"For the first time in four years, January sales volumes failed to meet or exceed the preceding December's sales. In January 2010, sales volumes failed to match the same numbers as January 2007 and 2008 despite record low interest rates not available to buyers in those years.You'll have a chance to redeem yourself in tomorrow's print edition. I wait with baited breath. Tell you what, you can cut and paste my words above, without attribution. You can even claim the words as your own. I know you're more than capable of doing this.
While out-performing a dismal January 2009 is surely a sign of an improved real estate market in Victoria from the doldrums of last winter, the lack of sales volume in January 2010 compared to December 2009--typically the slowest sales month of the year--marks a significant shift for the over-heated Victoria real estate market. Interested readers can review the detailed sales statistics freely available on the Victoria Real Estate Board's website."
By the way, did you even write any of your own words today? I can't tell. Looks to me like you just parroted, er, paraphrased what Michael Sampson, VREB's Manager of Communications made available for you. I hope you at least get an occasional lunch out of this incestuous relationship, you certainly can't be experiencing any journalistic pride.
February 2 Update: They do read, they did listen, they didn't copy and paste, but hey look, they did five minutes worth of digging through previous years' stats (yes that's plural, they went farther back than 2009) and they tried to inject some balance without upsetting their largest local advertising revenue source.
I guess that's all we can ask of a media company firing on its last cylinder. Of course, they probably blame Craigslist and the internet when they sit around the lunch room reminiscing about the good old days. Here's a hint people: it's the product, not the competition.
