OK…that’s more like it. You could very well be correct in your prediction. I know my statements don’t carry as much weight as others because I just don’t have the time to do all the legwork necessary to get a true apples-apples comparison…which, technically speaking, is nearly impossible due to all the permutations that occur from one home to the next. Do appraisers take all these permutations into account when figuring their prices? Or do they simply rely on comps for the most part?
Now that we are on the subject of being technically sound in our analysis, I personally think that comps are a bunch of bunk. Yes, they might be able to factor in a majority of factors, but they do not account for all of them. I come across as a loose cannon sometimes because I am torn between the need to use data to substantiate claims, yet there seems to be no truly reliable way to model home prices over a given period of time. There are simply way too many variables to consider, not to mention the human variables. A lagging median price indicator, an obfuscated MLS database, a realty/mortgage banking industry with direct interest in higher prices, and a government/media complex that indirectly benefits from higher home prices does not equate to a reliable body of data.
In the immortal words of the priest from Coming to America, If being a conspiracy theorist is wrong, I don’t want to be right…or something like that.
