any good?"
"Hey, Mr. Drug Pusher, are your drugs any good?"
You see the problem. But I'll forestall the suggestion. I don't suppose being a real estate agent precludes them being candid and truthful. I certainly wouldn't want the media not to interview me about books or comics just because I sell them.
If you are going to interview a real estate agent, it makes sense to have a counter opinion, which is what KTVZ does in this story.
HOUSING PREDICTOR WEBSITE: "...has predicted Bend’s housing prices will drop an average of 11.5 percent this year, topping their “Worst 25 Housing Markets” list ahead of Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Miami, all predicted to see a 10.8 percent price decline"
REAL ESTATE AGENT: "...he doesn’t believe the much-discussed “pending foreclosure flood” and further depreciation in some parts of the country will “be much of a factor here in Bend.”“With less than four months of housing inventory in Bend, buyers could use the extra inventory."
"BUYERS COULD USE THE EXTRA INVENTORY." Really. He said that.
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The Bulletin relies heavily on real estate advertising; KTVZ not so much. Thus KTVZ can afford to report real estate stories honestly.
The Bulletin, like most papers, has always been hyper-sensitive to pressure from realtors. When I was managing editor we launched the Saturday real estate section, and decided the feature story in the first issue was going to be about FSBOs (For Sale By Owner), discussing the pros and cons of trying to sell your own house instead of going through a realtor. Of course, realtors detest FSBOs. Greg Cushman, the publisher at the time, broke out in a cold sweat when he heard about it, called me into his office and tried very hard to get me to kill the story. I finally flatly refused, we ran the story -- and nothing happened, no mass cancellations of real estate ads, no realtors picketing the building. But I bet Cushman caught flak from his real estate buddies on the golf course.
"“When these homes hit the market, those that are well-priced, particularly those $200,000 and under, are snatched up in the first few days, and many are met with multiple offers.” -- Eggers
I wonder how many of those doing the snatching are "investors," i.e., speculators? If had a few million lying around I'd be picking up cheap houses too.
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