Getting away from formulaic housing stories

Steve Myers, the managing editor of Poynter.org, writes Wednesday about how business reporters can avoid writing boring and formulaic stories about the housing market.

Myers writes, “The routine approach is to call an economist or real estate agent and ask what the latest figures mean. That’s how we end up with conventional wisdom like ‘It’s time to buy‘ and oversimplifications like ‘Buyers are getting off the fence.’

“Consider letting others handle the commodity news while you aim for a more complete, data-driven and less anecdotal picture. Perhaps median home prices appear to be rising because expensive homes are selling, contrary to the overall market.. Maybe prices are dropping because so many of the sales are foreclosures and short sales.

“Here’s one way to add meaning: A recent New York Times story reported that one price index may have exaggerated price declines because it includes short sales and foreclosures — homes that probably are in bad shape. On the other hand, a price index based on refinancings most likely was too rosy because the only homes being refinanced are the ones that aren’t underwater — homes that held their value better than the rest of the market.

“If identifying the bottom of the market is important – for homeowners or as a general market indicator – perhaps a news app is a better approach. Show all the indicators and let people sort through them. Annotate it with experts’ opinions about why they believe one indicator or another is more insightful. (The Times did a story along these lines a few years ago, but I wish it had an interactive component.)”

Read more here.