To Warren Boroson and Dominick Prevete
Many of my readers will be familiar with the name Warren Boroson, a local journalist. Warren has written some real gems in the past year, many of which try to entirely discount the fact that there is a speculative bubble in residential real estate. Warren has defended his position so vehemently, one wonders what vested interests he has in it. Warren is at it once again, with his pal Dominick Prevete (regional vp of Weichert) who like clockwork appears in every one of Warrens articles to offer up expert opinion. Warren, why do you continually quote Mr. Prevete in every real estate article you write?
Perhaps I'm being too critical of the duo, the most recent piece at least concedes some possibility there is a bubble, however, the article ends with the usual pro-real estate spin..
Here is the most recent gem:
Real estate shifting to a buyer's market
So, what do real-estate people think about the suggestion recently made by James Hughes that people not buy a house now -- unless they are planning to live in the place for 10 years?
Hughes, a real-estate expert, is dean of the Bloustein School of Policy and Public Planning at Rutgers and believes that house prices are very high.
...
Also commenting on Hughes' advice, Maureen Doyle, broker-manager of RE/MAX Properties Unlimited in Morristown, said, "I don't agree. I think we'll see continual appreciation, but it will be more reasonable. Just not the 7 to 12 percent a year appreciation we've seen over the past four or five years."
Her arguments:
• Interest rates remain relatively low.
• New Jersey doesn't have much land on which to build new houses.
Doyle concedes that the inventory of houses for sale has increased -- up 20 percent in the past year, while sales have increased only 6 percent.
...
Also in disagreement with Hughes: Dominick Prevete, regional vice president of Weichert, Realtors in North Jersey. "Prices won't decline significantly, but we will return to single-digit appreciation next year," he predicted.
The big change next year will be: Buyers will have more choices and less competition. There also will be fewer bidding wars.
He also predicted that interest rates will stabilize at a high 6 percent or at 7 percent -- still reasonable for most buyers, he said.
Buyers who wait for the bubble to burst will learn that there was no bubble -- and they may miss out on good purchases while waiting fruitlessly for prices to decline, he said.
As for sellers, Prevete said they will be more sensitive to marketing plans in view of the greater competition.
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Mr. Prevete, the fact that you continue to discount the mere possibility of a speculative bubble in real estate prices locally is incredibly reckless. As an industry insider, you know people are reading your comments and acting on them. However, you continue to make the same irresponsible comments and peddle them out to the press through your pal Warren. Dominick, even the NAR has conceeded the fact that home prices are out of line with fundamentals, yet you continue to disagree. Well Mr. Prevete, you are certainly as entitled to your opinion as I am mine. I will continue to get the word out to New Jersey. Each reckless bubble-inflating quote you make only serves to further motivate me and to show my readers the bias within the media and industry.
What I couldn't understand about the duo, is why Mr. Boroson continued to write such pieces in the face of overwhelming evidence. So I decided to dig a bit deeper on who exactly Warren Boroson is. Fortunately, he made it quite easy for me:
The Warren Boroson Website
Turns out Warren Boroson is the author of this fine literature:
How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down
and
Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
Wonderful, so it turns out that we have just another speculator masquerading as a journalist providing an "unbiased" view to the public. It's amazing how much sense things make when you become privvy to all the information that surrounds the situation.
Just another example of how the media and real estate industry colluded to create the largest speculative bubble in history.
Caveat Emptor,
Grim
Perhaps I'm being too critical of the duo, the most recent piece at least concedes some possibility there is a bubble, however, the article ends with the usual pro-real estate spin..
Here is the most recent gem:
Real estate shifting to a buyer's market
So, what do real-estate people think about the suggestion recently made by James Hughes that people not buy a house now -- unless they are planning to live in the place for 10 years?
Hughes, a real-estate expert, is dean of the Bloustein School of Policy and Public Planning at Rutgers and believes that house prices are very high.
...
Also commenting on Hughes' advice, Maureen Doyle, broker-manager of RE/MAX Properties Unlimited in Morristown, said, "I don't agree. I think we'll see continual appreciation, but it will be more reasonable. Just not the 7 to 12 percent a year appreciation we've seen over the past four or five years."
Her arguments:
• Interest rates remain relatively low.
• New Jersey doesn't have much land on which to build new houses.
Doyle concedes that the inventory of houses for sale has increased -- up 20 percent in the past year, while sales have increased only 6 percent.
...
Also in disagreement with Hughes: Dominick Prevete, regional vice president of Weichert, Realtors in North Jersey. "Prices won't decline significantly, but we will return to single-digit appreciation next year," he predicted.
The big change next year will be: Buyers will have more choices and less competition. There also will be fewer bidding wars.
He also predicted that interest rates will stabilize at a high 6 percent or at 7 percent -- still reasonable for most buyers, he said.
Buyers who wait for the bubble to burst will learn that there was no bubble -- and they may miss out on good purchases while waiting fruitlessly for prices to decline, he said.
As for sellers, Prevete said they will be more sensitive to marketing plans in view of the greater competition.
--------
Mr. Prevete, the fact that you continue to discount the mere possibility of a speculative bubble in real estate prices locally is incredibly reckless. As an industry insider, you know people are reading your comments and acting on them. However, you continue to make the same irresponsible comments and peddle them out to the press through your pal Warren. Dominick, even the NAR has conceeded the fact that home prices are out of line with fundamentals, yet you continue to disagree. Well Mr. Prevete, you are certainly as entitled to your opinion as I am mine. I will continue to get the word out to New Jersey. Each reckless bubble-inflating quote you make only serves to further motivate me and to show my readers the bias within the media and industry.
What I couldn't understand about the duo, is why Mr. Boroson continued to write such pieces in the face of overwhelming evidence. So I decided to dig a bit deeper on who exactly Warren Boroson is. Fortunately, he made it quite easy for me:
The Warren Boroson Website
Turns out Warren Boroson is the author of this fine literature:
How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down
and
Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
Wonderful, so it turns out that we have just another speculator masquerading as a journalist providing an "unbiased" view to the public. It's amazing how much sense things make when you become privvy to all the information that surrounds the situation.
Just another example of how the media and real estate industry colluded to create the largest speculative bubble in history.
Caveat Emptor,
Grim
posted by grim
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