Media create foreclosure hysteria
Number of actual REOs much smaller than reported
By Bernice Ross, Friday, June 6, 2008.When RealtyTrac released the latest foreclosure numbers in mid-May, the newspapers all reported that "Foreclosures are up by 65 percent!" Today's column looks at the same numbers and arrives at a very different conclusion.
As I travel across the country speaking for various events, there is one message that keeps coming through loud and clear: "What are we going to do about the negative media?" Agents and clients alike are discouraged by the constant onslaught of negative news. The challenge is that the press reports what sells. Unfortunately, bad news sells better than good news.
To understand what is going on in the foreclosure market, you must first look at how many properties actually went through the foreclosure process in a given month. RealtyTrac reports the number of properties with "filings." This includes any property that has received a Notice of Default, lis pendens, Notice of Trustee Sale, or Notice of Foreclosure Sale. An important point to note is that each of these filings takes place prior to foreclosure. The number that the press does not report is the actual number of "REOs," i.e. the properties that have gone through the complete foreclosure process and are now owned by the bank.
RealtyTrac reports the filings plus the REOs as a total number. This is the number that is up 4.4 percent (not 65 percent) from March. The number that the press is reporting is the difference in foreclosures from April 2007 as compared to April 2008, not the amount of increase from the previous month.
Using the entire number of filings plus the total REOs, the number RealtyTrac arrives at is that one out of every 519 properties received a notice or experienced foreclosure. The press reports this data as if one out of 519 properties has been foreclosed upon. That's two-tenths of 1 percent, or approximately two properties out of every 1,000.
According to the National Association of Realtors, there are approximately 68 million homeowners in the United States. RealtyTrac appears to be reporting on all categories of property because the number they are using corresponds to approximately 126 million units. The number of properties actually taken back by the bank was 54,574. That translates into 0.43 properties per 1,000. Thus, the numbers reported in the press as "foreclosures" are actually 4.65 times higher than the actual number of properties that have actually been returned to the lender.
The good news in these numbers is that out of the 243,353 filings, only about 20 percent actually end up back with the lender. This means that up to 80 percent of the borrowers are working out some sort of resolution with their financing problem. In fact, on June 2, 2008, the Federal Housing Administration reported that it had helped 200,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure by refinancing their mortgages.
The RealtyTrac numbers also contained some great news for some of the hardest-hit parts of the country. What I didn't see making headlines was the following:
Foreclosure rates were down in April 2008 as compared to April 2007 in 21 states. More importantly, many of the hardest-hit states reported declines in their foreclosure rates: California (-0.04 percent); Colorado (-2.91 percent); Illinois (-2.78 percent); and Nevada (-5 percent).
The California numbers are particularly impressive because the state's foreclosure rate had increased 20.66 percent between March 2007 and March 2008, RealtyTrac reported. For the April rate to be down 0.04 percent is excellent news. Although Florida had an increase from April 2007 to April 2008 of 16.56 percent, their March foreclosures were actually down by 6.76 from March 2007. Arizona was up in April, but down 4.67 percent between March 2007 and March 2008.
What's even more interesting is to consider the foreclosure numbers excluding the three states hit hard by layoffs in the auto industry -- Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana -- and the four states where there was considerable overbuilding and a tremendous amount of speculation -- Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. These seven states accounted for 131,306 of the 243,353 filings, a whopping 54 percent of the entire total. In terms of total REOs, these states accounted for 32,931 of the 54,574, or more than 60 percent of all properties that actually went back to the lender through foreclosure. If you remove these seven states from the mix and calculate the average number of properties that actually went back to the lender in foreclosure per state for the other 43 states, the number is 503!
The bottom line here is that the news is much better than what the banner headlines in the media report. The hardest-hit states have all seen a decline in foreclosures in at least one of the last two months. Furthermore, organizations such as Acorn.org that assist sellers in working out their loans report that they are helping up to 60 to 70 percent of the people who contact them for help. Granted, there are still plenty of people who are in trouble, but there are rays of sunshine breaking through, even in the hardest-hit parts of the country. The question I would like answered: Why isn't this positive news being reported elsewhere?
Bernice Ross, national speaker and CEO of Realestatecoach.com, is the author of "Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters" and "Who's the Best Person to Sell My House?" Both are available online. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com or visit her blog at www.LuxuryClues.com.
