David Lereah Says "They Were Wrong Too!"

David Lereah, the fully discredited, former chief economist of the National Association of Realtors shot back at the housing bears who in his mind were also wrong.

“Even the people that were talking about booms busting, my goodness they were talking about it in 2001 and 2002,” said David Lereah, the former chief economist with the National Association of Realtors. “And they were wrong for four years and they only became right at the end of 2004.” He and his former employer had been criticized for the optimistic forecasts they made during the boom. (NYTimes. September 23rd)

Sure, some of the bears predicted the boom would end much sooner then it did. But, it is also true that many of the bears correctly pointed out that in 2003 some housing markets were already in a a bubble. Just because the bubble continued to grow, does not negate the reality that certain housing markets were already bubblicious.