As we plod along through the morass of today’s real estate market, the news media has repeatedly come under fire for being “too negative” with our “gloom and doom” reporting about the sad state of housing affairs. The barbs come mainly from industry folks, especially the National Association of Realtors (NAR), who have gone so far as to outright blame us for causing the market downturn and prolonging its misery with negative news stories.

Here’s a diatribe from a frustrated Realtor, whom NAR President Dick Gaylord applauded in his blog:

The Media’s attack on the real estate industry is nothing new. For decades they have practiced doom and gloom tactics, and in some cases have actually caused real estate prices to decline short term. … Sit back and enjoy some of these dire media projections from yesteryear and allow them to mirror the wide variety of “fear factor”- type “media” comments that exist today.

Gaylord then lists a series of “dire media projections” from various news publications, dating as far back as 1947, that reflect the struggling market conditions of their time.

Straight from the horse's mouth
Thanks, Dick. But the truth is, we’re reporting what you’re giving us. (We do the same with other purveyors of key housing stats, including RealtyTrac and S&P Case/Shiller). Month after month, we read NAR press releases riddled with national and regional figures that for a while now have been pretty dismal. These releases are embellished with a good dose of positive spin by NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. But the record numbers tell the real story: The nation’s real estate ship has been sinking, with no quick recovery in sight.

Why the backlash against the media? I realize that Realtors have an easier time putting bread on their tables when buyers are confident, and what gives them confidence is good news. But it’s Gaylord & Co. who dish out the negative numbers, and it is our civic duty as journalists — not as the cynical propagandists we’re accused of being — to report these numbers accurately.

At the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) conference in Dallas last week, NAR president-elect Charles McMillan reiterated what we’ve been hearing from NAR for a while now: “Real estate is local, like the weather!”

Yeah, it is to a certain extent, but when it’s raining foreclosure cats and dogs in such bellwether states as Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida, and national home prices continue tumbling, especially in top metro areas, then “local” simply isn’t cutting it right now for the nation’s recession-dazed economy.

Fun at the NAREE conference
About 70 real estate journalists from print, online and broadcast news operations gathered at the NAREE conference not to poo-poo the market but to gain new perspectives about it. We toured areas in Dallas-Ft. Worth with booming development and attended panel discussions with economists, policymakers, bankers, developers, architects and urban planners, who shared their insights about market trends, local developments and urban planning. And we shared ideas on covering the many other aspects of homeownership, including design and architecture, and programs that build community cohesiveness.

Every week, I open my newspaper’s real estate section and find some very positive articles on home buying. “The Bright Side of the Housing Bust,” was a recent headline. So it’s not just the gloom-and-doom outlook that Gaylord accuses us of peddling.

As any responsible journalist will tell you, there are two sides to every story, and there’s always a silver lining amid troublesome circumstances.

“This is the longest, deepest housing-market correction in a long time. The market could still be 18-24 months away from recovery,” Debbie Dunn, executive vice president of CTX Mortgage, told NAREE attendees.

Yes, I agree.

While NAR’s McMillan proclaimed: “In today’s housing market, we have pent-up demand throughout the nation. Interest rates are at a historic low. For those who want to buy, the choices are incredible.”

I TOTALLY AGREE!

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Dean Golemis at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.