Ross will speak at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, July 23-25, 2008. Register today.
***
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Submitted by Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L., M.T.L. on June 6, 2008 - 4:46am.
The doom and gloom of media headlines about real estate ignore positive, healthy activity in many cities across America.In order to focus and spotlight on these vibrant markets check out www.happyREnews.com.
If more people would take a positive approach like Bernice we will be able to see beyond the gloom and doom and get facts which are much more encouraging. The sooner we do, the more likely a housing recovery
Submitted by Karl von Loewe on June 6, 2008 - 5:00am.
Karl von Loewe, Broker/Associate
Prudential NJ Properties, Hillsborough, NJ
An excellent analysis. However, in some cases there is more than one mortgage, so a single property could accound for two or three filings, correct?
Submitted by Joseph Marovich on June 6, 2008 - 5:37am.
Joseph Marovich, ABR,ABRM,e-PRO,GRI,PMN,RSPS,SRES
MAROVICH BUSINESS INSTITUTE
www.MarovichBusinessInstitute.com
732 961-9618
As usualy Bernice Ross brings much needed light to dark and gloomy news. It's so refreshing to read something that tells the TRUTH. My question is: Why doesn't RealtyTrac report the figures the way Ms. Ross did? Why doesn't NAR's public relations department make that information their news release of the day? We can sit here and shake our heads, but we don't have the power to change what the media reports. Only the reporters with stature can make the good news newsworthy.
Submitted by Rob Aubrey on June 6, 2008 - 5:51am.
The greatest revenge on the media with an agenda is to vote republican.
Submitted by bob jones on June 6, 2008 - 6:52am.
Blame the press. You loved them when they covered the market ascension over the years. You would have vilified them if they did their due diligence and gave coverage to the ponzi scheme that was real estate during the boom. Now they are the bad guys. Fact is that they are very much behind the curve in reporting what is happening.
The media is not creating this, they are merely reporting it. It takes some mighty arrogance and ignorance to infer that the media is overplaying the biggest housing market crash in the history of the market.
For shame.
Submitted by Becky Boomsma on June 6, 2008 - 7:00am.
Becky Boomsma
www.BeckyBoomsma.com
Your article and perspective is very profound, insightful, and spot on, Bernice. The media should be disecting any reports they receive from private sources with greater analysis so they understand in more specific terms what they are disseminating to the public as "fact" and performing due diligence in responsible reporting. However, as you mentioned, bad news sells and any pulse of foreclosure news sells product and generates monthly fees for RealtyTrac. RealtyTrac is a self-serving private company, generating income from inquiring minds looking for foreclosures, and any reporting that it or any other company with sole self-interest that releases information to the media and public should be reviewed as little more than an infomercial until the detail is analyzed and assessed further.
Submitted by Jack McCabe on June 6, 2008 - 7:01am.
Well, gag me with a spoon. After reading Ms. Ross's latest attack piece, the NAR's self professed attack dog has been at the realtor kool aid trough again.
Ms. Ross's "analysis" (ha) deserves to be on book shelves in between the illustrious writings of Tokyo Rose and Aesop's Fables. If your in a WW II submarine, or being tucked in for beddy-bye, it may have some relevance.
In this ill begotten piece, Ms. Ross attempts to attack RealtyTrac's foreclosure data for it's duplicate filings distortion of actual numbers. As any true real estate professional knows, RealtyTrac's data is best utilized for determining the current pipeline of lis pendens filings, and ultimately discern the pipeline of potential future foreclosure sales.
Perhaps Ms. Ross should move from her narrow minded attack process and consider data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, which reveals foreclosure SALES (as in actual sales) are at the highest level since the Association started its' database in 1979. Or DataQuick's foreclosure sales data. Or Foreclosuredaily.com.
ALL data from monitors of foreclosure activity show foreclosures up more than 300% annually.
My home state of Florida has many markets that have seen appraisal and market value drops in the 20-30% range IN THE LAST YEAR ALONE. Foreclosure sales and their resultant price pressures are a major cause.
In California, 1/3 of sales during the first quarter of 2008 WERE FORECLOSURE SALES!!! up from 3% last year. THAT'S TEN TIMES THE AMOUNT IN FIRST QUARTER 2007.
In some MSA's 2/3 of sales were from foreclosures.
