Realogy's Response to Editorial in USA Today

Realogy's Response to Editorial in USA Today
On May 29, USA Today's editorial staff wrote, "One bright sign emerges in a gloomy housing market". We wanted to share with you how Richard Smith, President & CEO of Realogy Corporation, responded.
Dear Editor,To suggest in your May 29 editorial that the Justice Department has come to the rescue of the housing sector and is “the only promising development in an otherwise gloomy market for home sellers” is inaccurate and disingenuous. The multi-year ordeal between the DOJ and the National Association of Realtors over Internet listing display rules was like witnessing a battle over how best to deliver mail by horseback. Did someone forget it is 2008? The industry and consumers have moved on. Real estate listings are ubiquitous on the Internet today (just type in “Real Estate for Sale” on Google and you will get 156 million hits). Also, to categorize the settlement as a win for discount brokers and sellers alike is also misguided. Discount or limited-service brokers have had access to multiple listing service (MLS) data for years. Their failure to achieve success, even during the boom years, has not been a lack of access to MLS data, but rather the lack of results. A failed business model by any definition is a failed business model. Crying foul to the federal government, or suggesting that states shouldn’t have the right to legislate minimum service standards for real estate practitioners doing business in their state, is no remedy to a flawed business model. Buying or selling property is a highly complex transaction with a long cycle time. Comparing the sale of a home to buying a share of stock or an airline ticket online is ridiculous at best. Those transactions take seconds to complete and the risk of making a bad decision is an inconvenience or a fraction of one’s net worth – not so with real estate. Home buyers and sellers would all be a lot better off if Congress and the administration focused on ways to stimulate the current housing and credit markets with meaningful and timely initiatives.Richard A. Smith President & CEORealogy CorporationParsippany, New Jersey
Click here to read the editorial from May 29.