“…bubble bloggers have become the sages of the day.”

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

As bubble sags, market critics are busting out
By Carol Lloyd

When the market was booming, every baby jump in prices was reported with a fascination bordering on mania. As home prices rose like hot-air balloons, they seemed to be borne aloft by the gaseous prognostications of industry professionals.

“There’s nowhere to go but up! Better jump on fast or you’ll be left behind!”

But now the story has changed.

Each day brings reports from Virginia (on rising new home sales cancellations) to Orlando (on plummeting home construction) to Tahoe (on the nearly 25 percent fall in sales). Bad real estate news just keeps coming like a slow-moving train wreck.

But despite the daunting numbers, the real estate industry continues to post optimistic predictions like a tribe of Pollyannas on steroids.
…
Times have changed, though. When the market was booming, his word might have been taken as gospel. But now that the sky is falling, bubble bloggers have become the sages of the day.