Yet, "clever" Ms. Ross wants to attack one company's information to say the national media is wrong and hell bent on destroying the real estate market.
Funny, when prices were artificially hyped to unaffordable levels by realtors professing people would always make money on real estate, I don't recall Ms. Ross ever writing a story that the media was playing a part in inflating market demand that would ultimately evolve into a bust. Shallow people don't usually complain until their wallets (or in this case, purse) is affected. I'm sure Ms. Ross was busy on the phone recruiting speculators and flippers!
Ms. Ross' "expertise" deserves the same degree of respect awarded a used car or health insurance salesperson. Maybe. Definitely worth a chuckle.
Why Inman News keeps printing her fodder is beyond me, but I'm sure it makes the NAR (the chief culprit of the nationally perceived disintegration of realtors reputations) happy.
Now, for a good bed time story spun by David Lereah or Lawrence Yun....
Jack McCabe
CEO
McCabe Research & Consulting
2422 Lob Lolly Lane
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442
Submitted by Ralph M on June 6, 2008 - 7:08am.
The media is not nor was it ever the blame.... Real Estate Professionals are to blame for the past and present.....
- Does the media take overpriced listings to sell because they can not say NO?
- Did the media promise the sellers, "I have a hundred buyers for this home at this price?"
- Did the media say, give the sellers FREE market analysis? Then not get the listing...
- Did the media say, spend your weekends (for free) working on a 3 hr + open house because you do not have the courage to tell your seller(s)"NO, I overpriced your home just to get you to sign? AND that OPEN houses statistics (NAR) say, they fail 9 out of 10 times..
- In Las Vegas, the casinos make a boat load of money because the odds are stacked with them AND in real estate the odds are stacked against real estate professionals…Why??? Because the majority shall not change!!!!
I can go on all day about this….How many people here complain about the mls but still pay their dues?
Blame yourselves for not changing the industry for the better.
Blame yourselves for paying your mls dues to an entity that does not represent evolution.
Blame yourselves for allowing the next generation of real estate professionals to make the same mistakes/failures you make because you were too unwilling to change
Submitted by Michael Daly on June 6, 2008 - 7:29am.
Bernice-
There's 3 sides to every story.
Thanks for showing the sunny side.
Too many of the media want to only show the ugly side because of the advent of universal tabloid journalism.
Ralph M-
Harsh, but I agree with you.
Michael
Submitted by Elizabeth Weintraub on June 6, 2008 - 7:32am.
Wow. I had no idea that the first thing a journalist thinks when writing a news story is, "Hey, how can I distort the facts, twist this story and put a spin on it that will sell tons of newspapers!" That darn journalistic creed.
Elizabeth Weintraub
Broker-Associate
Lyon Real Estate
Sacramento
http://elizabethweintraub.com
Submitted by Sean OToole on June 6, 2008 - 9:07am.
I only cover foreclosures in CA, and have to run to a meeting but I wanted to quickly provide the following three FACTS about CA foreclosures:
1) In January more properties were taken back by the banks at foreclosure auction (19,479) then were sold by Realtors, Builders and everyone else combined (19,145).
2) In April the banks took back 22,324 properties, yet only resold 11,743. That's an increase in bank owned inventory of 10,580 properties. To put those numbers in perspective there were 31,150 properties sold during the month.
3) 66% of properties that receive a notice of default (the start of the foreclosure process) currently end up losing their home in foreclosure. Her 20% stat is nearly a year out of date in CA.
4) Yes, there are multiple foreclosure "filings" per property, but reported REO numbers = properties.
Sean O'Toole
Founder / CEO
ForeclosureRadar.com
Submitted by Christine Moscinski, Chicago Area Realtor on June 6, 2008 - 10:18am.
It's great to hear news that is positive when every channel you turn on is reporting negative. In fact most reports are independent, or hear-say, copied from other websites or news articles are not accurate or are missing key data mining/ information.
I personally watch the local markets in Chicago and research activity on the MLS. Every market is different and it's not the end of the world!
Thank you for reporting some positive real estate news and not "spin"!
Christine Moscinski, Broker Associate
GOBBER - GMAC REAL ESTATE
www.eHouseHuntOnline.com
Submitted by Jay Thompson on June 6, 2008 - 10:47am.
"If you remove these seven states from the mix and calculate the average number of properties....."
