San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

It sounds like Dave and Larry will soon be meeting at Dunkin Donuts each morning pretending they have business meetings with each other.

I like this part:

"He charges $495 annually for the newsletter, and currently has fewer than 50 paying subscribers -- a number Mr. Lereah aims to increase to 1,500 by the end of this year."

Wow what a optimistic!

What was truly ironic about the article and perhaps unintentionally so was the NAR's attempts to distance themselves from Lereah after the market tanked.

They hired him (in the "healthy six figures") to shill for them and he did so for YEARS. Then, suddenly things go south and their attitude is almost "we had no idea what he was up to for all that time". Puh-leeze. How sad and especially with Lawrence Yun picking up right where Lereah left off.

OC: Do you think he fully discloses his past association with NAR to his subscribers? I would think that would nuke him right there, at least in terms of objectivity.

OK, I'm calling total bullshit on this fuckface. From the article:

"Mr. Lereah, who says he left NAR voluntarily, says he was pressured by executives to issue optimistic forecasts -- then was left to shoulder the blame when things went sour. 'I was there for seven years doing everything they wanted me to,' he said, looking out his window to his tree-filled yard in this Washington suburb."

This is the "I-just-did-what-I-was-told-to-do-but-didn't-really-believe-it" argument.

But wait, further in the article it reveals that Mr. Lereah bought 6 condos - six! - between 2003 and 2006. So, one wistfully wonders... if he didn't really think real estate was a good deal (and it was just his job to promote), then why in the hell was he doing so much "investing" in said real estate?

No no no no no... this guy is a clown. He believed his own bullshit and got caught wearing the dunce cap and now he's trying to explain away the history of the egg on his face. I, for one, ain't buyin' his truckload of revisionist history.

Dave: So what's the alternative? Do you think he's going to tell the truth? Do you think the NAR is going to? The continuing antics of Lawrence Yun show that the NAR is committed to spreading their propaganda as far and wide as they can.

They disavowed Lereah, but are continuing to pay Yun to perform the same service, albeit on something of a reduced scale.

How big are the dunce caps for Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson, Rubin et al going to be? Housing was simply one aspect of what will go down in history as the greatest fraud ever perpetuated on a society and it was done with the complete support of the US Government. While the focus of this blog is on housing and the housing bubble, the fact remains that none of what transpired would have been even remotely possible without the completely reckless monetary policy (and I hesitate to even use the word "policy" because it connotes some semblance of thought) of Alan Greenspan and the Fed.

What makes this even more outrageous are the two prime directives of the Fed: Protect the US dollar and the integrity of the system. Are you f**king kidding me? You couldn't have done a worse job if you tried. Hell, maybe they did. Maybe the conspiracy theorists are right. Maybe it isn't lunacy or idiocy at work here, maybe it's sheer f**king genius.

He traded his credibility for that "healthy six-figures" income.

Now used copies of his books sell for $0.32 on Amazon.com.

Sadly, when your reputation has become a "distressed asset," you're stuck with it for life.

Huge, in varying degrees, for all of them. But Lereah is the man under the current thread's microscope.

That comment cannot be improved upon.

Here's a Warren Buffet joke with some slight adjustments:

David Lereah dies and goes to heaven.
He get's to the gates and of heaven and St. Peter says, "well, you know, we'd love to have you, but the area we reserve for Real Estate Professionals is all full" as he points to an area bursting with Real Estate Professionals.
David Lereah tells St. Peter "No problem...watch this". He cups his hands to his mouth and yells as loud as he can "Real Estate boom in Hell, now's the time to buy!"
All the Real Estate Professionals rush as fast as they can past the golden gates and past the amazed St. Peter clambering over each other to get down to hell.
St. Peter says to David Lereah "Well, I guess there's room now, welcome!"
David Lereah says "Are you kidding me? What if that rumor's true?!? " as he too rushes down to hell.

Poor bastard