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Salt Lake Builders Make ‘Buy-Now’ Headlines in Local Newspaper
Faced with newspaper headlines reading “New-home sales reach 12-year low” and “U.S. home foreclosures skyrocket,” local home builder associations often witness first-hand the damage that negative reporting can inflict upon the local housing market and the businesses of their members.
Sensational news media coverage has been especially troubling to HBAs in markets that have averted the harsh downturn being experienced in some of the hardest-hit housing markets in the country. Hammered with negative national coverage that didn’t apply to their market, the Salt Lake Home Builders Association (SLHBA) decided to take action and set the record straight to show local consumers why now is a great time to buy.
Curtis Dowdle, the association’s executive officer, used NAHB’s Myth Buster Resources to write an article that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.
“Buy a new home? Sorting through the myths vs. reality” addressed information provided in local news stories that didn’t accurately reflect local conditions.
One “myth” was that Salt Lake home values were dropping on a daily basis. Dowdle’s article corrected that inaccuracy, letting readers know that “despite the fact that the number of transactions are down in the Salt Lake market, the prices continue to escalate.”
To reinforce the fact that all housing markets are local, Dowdle showed the disparity between the local and national numbers. He incorporated sales numbers and home values from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors® and statistics on job, population and household income growth from the University of Utah’s Eccles School of Business to portray a robust economy with healthy underlying fundamentals for housing.
Dowdle believes that his efforts to dispel the myths in his area have been effective in narrowing the perspective of local news coverage on housing to local industry conditions.
Since his article appeared, Salt Lake Tribune headlines have announced: “Utah not sinking as fast as rest of nation,” “Utah still leads the nation for rising home prices,” “Believe it or not, Utah house market is best in the nation” and “Utah marks fifth quarter in row as nation's home-price increase leader.”
NAHB is encouraging local associations to leverage the Myth Buster Resources to provide the media and the public with verifiable and relevant housing market statistics and information to counter the distortion of broad national news reports.
The continuously updated materials in the Myth Buster section include housing forecasts for the nation’s top 100 markets; background information on statistical reports frequently cited by the media; questions and answers on housing myths and consumer concerns; and consumer-targeted television spots, print ads and handouts that can be customized for a local audience.
To read how the Kansas City Home Builders Association used the NAHB Myth Buster Resources for a media outreach campaign, click here.
For more information, e-mail Gwyn Donohue at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8447.
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