Well, I'm in Arizona and *can't* just conveniently "remove" the stats from the mix.
Real estate is local. That isn't a new or earth shattering statement. Home buyers and sellers in Arizona could care less what some other states stats are, or "national" stats only counting 43 states.
Remove whatever stats you want. Clearly if you remove the bad what is left looks better.
What is the point?
I can just see getting in a discussion with a client about the state of the market and saying, "We'll, if we just remove these seven states, one of which you happen to be living in, it all looks great!"
How utterly ridiculous.
Your spin is just as bad as the MSM spin Bernice. Sure you can say, "The hardest-hit states have all seen a decline in foreclosures in at least one of the last two months."
You can also say they've seen an increase in at least one of the last two months.
Spin it however you want -- the gloom and doom of the MSM or the "let's join hands and sing kum-ba-ya" of the NAR and pieces like this.
Spin is spin.
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
.
Submitted by John Burchardt on June 6, 2008 - 11:45am.
To Mr. McCabe:
Your shot at used car salesman offends me. Granted, I agree with the fact that Ms. Ross's story is a bunch of crap, the actual numbers don't lie, but the fact is every real estate agent wishes they had the skills of a successful used car salesman.
I worked in the auto industry for over decade before getting into the mortgage industry in '97' and I've never met an agent who wasn't a whiner...always complaining about every transaction and only worried about themselves & their check at closing, never a buyer's well being. I've done dozens of transactions where the home wasn't worth what the contracted sales price, but that was my fault because my appraisers wouldn't lie.
The auto industry has opened itself as far as pricing & value of cars, see Kelly blue book, NADA, or Edmunds. What has the Real Estate industry done? The won't allow consumers access to sold or listing data without getting the consumers information first...they're like rats protecting their place at a garbage dump.
Ralph hit the nail on the head!
Submitted by Mary Bargteil on June 6, 2008 - 11:49am.
A most intelligent examination of the ability of media to hype statistics for the purpose of selling media, and a thorough unveiling of the facts behind the fiction. Thank you.
Mary Bargteil
Director of Communications
www.ChampionRealty.com
Submitted by Silence Dogood on June 6, 2008 - 12:03pm.
If most of our buyers consider a foreclosure/REO to be a good deal, how is it bad news to report on good deals? Shouldn't we be excited about all the foreclosure reporting? Maybe this is actually helping to bring buyers out shopping for homes?
Submitted by Silence Dogood on June 6, 2008 - 12:12pm.
We argue that bad real estate news sells newspapers. And we see articles such as this reporting good real estate news in an aim to help sell homes.
How can we question the motives of the media who reports bad news but not dare to question the motives of those real estate agents reporting good news?
Submitted by bob jones on June 6, 2008 - 1:09pm.
John said "every real estate agent wishes they had the skills of a successful used car salesman."
If they knew how truly valueless they are, that statement would be true. But you're right. The auto industry and used car salesmen are unfortunately and wrongly respected less than RE agents. The fact is that most people in the auto industry have solid skill sets and even in the crappiest economy will still make a lot of money. Not because they have a cartel on the industry like in Real Estate, but because they have skills of actual value.
My hatred of realtors and their condescension towards people not in the trade or looking to cut out the middlemen is about at its peak. Realtors are a completely overpaid and unnecessary job. I hope that one thing that comes out of this bubble deflation is that with everybody being much more frugal, we'll see realtors slowly just disappear. Congratulations, you made a lot of money in the bubble rise-up, now it's time to go bus tables at Denny's or some other job where you actually do something to get paid.
Submitted by Ralph M on June 6, 2008 - 1:58pm.
Bob Jones.....With a poor post like that, please explain what you do for a living? Please explain what gives you the right to post such a negative comment like yours?
Are you on the Doctor forums stating that there fees are way too high and they are worthless?
Are you on the lawyer forums stating their fees are too high and they are worthless?
Are you on the plumber forums stating their fees are too high and they are worthless?
Did you call up your electrical provider and tell them what a crock it is that their rates are so high?
“My hatred of realtors and their condescension towards people not in the trade or looking to cut out the middlemen is about at its peak”
Wow! “Hatred”……..the help or knowledge you are looking for from Inman News may be from professional psychologist or some other medical professional that Inman News does not provide (at this moment)
A knowledgeable and experienced Real estate professional shall always be in demand regardless of technology and your hate. The technology that exist currently or may be coming down the pipe shall never remove a key ingredient that a knowledgeable and experienced real estate associate has……”Emotions” when purchasing, selling a home, and/or negotiating a contract.
