If the media would back off, do you think the real estate market might rebound?

Question

I know they didnt create the slump, but they seem to focus only on the negative and frighten people from buying, like telling them that the prices are going to keep plummeting when that's not necesarily true.

Answer 1

absolutely.
The media has this bubble effect in every-ones head.
I have been selling real estate for a long time and i can tell you this market is a normal market. Not a down market. the media has everyone thinking they can not buy now because the home will be worthless in a year. People talk like they are going to wait until prices on a whole drop 50-100k. This is not going to happen, The market will fluctuate up and down, but it will never be back to the lower prices of the late 90's early 2000's.
The media should shut up and stop scaring people.
RE Agent,
Remax

Answer 2

it has nothing to do with the media
it has to do wit the fact that so many people brought over priced ( read hyped up by loan agents, real estate agents and speculators ) property in a panic ( buy it now or you'll never get in ) mode with risky loans, and now the bill has come due as many of the risky loans are now converting to ARMs at lousy rates and thus the rise in foreclosures, so you have too many people trying to get out of their debt, thus flooding the market with too many listings, and it's only going to get worse, you all ready have Ameriquest filing for bankruptcy protection ( the biggest lender of sub prime loans ) HSFC and another are doing lousy as well as their portfolio losses mount ( due to surprise.. foreclosure and lates !! ), industry housing starts are down 17%!! a huge drop as the builders over built supply for an artificial demand and some hot areas ( Vegas, Ca, Florida ) entire projects are being canceled as most of the condos project there were speculator based ( even though they ideally did not want them there in the 1st place )
the Real Estate agents, loan agents and everyone else will always tell you otherwise, because of course they make a living selling, not telling the truth, they do not care about you once the sale is made and thy have made their commission, they will not help you out of your financial mess once you got into it ( with their help of course ), so by their logic they must remain optimistic, they have no choice
but the economy and realistic does not lie ( the latter tracks foreclosure rates nationwide ), nor do bankruptcy filings, and industrywide layoffs, the party is over and someone has to pay for it. The industry has a vested interest in telling you now is the best time to buy, they were also the same group of idiots who told you to buy now or never get into the housing market again and really did nothing to contain the speculative bidding in real estate for real 1st time homeowners on the government's dime ( where basically all of that cheap money came from to begin with )
sure it made a select few very rich ( those who were in the begging of the boom and then got out ), keep in mind i went through the last boom and bust ( fueled by aerospace job gains, then losses ) and back then real estate and others were making the very same argument and financed everyone with exotic loans ( balloon payments anyone ? high ARMs ? ),
so like the saying goes
the more things change the more they stay the same
don't let anyone else tell you different lest thy have a vested interest

BTW the same statement was made about the dot come boom and bust, some said it here correctly about the fundamentals
and the realestate market has not had it in a while

Answer 3

No, no I don't.

And I don't believe they are painting an accurate picture of the situation that is really occurring.

Over the past 5years people have historically gone out and bought homes they couldn't really afford with mortgages that were interest only and adjustable rate. Add to that the fact that the price of homes was rising faster and greater than the average American's paycheck. Now, as the rates have increased alot of people cannot afford their monthly payments.

Add to that these 2 factors.

Quietly, very quietly American companies have been closing entire departments and locations and relocating jobs out of the country. The reported unemployment rate is skewed, very very skewed and does not accurately report the rate. Net result, lots of people who used to have great jobs with great pay, now can't afford to pay their car payments let alone an inflated mortgage payment.

Then throw in the change in the bankruptcy and financing laws. People who used to enjoy paying only 1% of minimum balance now pay a minimum of 2% plus interest. Plus, Congress lifted the ceiling on the rates bank can charge and if you are late with your mortgage, or gas bill, or electric or other card lots of cards now charge you up to 40% interest LEGALLY.

And as the final insult, the cost of everything (gas, lights, food, insurance, etc) is strapping even those that haven't lost their job or took a concession to keep it.

Sorry this is so long, but this is the truth in America right now and if anything the media is UNDER reporting it.

Be prepared, hard times are almost guaranteed to touch someone you know and love, it is going to get nasty.

Answer 4

To me, it's not a question of "backing off", rather it's a question of reporting the news correctly. The news outlets sensationalize the topics they cover in order to draw more interest and increase their ratings. If they had to report the numbers correctly, it wouldn't be as captivating.

Here's a perfect example - all of the national & local news outlets report that the real estate market bubble has burst....but nowhere do they mention that real estate is local and the fundamentals for one market can be very strong while another market might be weak.

Additionally, just like the stock market, strong fundamentals don't always translate to a strong local housing market.....there are these two little extra components called fear & greed that often get lost in the mix. Buying residential real estate is a VERY emotional experience, and when the national news reports the bubble is bursting it has a ripple effect across the entire country.

Answer 5

Is it the media? It is the participants in the market that are issuing gloomy reports, as well as the suppliers of building materials.
However, after the housing market sells off its inventory of unsold homes, and mortgage rates do not appreciate significantly, there should be a rebound to the market.

Answer 6

relies upon on the area... i think of Seattle and surrounding areas will rebound Spring of 2008. in this area, in easy terms properties over $400k have been incredibly impacted with the help of the slow marketplace. suitable now, the vacations are protecting the marketplace slow, yet as quickly as the sunlight returns and human beings at the instant are not any extra hesitant to purchase, there will be super deals accessible this spring. There are a number of properties in the area we are looking wherein have been on the marketplace for 6m or extra and could sell. we are making plans on commencing an earnest seek in February. thankfully for us, we very own a house this remains considered a prevalent time living house shopper living house and with any luck it will sell extremely evaluate the enhancements we've made.

Answer 7

The real estate market is driven primarily by fundamental factors, such as supply and demand, the health of the economy, and the level of interest rates.

Reports in the media have some effect in the short term, but in the long term, it's the fundamentals that count.

Answer 8

I did not hear any complaint when they hyped up the market.

The news is so bias and pro-market that they along with many of the so called experts of real estate are losing what little creditability they may be given. Guss who pay a lot for the nesws papers bill, pick up any news paper and you see at lest a third of it filled with real estate adds.

Also the print any news release of the NAR as news and do not dare point out any of there spin and misleading quotes. The best one to date in saying that the market and price are up from 2003, Duh talk about using out dated numbers.

Ask your self what is the market correcting from?? I'll tell you it is out right fraud and very miss leading spin that is almost as bad as Enron, and it is going to crash as such.

http://www.breakingbubble.com/

The one thing that history has proven over and over again that the laws of money when tampered with will always push bad just as hard and as long as the laws where messed with.

Answer 9

The media has nothing to do with the real estate market escalations or downfalls. They only report as to what is going on in the market.

Answer 10

The media causes tons of problems by always trying to scare people for ratings.

People cause tons of problems by believing everything they see on the news. People are dumb