Lereah culpa: “None of us realized the magnitude of it...”

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Remember David Lereah? The bullish NAR economist and author of ‘Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust’? Of course you do. Newsweek has an interesting interview with him here. Money quotes:

‘We’re not at the bottom ... we’re not there yet. The leading indicators are still very bad. Pending home sales are still in bad shape. Mortgage applications are low … There’s still supply out there in abundance … This thing is going to get worse before it gets better.’

More: ‘’[I] just didn’t realize the scope, the extent, the magnitude of the loose underwriting—not looking at incomes and wages, just providing so many mortgage loans based on [expected] future price appreciation rather than the creditworthiness of the borrower,’ Lereah says. ‘That got so out of hand, and none of us realized the magnitude of it until it was too late.’

Now, then. That clears everything up, doesn’t it? Of course it doesn’t. Banks and lenders were throwing mortgages at borrowers like throw beads at a Mardi Gras parade, and the NAR ‘didn’t’ realize the magnitude of it’? Sorry, not buying it.

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Hat tip: JW, via comments
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