Dept. of protesting too much: it's a great time to buy a home – really

If you read today’s New York Times, Wall Street Journal or USA Today, you might have seen a full page ad informing you that, “It’s a great time to buy or sell a home.” The ad blitz, the first of its kind sponsored by the National Association of Realtors, a trade group, points to a downward trend in interest rates, high inventories and “stabilized” prices as factors making this the ideal time to buy. But if it’s such a great time to buy, why does the NAR need to spend a fortune advertising the fact? The ad will run Sunday in the Chicago Tribune and in several more major newspapers nationwide.