When We Comment to the Press Let’s Not Get Caught In Sensationalizing!

My market is the Wisconsin Dells area and a popular local paper is the Wisconsin Dells Events. On Saturday, January 3^rd the front page article was titled "Housing not selling like it used to". There was a large picture on the front page associated with the article of a house with a For Sale sign from my office. It was not my sign but it was one of my associates. She was not interviewed for the article. Instead the reporter chose to interview 3 other Agents. The jist of the article was that the market was in bad shape. One of the agents interviewed made a statement that 2008 has been the worst year for him in his 35 years of selling.

I just do not know what benefit statements like this have. All statistics show that 2008 was a down year, but not the worst year. The agent whose listing appeared in the article was less than pleased. The house was only on the market for 30 days and she has had good buyer interest, the listing is definitely not representative of a down housing market.

We are attempting to counter this negative article. An agent in town wrote a letter to the editor giving some local statistics that show the market is down but not in crisis. I interviewed with the reporter this week and provided her statistics from our MLS that show property values actually increased in 2008 over 2007. The number of properties sold is down about 35%, but values are holding. My opinion is that this is a great market for buyers. Inventories are up giving the buyer some great selections, values are holding giving the buyer security that their investment will be a good one and mortgage rates are really low.

I think that all REALTOR's need to be very careful of what they say to the press. These articles have an effect on buyer and seller decisions. If we are going to give opinions about the housing market make sure that the statistics support the opinion.