Headlines are remembered, articles are not. It’s pretty simple math, really. Headlines are in large print, only a few words in length, and are designed to grab you. Articles are in small print, full of words and numbers, and have all the pesky little details that can sometimes bore you. If you agree with that, you might also agree with my next point. Lots of people get their news from the headlines only, and that can lead to confusion. Let’s look at some examples of headlines from last week:
CBS News: “U.S. Market Battling”
Washington Post: “Home Sales Post April Increase”
LA Times: “U.S. Home Prices Record Steep Fall in 1st Quarter”
Fox News: “Home Prices Post Unexpected Rise”
ABC News: “Home Prices See Steepest Drop in 20 Years”
Chicago Sun-Times: “Home Sales Post Unexpected April Increase”
Wall Street Journal: “The Housing Crisis Is Over”
CNN Money: “Home Sales Rise – Still Near 17-year Low”
So, how’s the real estate market????
Obviously, you need to dig a bit deeper. The Census Bureau released their housing report for the first quarter of 2008 last week, and the headline writers went to work. I won’t dive into all the stats here, but the basic points are fairly straight-forward. Nationally, more homes sold in April than in March, however, April of 2008 was slower than April of 2007. According to the Census Bureau, the median home sales price increased year over year. Let’s add another layer, shall we? Standards and Poor/Case-Shiller released their numbers last week as well, adding to the headline writer’s fodder. The drastic differences in the headlines above highlight the need to dig deeper. If I only read ABC News, my Fox News friends are going to wonder why I’m so sour about real estate.
If you only read headlines, where you get your news is the most important factor in shaping your opinion of the real estate market. Take the time to look at a few different news sites next time you read that well-crafted headline, and GET LOCAL. National headlines about real estate are sometimes interesting, but rarely useful. Real estate is local. Finally, if you can put up with all the facts and details, read the article. You might be surprised by what you learn.
-Josh
1 response so far ↓
Nate Scott // June 5, 2008 at 9:18 am |
Here is another that came out today: Home Forclosures Set Record in First Quarter, on King5.com. If you read the article and pay attention to those pesky details you will see that 89% of the increase come from four states (Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada). Washington State isn’t one of big contributers to this mess – we’re doing alright up in this corner of the country.
http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_060508BUB_home_foreclosures_set_record_JM.1246f04.html