INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

In a June 24th lead article, the Intell reports County home prices rising. "'Stable' local market ranks well on national index."

WATCHDOG: According to AP in an article , "... a report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said U.S. home prices fell 4.6 percent in April from the same month last year, when the index peaked. That marked the biggest decline ever in the agency's monthly index which dates back to January 1991. The government index is calculated using mortgage loans of $417,000 or less. (Emphasis added.)

Earlier in the same article headed "US home prices tumble in April at record rate" it says "The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities fell by 15.3 percent in April versus a year ago, according to Tuesday's report. Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since August 2004."

Now anyone who looks around at all the "For Sale" signs and has talked with those hoping to sell their homes knows that prices have plummeted in the County over the past couple of years. So to what can we ascribe the differences between the Intell's "feel good" article and tangible reality?

Was this a sop for their real estate advertisers to encourage consumers to buy homes?

First of all they interchange "value" and "prices", and they are not the same thing. More importantly, as indicated above, the Fed's numbers are based on mortgages and then on only a portion of the market.

Watchdog is not saying the Intell has it wrong. But if anyone could understand the article and believes the conclusion, please write us!