Why I ignore most articles about “the real estate market”

My mother always told me to focus on quality not quantity. I think of that every day as I read the slew of real estate market “commentaries” that come across my desk and am reminded of the saying that there are no bad statistics, but plenty of bad comments on those statistics.

Here’s a good example.

“Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for February showing weak sales with total home sales falling 0.4% since January dropping 7.1% below the level seen in February 2013. ”

What’s the message here? I’d say it was that sales were “weak”.

The next sentence is: “Single family home sales also weakened dropping 0.2% from January falling a notable 6.9% below the level seen in February 2013.”

I’m not quite sure why a 6.9% drop is “notable” whereas 7.1% in the first sentence was not, but again we have “weak” sales and a “notable” drop.

Not good news for the real estate market you are thinking.

But read on.

“The median selling price increased 9.0% above the level seen a year earlier.”

So let me ask you, madam or mister home owner, which part of this story is more significant to you:  “weak” sales, or a 9% increase in price?

I thought so. Me too.

If you  – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 781.631.1223 or [email protected].

Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead