David Lereah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

National Association of Realtors chief economist David Lereah.
National Association of Realtors chief economist David Lereah.

David Lereah is the chief economist and senior vice president of the United States National Association of Realtors (NAR). Lereah serves as the association's spokesman on economic forecasts, interest rates, home sales, mortgage rates, as well as other economic and policy issues and trends affecting the housing markets and real estate industry in the U.S. and abroad.

He received his B.A. in Economics & Marketing from American University, Washington, D.C. and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia. He lives in Fairfax Station, Virginia.

Contents

[edit] Publications

His book Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: Why Home Values and Other Real Estate Investments Will Climb Through The End of The Decade—And How to Profit From Them[1] was published in February 2005. One year later in February 2006, Lereah retitled his book Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust—And How You Can Profit from It.[2]

NAR chief economist David Lereah's book in February 2005.
NAR chief economist David Lereah's book[1] in February 2005.
Lereah's book in February 2006.
Lereah's book[2] in February 2006.

[edit] Criticism of his policies

Commenting on the phenomenon of shifting NAR accounts of the national housing market, the Motley Fool reported,[3]

"There's nothing funnier or more satisfying … than watching the National Association of Realtors (NAR) change its tune these days. The latest news release from this sunny-Jim industry group finally fesses up to its past fiction, but even when it admits the bubble's going to pop, it can't muster the courage to just come out and say it. … the NAR is full of it and will spin the numbers any way it can to keep up the pleasant fiction that all is well. … [T]he cracks began to show in subsequent remarks from NAR 'Chief Economist' David Lereah. The head outfit that ridiculed the idea of a housing bubble for years is now crying for Ben Bernanke to bring it back. … It should have been completely obvious to anyone with a loan calculator and a glance at wage increases that those months of industry bubble denials were just wishful thinking."

[edit] Criticisms

Lereah has been criticized for encouraging the rise of the United States housing bubble. According to an interview in the Chicago Tribune, "In October 2005 Lereah was busy calling the bubble believers `Chicken Littles.' Many of the predictions espoused by the `Chicken Littles' are fast becoming closer to reality. … David Lereah has lost credibility because of his irresponsible cheerleading."[4] Lereah said that he has been forecasting a decline in sales for some time: "For three years, I've said, `This is the year that sales will come down.'"

[edit] Quotes

  • "Some builders will get caught with their pants down, because they built too much. … Prices got a 'little' too high, we got ahead of ourselves. … We need to catch our breath. … It happened in the stock market. How many people purchased Qualcomm, Lucent, I doubled down on Lucent. We became irrational during the stock market craze. … There were lotteries to get into [real estate] deals. I got into one! … Go to Miami to see the excess. … 40% of all loans in 2006 were interest only … Prices went higher because of the artificial energy in the real estate market … that’s what took the punch bowl out of the party. … We made a mistake. It’s going to hurt. You are going to have a double digit drop. Expect it." —David Lereah, Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors, Quoted at a Florida real estate meeting, 27 April 2006.
  • "We're going to drop significantly, but it's not a balloon bursting." —Lereah, PBS NewsHour appearance, 29 November 2005.
  • "If you paid your mortgage off, it means you probably did not manage your funds efficiently over the years. It's as if you had 500,000 dollar bills stuffed in your mattress." —Lereah, LATimes, August 28, 2005

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Lereah, David (2005). Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: Why Home Values and Other Real Estate Investments Will Climb Through The End of The Decade—And How to Profit From Them. Currency. 
  2. ^ a b Lereah, David (2006). Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust—And How You Can Profit from It. Currency. 
  3. ^ "There's nothing funnier or more satisfying (for me, at least) than watching the National Association of Realtors (NAR) change its tune these days. The latest news release from this sunny-Jim industry group finally fesses up to its past fiction, but even when it admits the bubble's going to pop, it can't muster the courage to just come out and say it. … the NAR is full of it and will spin the numbers any way it can to keep up the pleasant fiction that all is well. … [T]he cracks began to show in subsequent remarks from NAR 'Chief Economist' David Lereah. The head outfit that ridiculed the idea of a housing bubble for years is now crying for Ben Bernanke to bring it back. … The real problem here isn’t the NAR, of course. You have to expect these people to spin the facts for their industry. No, the real problem here is the uncritical press out there, which is all too happy to pepper every contrary indicator or bearish remark with an NAR official’s informed-sounding bubble denial. Never mind if what the NAR folks are saying doesn't seem to make sense (or contradicts what they said just a few months back). … It should have been completely obvious to anyone with a loan calculator and a glance at wage increases that those months of industry bubble denials were just wishful thinking." "I want my bubble back", Motley Fool, 9 June 2006.
  4. ^ a b "Housing market may be on ice, but the blame market is red hot", Chicago Tribune, 10 September 2006.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/v/David_Lereah_d079.html"