US Homes Lose $2 Billion in Value and why Headlines Like These are Misleading

Eau Claire Wisconsin Realtor®

According to this article, the website Zillow, has reported that US homes have lost about $2 Billion in value. That certainly does make a great headline and probably scares enough people into reading the story. But take a good look at that story for a moment and then lets analyze this together.

Whenever I am presented with an opinion and this article is certainly opinion, I want some basic facts to be presented alongside that opinion. This is just basically supporting your argument or at least documenting where you got your information from when you formed your opinion.

Now take a look at the article again and show me where they are documenting their source for this information. Unless I am missing something the article only mentions that Zillow is the one saying this. I would have expected a more clearer citation in the least and this already makes me question the validity of this information.

So now we have an article written based on something someone else says without the opportunity to examine the original source. Anyone else find that misleading?

One would assume that when you are talking about numbers that you would include numbers, data after all is very important when you are talking statistics. This is what the article says “Zillow collects home values and analyzes home price trends in 163 markets; all but 30 registered price drops over the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with the same nine-month period of 2007.”

163 markets?

Correct me if I am wrong but aren’t there 50 states? This means that this opinion is based on approximately 3 markets per state. Last I checked my state of Wisconsin has more than 163 markets. Disregarding extremely small towns, which is misleading as well, I am pretty sure there would be more than 163 cities in Wisconsin. In the area that I cover, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and Altoona primarily, that is 3 markets right there. I would also argue that I probably cover 3-4 other towns that have a pretty distinct market as well.

I also know for a fact that Zillow does not have access to our MLS data. We cover a very large geographic area of Wisconsin and overlooking our data would mean a pretty significant gap. I would also extrapolate from this that there are probably other markets that are being “overlooked.” In fact, well it has to be a fact because I have already shown that they aren’t making a very good argument when you infer from 163 markets that this is a nationwide trend. I agree that prices are declining but when you make an argument and pretend that it is fact you better have some good, sound data to back up that “fact.”

Of the 163 markets, 30 did not even report price drops! Thats one fifth in case you don’t like doing math in your head.

If these numbers haven’t sounded fishy enough lets dig a little more…

What does it mean “price drop?” Well I am assuming that they mean the owners of the home and their agent have lowered the price. There can be a variety of reasons for this but anyone in the business knows this doesn’t really mean much at all. When we talk about home sales and try to calculate a list price we base our data on homes that have sold rather than homes that are currently listed. Why? Because anyone can list a house at any number they choose. I can list a $100,000 home at $2 million dollars, does that mean the house is worth that? If I then lower the price to $100,000 will Zillow say that the home has dropped $1.9 million in value?

The problem, as you can see, is that basing data on imaginary numbers is rather dangerous. The only number that matters is how much someone paid for the house. Until we get to that number, none of the other numbers matter.

Most agents who list homes on Zillow do not directly link it with their MLS. Instead the numbers are manually entered and the agent is prompted to change this after so many days. I may be wrong but I think this is only done once a month or so. There are a few problems with this. If the agent is not diligently updating the information on Zillow then the information can be just plain wrong. Again this is why its so important to have direct access to the MLS systems instead of relying on information second hand. The other problem is that the data is just out of date. Relying on information that is a month old is dangerous.

So what does this article really mean? Not much. Taking 163 markets full of bad data and then inferring from that is just plain misleading and wrong. Everyone knows that prices have come down from last year. But Real Estate is local. That might be a cliché but it’s true. If I wrote an article based on data from a single city in our MLS and then said a market 200 miles away must have the same situation you would say that I am crazy or stupid. I would have to agree. This is just another case of having to take a grain of salt with every headline.

I also want to point out that after diligently searching Google for the original information that this article was based on, I could not find it. I went to the Zillow site and used the search there and found nothing as well. I even went into press releases and basically all over the site to find where this data came from and if anyone can actually find this I would appreciate this. But if you were a student at a University and you turned a paper into your professor and quoted a source but did not cite your source, it would be entirely unacceptable. In fact, I found the entire article unacceptable.

If you would like to work with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.

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Rates are Down!! Buy Buy Buy!!! Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Altoona Chippewa Falls

Eau Claire Wisconsin Realtor®

Rates have dropped to seldom seen levels and its time to buy! If you have been on the fence about investing in Real Estate in Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls or Altoona Wisconsin or wondering whether its a good time to buy, there is no time like the present. Talk to your lender about how to “lock in” these really low rates. Give me a call today and we can find the perfect home. You cant beat the prices and you cant beat the rates. Its a win win.

If you would like to work with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.

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Low Rates Entice Buyers-Record Mortgage Applications-Eau Claire Wisconsin-Altoona-Chippewa Falls-Real Estate

Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Agent

According to this story mortgage applications have been reported at record rates as mortgage rates have fallen to very low levels. “Potential borrowers were lured by enticing mortgage rates, which dropped dramatically after the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan last week to buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae <FNM.P>, Freddie Mac <FRE.P>, and Ginnie Mae.”

What does this mean for people in our area? I would hope that it would encourage buyers to come out and invest in the community. This is a great opportunity to do so and indeed that is what I am attempting to do here. With rates this low the potential savings is tremendous. If you haven’t considered investing in Real Estate in Eau Claire, Altoona, or Chippewa Falls Wisconsin this is your chance. If you have any questions about what you need to do to invest give me a call today. I would be happy to discuss some of the opportunities available.

If you would like to work with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.

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Moving Homeless Into Foreclosed Homes? Is This Really a Good Idea?

Eau Claire Wisconsin Realtor®

I saw this article and am sort of scratching my head because to me this just doesn’t seem like a good idea. “He is helping homeless people illegally move into foreclosed homes.” I suggest reading the article quick to get a feel for it.

Here are some other things to note:

“He also breaks into the homes he shows.”

“Pierre herself could be charged with trespassing, vandalism or breaking and entering.”

Now I am not saying that something shouldn’t be done about homeless people or foreclosures. Personally I think there shouldn’t be homeless people in our country and we definitely have some foreclosure problems facing us in parts of the country, but this doesn’t seem like a good solution. Regardless if this guy claims he can get free legal counseling in case something goes wrong, something will most certainly go wrong. It seems to me he is putting his activism first and endangering these people. If you know me, I am most certainly a huge activist but something doesn’t add up here.

Maybe I am wrong what do you think?

If you would like to work with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.

Search Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate!

Read my Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Blog!

Buy Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate

List and Sell Your Eau Claire Wisconsin Home

Work with Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Agent & Realtor® Shane O’Gorman