“We have had five consecutive record years, and you can't sustain that forever,” David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said at the New England Realtors Conference held in Boston yesterday. “2006 is a year to catch our breath.”
Lereah said predictions reported by some economists that a real estate bubble is on the verge of bursting are misleading.
“It's more like a balloon that inflates and deflates,” he said. “The air is coming out of the balloon, but the bubble is not bursting.”
Lereah said most local housing markets are healthy, though home sales in 2006 will likely not be as strong as in recent years. But sales could bounce back in 2007 and for the rest of the decade. ( Lowell Sun 3/21/06)
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Lereah At New England Realtors Conference
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I love his backpedling. And what about his book?
ReplyDeleteLereah said, Lereah said predictions reported by some economists that a real estate bubble is on the verge of bursting are misleading.
ReplyDelete“It's more like a balloon that inflates and deflates,” he said. “The air is coming out of the balloon, but the bubble is not bursting.”
Have you ever let the air out of a ballon? It can deflate real fast once the air is let out. Try it.
If Lereah read a bit more maybe he would know a verbal distinction brought to my attention by Terry Pratchett -
ReplyDeleteRewording Lereah in Pratchett-ese, homeowners are not about to get creamed, they're about to get cheeesed[*].
[*] just like getting creamed, but takes and lasts a lot longer.