With the news today that new home sales were at an all time low in May, I continue to be amazed at the leadership of the National Association of Realtors. While sales continue to plummet, our association is not doing us any favors by constantly promotingstatistics that are slanted in favor of a "positive outlook". Every month we hear how home sales are up, and inventory is down. This should be put in perspective and more importantly in context. If sales are up, then we should ask "up from what", because the overall curve continues to slant down. Why such a pessimistic viewpoint you might ask?
The unemployment rate in our country is hovering around 10%. Those that have jobs are afraid of losing them. The Bush tax cuts are set to expire, along with the capital gains rate reduction, which will return to 28% unless congress acts. The entire health care system of the country is being torn apart to make room for more government. Banks are not lending money, and why should they when the gov't is forcing them to negotiate and re modify loans on assets that were pledged as collateral. The tax credit artificially stimulated the market for a short period of time, but now that it is gone the sales will go down and prices will continue to fall.
So what is the fix? Well for one thing the Association of Realtors should stop being politically correct, and go after those who caused and are continuing to cause the problem. Political party is irrelevant, but ideology is. The current president and congress appear to be on a course that will totally destroy the economy of our country. Our association should be vocal in opposing any new taxes, any gov't spending increases, and any new entitlement programs. All of these thing stall the economy, and contribute to a housing decline. The association is not doing us any favors by pretending that the country is not at a crossroads. We are in a battle for not only our professional lives, but for the freedom we all love and enjoy and that so many have died for.
Writing your congressman "calls to action" are not enough. We must support pro business canidates who believe in less government at every level, and we must do it vocally. We must tell people that the housing market will not recover until the politicians stop wasting our money, and taxing us into bankruptcy. We must start telling the truth as an organization and stop the "feel good" message of things are getting better when they are not.
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