Why is media so pro-real estate ?

[mixxalot]

I see a lot of radio talk shows being very pro-real estate people and saying constantly how “great” of an investment that real estate is and yadda yadda with inflated prices in San Diego. Why? Are people too stupid to realize how much of a ripoff it is now to buy? Why do few people complain to the media stations and get this changed and get morons like George “Money in the Morning” Chamberhead on qualudes and sedated to say the truth?

Is the media completely bought off lock stock and barrel by realtors and mortgage brokers here in San Diego? This is corruption.

[barnaby33]

Although I don’t want to defend media outlets, let me say three things. Media people are no smarter than others, so if most people still don’t really believe there is a bubble, why would most in the media?

How many times you have seen a news story where you knew about the topic at hand and thought, wow that really was accurate reporting. They actually got the facts straight. Two months ago a fellow paraglider pilot died at my home flying site. I wasn’t there, but all my friends were and so I had intimate knowledge of the incident. The news show got some local resident, whom none of us had ever even seen and labeled him a paraglider pilot. He said some vague meangingless hyperbole about how it can sometimes be dangerous and that was it.

OH and they have a vested interest in it being so. I believe thats called confirmation bias.

Josh

[Anonymous]

Chris Johnston

I do believe that at some level, there may be some corruption. However, I still maintain, that most people do not believe that a RE bubble is at hand. The herd mentality always rules the majority. People get really excited right at price peaks, and really depressed at price troughs. This is why the average Joe, never gets ahead.

I think alot of media people, just get influenced by the people they talk to. Alot of those people are RE insiders, who give them the “it’s all good” story. Then in turn, they report it.

If you want to read a blog from a prominent writer for a newspaper, check out Jonathan Lansners from the OC Register in OC. He has been calling for the drop for 2 years, and been wrong. However, he is very open minded in what he writes. He is no shill for the RE insiders.

[carlislematthew]

If people, in general, believed in bubbles then you wouldn’t *have* bubbles. They would have objectively looked at prices back in 2002 (or whenever) and said, “you know, the price to income ratio is out of whack and price increases will not be sustainable”, and they wouldn’t have bought houses. Then, house prices wouldn’t have gone up!

I know someone who did this in 2002 – he sold his house because he felt like the prices were not going to hold up. He’d been reading too many reports by economists and had not got out enough and realized that prices were being held up by *people* and not fundamentals.

Ultimately, he was right, but only after missing another 50% increase in prices.

[LA_Renter]

Why? I guess the way I see it is that this media needs an audience. If George “Money in the Morning” Chamberhead starts spouting that RE is way overvalued and is getting ready to tank, most people who listen to his show will change the station. Nobody really wants to hear that their largest investment is going down in value. Even if many of them know this to be true. You can sell a lot more advertising singing to the choir. George’s job is to maximize his audience or he will lose that job.

I look at the media as a barometer, not a source of info. Right now the media reporting on RE says there is still an awful lot of denial out there. But I do see some signs that denial is beginning to crack.

[LookoutBelow]

Answer your own Question !

Go out today and buy a Sunday edition of the “Union Spittoon” newspaper, (rag) then spend 5 minutes and look through it, and figure out who does the MOST amount of paid advertising ?……Real estate is right up there with the car dealers….Notice how BOTH industries are in the tank ? Hmmm…..Correlations …anyone ?

[rankandfile]

Follow the money. I couldn’t agree more with LookoutBelow. All it takes is an informal phone call or conversation during a golf outing between those in real estate and the newspaper. A few words here and there are changed or moved from the top of the article to the bottom, and now you have what they call “spin”.

[powayseller]

They really believe that RE is going up. Except Roger Showley – the business writer, who has covered the downturn in housing.

A guy who sells materials for commercial construction jobs, and travels widely and looks at real estate in many of the cities he visits, told me that I should use the money I made selling my house to buy beach condos in Florida, because they aren’t making any more land, and prices will only go up.

I started to laugh, because I thought he was joking. His wife said he was serious. He repeated, they are not making more land. I told him the Japanese thought the same thing, and I would e-mail him some on the topic of the island of Japan and their real estate bubble which took 18 years to burst. He hadn’t heard of Japan and doesn’t like to read.

Okay, the writers at the media are like this guy. They believe what the realtors tell them, and they don’t like to read.

[Anonymous]

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kpbs/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=936353

As San Diego County clerk, Gregory Smith, is responsible for assessing housing values in the region. Tom Fudge talks with him about the latest news about the assessed value of San Diego property and what they means for our economy and our public offers.

Everything is just great, there is no bubble in San Diego……….

[powayseller]

Tom Fudge is clueless. I left him a voice mail and e-mail a few months ago, educating him on the SD economy and housing market, and gave him links including Rich’s e-mail. He was completely fuddled by Gregory Smith’s standard speech of limited land, people want to move here, economy is strong and jobs are created, and price declines occur only in a recession. Tom Fudge even said that fewer homes are now going on the market, a trend that has been going on for 2 years. What an idiot! There is no media conspiracy. Listen to the audio link – the media is just clueless. Journalism majors are rarely good at business. Journalism people are usually not numbers people. Enough said.

Gregory Smith this is a buyer’s market, and cautioned people to buy affordably. What the heck does that mean? Buying affordably means only the top 10% of wage earners should be buying the median priced home. The rest should not buy???

[Author]

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