HoMe PRYce$ in tHa Rise!1!!

Another idiotic e-mail from ZipRealty:

Dear El Bee,

According to a recent Market Watch [sic] article, the shift in the housing market that we'e [sic] all been expecting has finally happened: home prices are on the rise for the first time in a year.

That means that if you're thinking about buying a home (and I know you are!), it may be better to act sooner, rather than later. There are a lot of fantastic homes in your price range that I'd love to show you - just let me know of a good day and time, and I'll happily set up viewing appointments.

Read the full Market Watch [sic] article here:
http://www.ziprealty.com/EH/8tr843bz/47454/152724/30/146249

Talk to you soon,

[SoCal ZipRealty Agent]

Translation: BUY NOW OR BE PRICED OUT FOREVER!!!

Not only did ZipRealty recently call the bottom, but now they've got the brass balls to actually call the recovery!

The funniest part is, the person who sent this e-mail CLEARLY did not read the very article she was so quick to cite as evidence of the end of the housing downturn.

To wit:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. home prices rose 1.7% in January compared with December, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported Tuesday. It was the first monthly increase in a year.

...

The "unexpected rise" in January was partially due to stronger sales in some markets [i.e. NOT CALIFORNIA], FHFA said. The FHFA index attempts to control for such changes in sales patterns, but the adjustment is not perfect, the agency said. The agency warned that its estimate was uncertain and subject to large revisions.

December's index, originally reported as a 0.1% increase, was revised down to a 0.2% decline.

"While this is certainly good news, in our view it is too soon to call a turnaround in the cycle," wrote Charmaine Buskas, a senior economist for TD Securities. "We will have to see several consecutive months of improved prices before a true turnaround can be called, and a significant inventory overhang remains."

Prices rose or were flat in eight of nine regions in January; only the Pacific states [LIKE CALI-FUCKING-FORNIA, YOU DOLT!] registered a decline, down 0.9%.

...

In the past year, prices are down in all nine regions, led by the Pacific with a 21.1% decline.

...

The Case-Shiller index, a separate price index that has less geographic reach but better coverage of the bubble mortgages, shows a much larger price decline of 18.6% in 2008 and a drop of 27% from the peak.

(emphasis added)

So, basically, the article completely, and totally discredits ZipRealty's bogus claim that "home prices are on the rise" and therefore it's "better to act sooner, rather than later."

In fact, the very authors of the FHFA report essentially guarantee there will be a large revision downward! Furthermore, the article emphasizes this fractional movement upward in national prices--not California, mind you--should be considered an anomaly until this otherwise useless data is supported by several months of consistency.

I mean, just how stupid do these commission-heads think people are? Judging by this attempt to shine a festering turd of bad news into evidence of a housing recovery, quite stupid indeed.
Do not let them get away with their fear mongering horseshit. And do not be suckered by transparent attempts to call the bottom or insist prices are headed in any direction but straight down.