Real estate

When the real estate market is depressed and the paper reports on it, you can be sure that the staff will hear from angry real estate agents. Not only do they think the paper should cast the story in "a positive light," but they also think the paper's reporting is a main cause of the sluggishness.

Not yet during a strong market have I heard from a real estate agent giving credit to the paper for driving sales by reporting the numbers even though it makes sense that if the paper is blamed for the bad it should be credited for the good.

Having said that, there are always different interpretations of the same story. Today's Business Review is a good example. On 1A, a headline says, "A buyer's market for condos?" On the cover of Business Review, the headline is "Locked in; big jump in condo supply hampers sales, prices." And atop the story, the headline is, "Flood Tide: Charleston area awash with condos for sale."

All are correct. All tell readers what the story is about.

It is understandable that real estate agents get edgy when their business slows. But, as this story indicates and other stories have indicated as well, slow news for sellers might be good news for buyers. All headlines are not going to say what real estate agents want them to say, but having educated buyers/sellers has to be a good thing.