Real Estate FAQ » Blog Archive » Phoenix Home Prices to Drop Another 23%!

Phoenix Home Prices to Drop Another 23%!

Written by admin on October 21, 2009 – 12:27 am -

Oh for the love of Pete…

Tim Vetscher at ABC15.com “reports” this today:

According to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm, home prices in Phoenix are expected to lose another 23.4 percent by June of next year.

Really? A “financial information and analysis firm” can predict to the tenth of a percentage point where home prices will be – in eight months?

How utterly ridiculous.

No one on the planet can make such a prediction.

Is Fiserv right?

Maybe. Maybe not. Unfortunately, Mr. Vetscher provides zero information on how Fiserv reached this conclusion. The link provided leads simply to their home page, where there is absolutely no reference to be found for this “analysis”.

Personally, I’ve never heard of Fiserv. Granted, that doesn’t mean much, so I thought I’d look them up. According to their own About page this is what they are:

One focus: It’s all about innovation

We are leaders in our industry, advocating for our clients, looking for innovative ideas to change the way you bank. We are focused on the financial industry, transforming how banks, credit unions and thrifts serve their tech savvy customers.

We are looking to the future, focusing all the resources of Fiserv around the needs of our clients. This is the new Fiserv, one brand, one company, one focus.

Hmmmm….

I scoured the internet trying to find this analysis by Fiserv. CNNMoney referenced the report here, but again provides no link to the report, no opportunity to review Fiserv’s data or methodology.

For all we know, these guys used an Ouija board and a Magic Eight Ball to help with their remarkably precise predictions.

It’s not Fiserv’s predictions that annoy me here. It is the lame reporting of this “analysis” that is bothersome. The mainstream media loves to use words like “plummet”, “plunge”, and “tumble” to describe the housing market.

And maybe they are right, who knows. But how about at least allowing us the opportunity to review the data, analyze it, debate and discuss it? Wouldn’t that be more beneficial for everyone that generating sensational headlines?

But then again, that wouldn’t sell many newspapers would it?

Hat tip to Dan Mitchell.