Glenn Crellin in Kitsap Sun

Comments

• Jazen

  June 2007

  So, Seattle is still very special according to them?
• TJ_98370

  June 2007

  Interesting comment about Glenn Crellin made by "Groundhogday" on Ben Jones blog (see below). If Mr. Crellin really is funded totally by the Washington Association of Realtors (WAR), his credibility as an objective commentator on real estate is suspect, in my opinion. I originally believed he drew a salary, funded by the state, as a faculty member of WSU.
  
  ....Does Crellin actually do any research? He is a nice guy and I've chatted with him a few times (we are colleagues at WSU), but Crellin is entirely funded by WAR and doesn't really do any academically credible research.....
• george

  June 2007

  TJ:
  
  Do you have a linky to any concrete information about Crellin's employer to back that up? If true, that would mean 100 percent of the local "experts" quoted in the local press work for the RE/Developer industry one way or the other. (At least from what I've read).
  
  Until I see the proof though I will continue to assume Crellin's bullish bias is all his own. There's no mention here that the Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER) is funded (or controlled by) the Washington Association of Realtors (WAR):
  

  
  The Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER) was created in 1989 by the Washington State University Board of Regents to achieve the university's tripartite mission of education, research and service in real estate. The Center's objectives under this mission include providing research and educational tools to real estate licensees, offering relevant services to practitioners in related businesses, cooperating with state and local government agencies, and keeping consumers informed about important real estate issues. The ultimate goal of the Center is to provide a wide range of useful and understandable information, analysis and knowledge using academic methods in practical context while reporting findings in common language.
  
  http://www.cb.wsu.edu/~wcrer/
• TJ_98370

  June 2007

  Hello george,
  
  I have no personal insight / info as to how Mr. Crellin is funded. Actually, I believe Glenn to be relatively objective with most of his commentaries, even though he is a bit too bullish from my perspective. You seem to share a similar opinion?
  
  I am very much intrigued by "Groundhogday"'s comment (repeated here for clarity):
  
  .....He is a nice guy and I've chatted with him a few times (we are colleagues at WSU), but Crellin is entirely funded by WAR and doesn't really do any academically credible research.....
  
  He posted this comment under the June 10 article "Housing Boom or Bubble" on Ben Jones' The Housing Bubble Blog. I've tried to contact "Groundhogday" with the intent to ask for clarification / verification, with no results as of yet.
  
  Do you think Mr. Crellin would respond to direct inquiry?
• TJ_98370

  June 2007

  With respect to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER), of which Mr. Crellin is the Director - check out the board of trustees. The core business of at least 1/3 of them is directly involved in real estate sales. Maybe I am just too cynical anymore, but I sincerely believe that it's the nature of the sales game to always put the most positive spin you can on market conditions to help improve sales. I believe Mr. Crellin's comments to the media will always project this bias to varying degrees.
• Jazen

  June 2007

  You go TJ, I'm with you. Go.
  It's in their own best interest to skew or misrepresent or whatever the data. Which, I too, believe they are doing. I'm not a big believer in the black helicoptor theory, but I believe that a lot of economic data we are getting is not true.