Economist's Commentary: March 20, 2008
Make the Most of NAR Research's e-Information
By Meredith Dunn, Communications Representative
As you may know by now, NAR's Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, was rated among the top ten economic forecasters in the nation recently by USA Today. Dr. Yun came in at number five — something that the Research division (with a staff of 18) takes pride in. The list recognizes accuracy in forecasting based on tabulation of data by the Atlanta Federal Reserve.
Of course, forecasting is not an exact science — Dr. Yun would be the first to say so. There are many idiosyncrasies in human behavior, such as having the confidence to buy a home or trusting your gut feeling to exit the stock market, that often make forecasts off the mark. Nonetheless, his forecast results were evidently more accurate than others'.
The Research division works hard to get the most up-to-date market trends, now in our newest communication vehicle: the Economists' Commentary page. Since we started the page just two months ago, we've had a tremendous amount of positive feedback from readers. The Commentary page supplies timely, easy-to-understand information to consumers, REALTORS®, and other people in the real-estate industry interested about various aspects of the real estate market.
However, we can't always predict what aspects of the housing market will be significant to every reader. Are we covering information that's helpful to everyday business? Does it contain too much academic jargon? Is it relevant? As the Communications Representative for Research, feel free to e-mail me to suggest other topics you would be interested in hearing about, or follow the link at the bottom of every Commentary article to e-mail comments and suggestions to the Research division. We want to listen to what you want and provide information you need — informed consumers make the best consumers, and informed members make the best REALTORS®.
The Economist's Commentary page isn't the only medium we have for members to find vital and relevant information on the housing market. Every month, we also produce two e-newsletters: the Research Update and Real Estate Insights, which have approximately 80,000 subscribers. The Research Update goes out on the 15th of every month, while Real Estate Insights is sent out on or around the 21st of the month. These e-newsletters are available by subscription and are free to all members.
This is one in a series of commentaries by the Research staff of the National Association of REALTORS®. Read more commentaries >
Comments? Questions? E-mail NAR Research.
