Based on a study conducted with my two dogs and the checkout lady at Cub Foods, we know that most people never get beyond the headline.
In this case, the headline fronting this housing-market story in the Twin Cities Busines Journal, (cropped above) is accurate, until you get to this little tidbit at the tail end of the 5th paragraph:
“…but local home prices have declined 13.7 percent since August 2008.”
That is a positively Kardashian-sized ”but.”
A 13.7% annual home-price decline leads the nation in nothing. It is a middle of the pack number.
Month-to-month gains, while not negative, are basically statistical noise – a snapshot – and meaningless without the context of a larger trend. Year over year gains matter far more.
Not to be the one to throw cold water on a market desperate for any sort of positive news, but this kind of thing does not help advance anyone’s understanding of the real estate market.
So for Kim’s sake, if not for mine, keep reading until you get to the but.
Related posts:
- Housing Headlines: A Nice Asterisk is Better than a “But”
- Housing Headlines: Not as Good as Advertised, Pondering a Priceless Recovery
- Good News & Bad News: Latest Foreclsoure Data on the Twin Cities
- The Worst News Yet for the Housing Market
- Good News for the Housing Market: HUD Extends 90 day Anti-Flipping Waiver through 2011
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