Can a person really “Hate” anyone who works and provides, regardless of their profession (as long as it is legal)?
www.aarsteam.com
www.nosellercost.com
www.weuuzit.com
www.iuuzit.com
Submitted by bob jones on June 6, 2008 - 2:36pm.
"Are you on the Doctor forums stating that there fees are way too high and they are worthless?"
No. In fact doctors mostly are not paid enough. They go to school for a very long time and provide very valuable and tangible services.
"Are you on the lawyer forums stating their fees are too high and they are worthless?"
No. Lawyers go to school and have to pass the bar, an accrediting association for each state that is accountable for its members are their reputation. Agents are part of a paid-for embargo on the industry (NAR) that serves as a massive propaganda machine.
"Are you on the plumber forums stating their fees are too high and they are worthless?"
No. Plumbers compete with each other on the open market. They know that if they banded together to rip everybody off with their services, we'd all learn how to do our own plumbing very fast. Just watch. It's starting to happen to realtors.
"The technology that exist currently or may be coming down the pipe shall never remove a key ingredient that a knowledgeable and experienced real estate associate has……”Emotions” when purchasing, selling a home, and/or negotiating a contract."
You people rely upon emotion to get people to buy. When they purchase, it's a "home". When they sell, it's a "property". I know how the game works. Don't push this garbage on me.
"Can a person really “Hate” anyone who works and provides, regardless of their profession (as long as it is legal)?"
Nothing is provided and their establishment is based on lies, so yeah, I can have a hatred and it can be well-founded.
Look, I know you're defensive because it is your profession, but people are not as stupid as you think they are. Ross's column above is such unmitigated baloney it should be an embarrassment to most realtors. I could give you all credit by saying you know it's a lie, but I actually think it's ignorant groupthink how you operate. Mindless, selfish, ignorant groupthink.
You don't provide Jack. You profit off of your access to the MLS.
Submitted by Silence Dogood on June 6, 2008 - 3:32pm.
Bob Jones,
Advice from one pseudonym to another: "all generalizations are bad." For you to generalize that all REALTORS/real estate agents (you do know the difference, don't you?) don't have any skill sets, don't provide any value and should be hated is such a gross overgeneralization that it really undermines any good points that you may try to make. Does it make sense to insult the logic of Bernice Ross with childish, ad hoc arguments? Come on, there are REALTOR/real estate agents who agree that this article is gibberish – Jay Thompson wrote a great rebuttal. Apparently you can’t see logic through your haze of “hate.”
Your comments really don’t deserve the few minutes I’ve spent writing, but please replace critical comments with critical thinking and then maybe you’ll make a difference around here.
Submitted by D. Sullivan on June 6, 2008 - 10:24pm.
That article didn't come close to justifying the obnoxiously self-serving headline, "Media create foreclosure hysteria."
Ms. Ross is herself hysterical. One of the most grating aspects of the real estate industry is the preponderance of mindless, perma-bull, stepford-like positive thinkers. Investment bankers created profoundly flawed mortgage instruments that have resulted in frozen credit markets, urban blight, and economic upheaval. Ms. Ross blames the media.
Several months ago, NAR tv ads featured a tag line to the effect, "Now is a great time to buy!" Sure it was, in Utah.
Ms Ross says, "Federal Housing Administration reported that it had helped 200,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure by refinancing their mortgages." Really? Were all of those 200,000 homeowners in danger of foreclosure? Most of them weren't solvent homeowners simply taking advantage of FHA Secure's attractive refinancing terms? Take a look at FHA Secure's qualification requirements, Ms. Ross, and explain to us us how easy it is for at-risk, sub-prime borrowers to qualify.
Submitted by bob jones on June 7, 2008 - 9:04pm.
No, this is a media problem. This awful housing market should not be propagated to the public. I call on all sleazy RE agents to dismiss this reporting of the truth, and continue to tell your victims... I mean clients... that buying now is great. And avoid them for the next ten years while they painstakingly wait for their house to be worth what they paid, in addition to the ~7% of the house's value that it takes to sell the crapshack.
