Oh, it's so embarrassing to be a member of the Greenwich Association of Realtors, but if I want to sell houses here, I must

GAR Director Theresa Hatton in drag (NTTAWWT)

Greenwich Free Press reports on today's Bloomberg article about discounted prices finally moving Greenwich houses. Unfortunately, the paper chose to give my association's paid flack, Theresa Hatton an opportunity to demonstrate why this profession [sic] is held in such contempt by the general public.

“There is a shortage of inventory, which can account for the increase in days on market; ( if you can explain this to me, you win a free, one-year subscription to this blog) there aren’t a lot of new listings and buyers will need to choose from what is available on the market,” Hatton said in an email on Thursday morning. “Even in our busy spring season, we have 35 fewer listings year-to-date compared to 2016; and we had low inventory in 2016.”

Commenting on the Bloomberg article, Hatton was dismissive.

“The contention about discounts is actually normal in any market and at any price range,” she said. “Homes that are on the market longer sell for less than asking price, homes priced to sell are sold quickly and usually for at or above list price.

Tautologies, half-truths and outright deception; those are the hallmarks of realtors everywhere, and Ms. Hatton could find work anywhere in the country, doing exactly what she does here.

One bit of data the GAR did disclose to its members today: The average days on the market (DOM) for residential homes was 268 days; which was an increase from 187 days in March 2016.