Fun with meaningless statistics..........

The headline blares................

Home sellers got a median 95 percent of
their home’s listing price in 2011.

So says the National Association of Realtors (as reported by
the AGbeat blog).  The story line is designed to make one
think that Sellers "did well" in 2011. The story also contained
this quote:

"The ratio of sales price to listing price and the time on market were “highly correlated” this year, according to the report. Typically, the longer a home is on the market, the greater the price discount. Homes on the market for under one week typically received 100 percent of their asking price with 2 percent actually receiving more than their asking price. Homes on the market 17 weeks or more typically received 90 percent of their original asking price."

I'm sorry to report that the only good news contained in this report is not that Sellers "did well", but the Brokers and Sellers who offer their properties for sale at a price that reflects true market conditions will have success.  Those who overprice their properties will ultimately have to respect the values of the marketplace.  I would like my national association more if they were less hype-prone.