It's a miraculous scam. The crooks on Wall Street would be envious if they knew.
Blame the media. They aren't on the NAR payroll.
Submitted by D. Sullivan on June 7, 2008 - 10:07pm.
Maybe Bernice Ross could compile a free comparative market analysis of housing statistics she deems suitable for public viewing. Or a virtual tour of a Cayman Islands collateralized debt obligation!
I was hoping to find another good commentary by Lou Barnes, but instead we get...this.
Submitted by Barry Cunningham on June 9, 2008 - 4:57am.
I don't usually comment here but this article was deserving. Inman I guess you succeeded as you are driving traffic. Too bad it's by having a Realtor shill write such a horribly outlined article.
This kind of BS may have worked on unsuspecting buyers or consumers BEFORE the advent of today's genie out of the bottle transparency but all it does now is make the NAR and most realtors appear to the public as they are. Hopeless, defenders of an obsolete business model whose only care is preserving the sacrosanct 6% commission.
This is utterly ridiculous and obviously not written by someone who has any grasp of reality.
Anyone who does not understand how the foreclosure mess affects the entire housing industry, even the states with lower foreclosure rates, does not deserve to be writing here. Should'nt be a speaker at Inman Connect and really..reall..should not be a real estate coach.
It reminds me of watching American Idol when the bad contestants say they are vocal coaches...
Barry Cunningham
Real Estate Radio USA
blog: http://www.realestateradiousa.com
blog http://www.robinashley.com
Submitted by Wenceslao Fernandez Jr on June 9, 2008 - 2:25pm.
To all naysayers and haters, I see the article as a way to illustrate that all data can be manipulated to show what its convenient.
If papers show bad numbers in order to sell yet another volume and increase profits, well...so be it.
Realtors would want to show how we may already be in a recovery mode, in spite of negative intraday interactivity among all factors affecting our markets (regardless of where we are - in my case, South Florida).
In Miami-Dade County, we are certainly getting hit just as hard as in those hardest hit areas among the so called 7 states. However, I also see signs of a recovery, specially when we factor in our perceived value (Miami and Miami Beach are viewed by most around the world as a fun destination), continued low interest rates and continued advantage many currencies have against the dollar, making a purchase in South Florida a bargain.
After all, there are not many places in the world where waterfront ownership in a place like South Florida, USA may be achieved with a certain long-term peace of mind from harsh economic and political volatility, at prices which could be among the lowest anywhere.
The truth is, the media in general, could also find ways to turn the numbers in a way that entices and revitalizes, rather than to blanket doom and gloom everyone under the sun.
Disagree you may with Ms. Ross...but compare the strides we're seeing in real estate markets to what equity investors are seeing in the equity markets or even bond and commodity markets.
Specially, when you factor the "leverage" factor in real estate, continues to make (in my view), real estate as the best long term investment available.
Try "leveraging" in the equity markets and see what happens to those faced with margin calls (possibly the equity market's equivalent to a default notice).
One must certainly have to have the stomach for investing (stock, bonds, commodities or real property). The rest should just stay out of the way.
Meanwhile, as the tv commercial suggests, what other investment can cause 3 happy moments for homeowners? The time they become one for the first time, the time they pay off their note and the time their property begins to pay them back (via Reversed Mortgage).
Just like bargain hunters in the stock market must learn to find value in carefully picked stocks before investing, consumers must see home purchasing as a way to leverage, gain (long-term capital) and receive (like annuities) benefit from their property over the long haul, is better than risking nothing to gain nothing.
Real estate is no get-rich quick scheeme, but a great long term strategy to wealth when properly executed.
www.MiamiRealEstateKing.com
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Submitted by Not Given on June 10, 2008 - 9:36am.
1. "f you remove these seven states from the mix . . . "
Selectively removing data that does not fit your intended objective is lying. Also, Ross pilloried the CS index because it used mathematical models (not statistical methods) to OBJECTIVELY normalize the data set. Contrast that with subjectively removing a huge swath of the market as Ross did. You can't have it both ways Ms. Ross.
For a real and objective view please go to the Boston Fed: http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/dynamicdata/module1/bmap.html#. It shows the change in foreclosures and subprime loans by MA County. I was told they do the same for the US.
Submitted by Not Given on June 10, 2008 - 10:42am.
For the US
http://www.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/