Finally Someone Admits It... Sorry NAR

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday.

The investment bank forecasted a 15 percent drop in housing prices in 2008 and a further 10 percent drop in 2009, with even more depreciation likely in 2010.

By contrast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) expects housing prices to remain flat in 2008. NAR did cut its home price estimate for the current quarter, however, to a 5.3 percent year-over-year decline, which represents the steepest drop in that price measure on record. But NAR sees an uptick in home prices in the last two quarters of 2008.

"Merrill Lynch's figures are way too pessimistic, and they are unprecedented," Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist told CNNMoney.com. "There is so much variation in local housing markets, and we see stable price conditions for 2008

For my loyal readers I know I am going to be bombarded with comments about this.
Why I posted it, I have been saying it for damn near two years now. Well, I believe this is the first time two big names have so openly disagreed on the subject. I
also want you to consider the source of the information provided. They actually each have something to gain to openly take this position. Merrill with a new CEO can say he was thrown into a bad spot and to expect write downs for a couple years on there mortgage backed securities. While the National Association of Realtors wants more Realtors paying more fees and gain more local support. Truth is, I think Merrill is going to be proven positively correct about this subject.

Due to this, I am going to greatly start advertising and promoting Short Sales. There are so many clients of yours out there right now that will need to do a Short Sale rather than foreclosure. Make sure you or your client knows all there is to protect themselves.