David Lereah Attacks David Lereah Watch
In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Mr. Lereah, attacked this blog after being asked about it.
No, Mr. Lereah is not Satan. Mr. Lereah exaggerates things. I never called him Satan. I never said he was evil. This blog is actually pretty tame when it comes to crtitizing Mr. Lereah. Check the archives.Fortune: You've been accused by the blog David Lereah Watch of being too bullish. What's it like to have an online antagonist?
Lereah: At first I was kind of laughing. And now, it's enough already. This is a 26-year old that could not afford a townhouse and blamed it on the boom. And then he said, Who's talking about the boom and my name kept coming up. So I became Satan to him.
The worst was that my mother read one of those things, and she almost started crying. And I had to say, Mom, you have to have thick skin. I'm going to be in the public and make statements about real estate, and if someone doesn't like what I'm saying, they have every right to say something opposing me.
Now should they go so far as to call me Satan? I don't understand where that's coming from. That's just weird.
Secondly, I was interested in buying a condo or a townhouse [as noted in the WSJ story].
posted by David @ 9:35 PM
18 comments
18 Comments:
David Lereah really doesn't understand the difference between making public statements because you believe them, versus making public statements because you're trying to manipulate public opinion and promote your own agenda.
He really believes that in his role as Chief Economist at the NAR, it's o.k. to do the latter. He doesn't understand that it's disingenuous and dishonest.
And even if he were simply expressing his honest opinion, he should show the appropriate level of professionalism by providing appropriate disclaimers.
I feel bad that his mother was upset. David L. needs to ask himself whether she was upset because everything she read was lies, or because she thought there could be an element of truth?
David Lereah has a mom? That should be the headline of the day. ;)
Either way, he is a sensationalist and takes things to the extreme. First, he uses your age to discredit your argument. Second, he throws out the fact that because you can’t afford you are somehow bitter. Get used to this logic, we’ll be hearing a lot of this in the upcoming months regarding those staying on the sidelines and not purchasing a home or condo. Good for you for taking a stand on this guy. I remember when this blog was a tiny little thing and now you are getting acknowledge by Mr. D himself. Must be nice to be famous? ;)
Hey, even his mom reads your blog. Can this housing bubble get any more surreal?
Dr. Housing Bubble
Kudos to DL Watch, keep up the good work. The disconnect between Lereah's irresponsible cheerleading and the facts of a plummeting market is just starting to dawn on the greater public. Lereah will face a backlash he never dreamed of.
Way to go DLW! David Lereah is just a face man for the real estate industry. Can someone please photoshop an image of David Lereah on top of a cheerleader's body (with pom-poms) in front of a house and realtor's 'for sale' sign. That would be an accurate caricature.
Congratulations to David Lereah Watch for getting under his collar. The Satan/crying Mom bs was hilarious.
There is some other interesting stuff in the Fortune article. Is Lereah throwing Phoenix, Vegas, DC, California, and Florida under the foreclosure bus?
"Will problems with subprime have any effect on your sales numbers? I think in some areas yes. Foreclosures are going to happen in California."
"You may see a rise in Las Vegas or Phoenix or Washington DC and parts of Florida, but it's not all over the country. The big problem right now is borrowers with a loan balance that may be greater than the value of their home. They have no incentive to make the mortgage payment. They'll say, I don't need it, take it. That's going to occur in some of the real unaffordable areas, like San Diego and San Jose."
Of course, since "All Real Estate is Local," significant foreclosures in some states will not affect lending in the rest of the USA. :)
If you read that interview, Lereah actually seems smug that prices rose a smidget in 2006, and therefore dismisses a housing decline. As if it won't happen in 2007.
As prices coast downward in 2007, Lereah and other housing permabulls will blame the loose lending in the subprime and Alt-A markets for the decline. You just watch...they will say "If it wasn't for the subprime lending crisis, housing prices wouldn't have come down". They will say it as if it didn't have anything to do with the ridiculous prices in the first place.
To add to my previous post, housing bulls will also blame tightening regulation of the subprime lending industry for fueling the decline in real estate prices. This is why the government didn't step up and take action in 2004 and 2005. They didn't want to look like they popped the bubble. It's must easier for them to be criticized for coming late to the hangover period, rather than actually crashing the party.
To David's Mom;
By now you have figured out that your son is a paid whore for the real estate industry. Pay no attention to the continuing stream from David's mouth of false and misleading comments designed to sucker in new unsuspecting buyers into homes that the sellers can't unload.
Don't blame yourself. I am sure you did your best to raise him properly but sometimes things are beyond a parent's control. Even Charlie Manson's Mom should not be blamed. Keep praying and perhaps your son will turn away from the darkside someday soon.
Peg
"This is a 26-year old that could not afford a townhouse and blamed it on the boom."
The 26 year old is a lot smarter than you Mr David "Economist" Lereah, to not go for a toxic Interest Only or ARM loans.
I bet Lereah's investment properties were purchased with creative financing.
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. oh, and thanks for the additional criticism of Lereah.
David, this is classic People vs. The Powerful. And we're winning, you can tell.
I've got your back. I'm putting up a nuclear post tomorrow.
This is war. Unleash the dogs.
keith @ housingpanic
David Lereah is a classic passive-aggressive type, dragging his crying mother into things to make you look evil.
Liearah is loser bring his Mother into it. Stop saying bad things about me or I will tell my mommie. David Liearah needs to get his axx kicked.
This DLW blog is a fine thing.
The "26-year old that could not afford a townhouse and blamed it on the boom" comment by Lereah, revealed that jerk as having not a single fiber of grace in his being.
His mommy almost cried? I hope her tears were for all the suckers and victims her son helped create. The man is anything but blameless and guiltless.
Lereah was given the perfect opportunity to take some responsibilty, show a little humility, and regain a smidgen of credibility. He could have responded to the journalist's question by admitting that his errant forecasts and assessments of the housing markets has regrettably resulted in unfortunate investments for some of people and how he's going to do a better job in the future.
Instead, he chose to go with the low blow, and the hey-I'm-a-victim-too posture is irresponsible and unprofessional.
Somebody on this blog called him a "paid shill". Is he ever.
lol!
wunderbar!
Welcome to the big time, buddy. You must be doing something right ;)
I've put a call for support of your blog as the top news item on the Implode-O-Meter, and permanently linked to it.
You guys whine a lot around here...
No pity for the 20 something who can't afford a townhouse (or condo) due to financial insanity and irresponsibility of all those 40 and 50 somethings,
but pity must be had for a crybaby mommy.
Credibility of the mommy crying statement is of course suspect, considering the accuracy of the rest of Mr Lereah's statements.
I see today he is already spinning sub prime as a likely 3% drop only, this year and next.
What a joke.
Keep up the good work.
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