Catherine Reagor of the Arizona Republic gives us her apparent source for the subheading in her article 12 days ago that “home prices may dip 10%.” The last line of her article today states;

“It’s possible that home prices will drop 5 to 10 percent overall,” said Jay Butler, director of the Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University Polytechnic.

So Catherine’s off the hook.

Now, I should tell you that Jay Butler is the source of the data that I use in my home price graphs (see June 15), so I respect the guy.

But… Catherine’s article says, and she’s correct, that the overall median home price has been flat so far this year.

So, Jay thinks median home prices will possibly decline 5 to 10 percent between now and December!?

To paraphrase a recent Federal Reserve Chairman, that’s “irrational gloom.”