irony can be delicious / juxtaposition of PruDE quote and data in NY Post worth a smile

pumping the market, no matter the cost
Today’s brief item in the NY Post Manhattan Bumps Real-Estate Slump from Bloomberg is amusing for at least one reason.
 
The context:
The Real Estate Board of New York’s Q3 data shows that median prices for Manhattan apartments were up 6% for the quarter.
 
The quote:
 
"I haven’t seen any slump, I’ve seen the opposite," said Dottie Herman, CEO of Manhattan brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
 
Ms. Herman, meet Mr. Miller
It has long been a problem that different firms and different sources report different data about the Manhattan market that purports to describe the same stuff. The REBNY data is a little different from other reports, as the Post notes today:
 
The new New York figures contradict an October report by Miller Samuel Inc., the borough’s largest appraiser. Its data showed median prices fell 4 percent to $845,147 for the quarter.
 
One could argue that a 4% drop in median prices was a sign of a “slump”, though not to Ms. Herman, apparently.
 
The irony:
 
The report of a 4% drop in median Manhattan apartment prices in the last quarter is prepared by Miller Samuel for – and extensively branded and publicized by – Prudential Douglas Elliman.
 
You can’t make this stuff up.
 
© Sandy Mattingly 2006
Tagged with: , , ,

Leave a Reply