The financial press is not trying to bring down housing, as some in the real estate industry may worry, but it doesn't mind letting a little air out of the real estate bubble, according to Fortune Magazine's managing editor Rik Kirkland.

Kirkland defends the story, 'Is Real Estate Next?', written by reporter Shawn Tully for the October 13th edition of Fortune, as being "very deeply researched and carefully argued, and very responsible in its tone and analysis."

"I”d kind of like to take a wager that it will be proven wrong," says Kirkland. "The piece was written in October and the latest data suggests that prices are softening. We are hearing about the Fed raising rates next spring, but the notion that housing has had the best of its run-off and has to go sideways in some markets and go down in others is a reasonable argument. You can pick at any of the details but I strongly stand behind the story."

Coldwell Banker President Alex Perriello pointed out to Kirkland that one of the homes featured in the article, a Coldwell Banker listing, was a distressed home that sold for $285,000 in 1996, and was extensively remodeled to be on par with the market for its new asking price of $1.2 million. As the home was featured for its astounding 319 percent gain, Perriello felt those were material facts about the home which should have been included in the article but were not.

Realty Times asked Kirkland how Tully found out about the $1.2 million three-bedroom Victorian home. "He cares more about the particulars of the house, and I hope that the particulars are correct. I’m a magazine maker, visually it is an effective-looking picture. It’s not an impressive house for the asking price, but that’s why we have a market."

Did Mr. Tully know that this was a distressed home?

"He’s deeper into the details. I would argue intellectually, the person who bought it will get a good return for their money. Here’s the point, any house anywhere, if you sink several hundred thousand dollars, you might not get a return - you get a return if the market is rising. The article wasn’t a Coldwell Banker buyers' guide, but it was actually an overview of the market using these houses."

Does Kirkland feel a distressed home that has been extensively remodeled is a fair example of housing gains?

"I reject that there is anything relevant to say about the life story of this house."

That concentrating on coastal markets, which often overheat and recede, is a fair barometer for the national market?

"You decide, a lot of the new economy jobs in technology and media are in these coastal markets and this is where people took money out of the market and put money into real estate. You can generalize where the biggest run-up is and say it’s not this bad elsewhere, but I think we did that."

Mr. Perriello, along with Walter Molony, the statistics spokesperson for the National Association of Realtors, both feel and are able to cite numerous examples that the financial press is hyping a housing bubble. What does Kirkland say?

"I think I’ve read pieces in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and I thought they were all responsible, and they just raised the question whether this rapid run-up in prices is a good thing. I think we did it earlier and better. No. I don’t think it is an overreaction."

"We worry that if we keep going up the way we have," he explains, "it could be bad for the economy. It's (the financial press) taking out a little air now, like Allan Greenspan should have taken air out of technology stocks. We’d all be better off if a little air came out of the housing market bubble. It’s not a tech bubble, but where it’s going - up 50 to 70 percent in five years, it does feel like Wylie Coyote running off a cliff."

What would Kirkland like to say to the real estate industry? "I guess I think that they protest too much."

Published: December 12, 2002

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.