NAR Oracle Named Among Top Economist Forecasters: Las Vegas Realtor Arrested for Mortgage Fraud

Now who was the genuis that ranked the National Association of Realtors'® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun as one of the top 10 economic forecasters? As a matter of fact Mr. Yun was ranked #5.

The Real Men of Genius in this case are the guys at USA Today who included Yun in their annual list recognizing accuracy in economic forecasting. In case you have missed my prior 20 diatribes against Mr. Yun's continued exuberance in overshooting market projections (we're always heading for the rainbow), he is responsible for NAR's real estate statistics and economic forecasting. Be sure to catch the Curbed blog from 2007 when Yun took over as EC (Economic Chief). Chief Yun said of the deteriorating housing market at the time, "To a great extent, we can thank steady media coverage of the real estate market 'correction' for unfounded consumer concern." Always the media.

NAR's press release quotes CEO Dales Stinton, “NAR is proud of USA Today’s recognition of Lawrence Yun and his economic forecast accuracy." Please. “This acknowledgement contributes greatly to NAR’s reputation as the leading innovator in housing-related research.” Audible groan.

"Yun was named NAR’s chief economist and senior vice president of research in November 2007." And projections have been wrong ever since. "He pioneered the development of the Commercial Leading Index after helping develop the residential Pending Home Sales Index." Granted, Yun is quite capable of gathering data, my criticism is that his projections are wildly optomistic and continually and eroneously predicts a eminent market upturn.

“I’m honored to be recognized among some of the best economists in the country,” said Yun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. “The economy and housing industry are facing many challenging issues at this time, which makes this an interesting and stimulating position.” Whatever.

"USA Today enlisted the help of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to determine the most accurate forecasters among the economists surveyed in the newspaper’s quarterly survey on the U.S. economy." My faith is shaken.

If Lawrence Yun remains consistent and continues his historic overly optomistic mantra that things are looking up he will eventually be proven right. Maybe sometime within the next two years. Odds are with him.

"The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. ' Amazing.



No connection to the above.....

Side note of interest from NAR's Realtor Magazine:

Check out this blog on NAR Wisdom. The June issue of Realtor Magazine named a Las Vegas Realtor in their "30 under 30" profile. "Oops!" She was recently indicted for big-time mortgage fraud.CNBC - LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas real estate broker and her husband are facing federal charges they made millions of dollars orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney for Nevada Gregory Brower says Eve Mazzarella, 30, and her husband, Steven Grimm, 45, were indicted Wednesday on bank fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting charges.

Grimm was arrested Thursday in Las Vegas and is due to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. Brower says Mazzarella is being sought.

If convicted, each could face decades in prison and millions of dollars in fines.

The government alleges Mazzarella and Grimm bought more than 200 properties at inflated values using limited liability companies and more than 400 straw buyers to make purchase offers.

The couple allegedly controlled transactions worth more than $100 million.

They allegedly defaulted on mortgage payments on many of the loans, causing at least 118 properties to be sold in foreclosure.

Amazing.