Real estate stat junkies, this one’s for you
Check out this Forbes piece. It breaks down the various real estate indexes - Case-Shiller, Clear Capital - and looks at how they stack up with each other.
Given the profusion of real estate numbers and websites and firms tracking them, it's a helpful peek inside the sausage factory.
Still, I take issue with the main theme - the fluctuations of Case-Shiller or whatever your index of choice is don't really have much meaning for the average homeowner.
It's a safe, conventional argument, but it no longer holds the water it once did.
Maybe in the old days, but real estate trends, while still often stubbornly local, have taken on a national dimension over the past few years.
OK, the latest Case-Shiller report, which found that home prices fell 4 percent nationally year-over-year in April, is not going to push up or down the value of my Natick fixer-upper.
But it may very well have an impact on the attitudes of home buyers across the country.
All real estate in the end may be local, but potential buyers can't help but be affected by the profusion of real estate stat and trend stories, all pretty much right now saying the same thing, that the real estate market is in deep trouble.
Even if prices in your town are relatively stable, if you are selling your house, potential buyers are more likely to come into the deal believing they have the upper hand.
