Real estate reality television shows are everywhere these days. Each show has a slightly different premise, but nearly all of them have one thing...
Real estate reality television shows are everywhere these days. Each show has a slightly different premise, but nearly all of them have one thing...
View Housing Market Watch RSS feedReal estate reality television shows are everywhere these days. Each show has a slightly different premise, but nearly all of them have one thing in common: happy endings. Do these TV programs showcase the true reality of the housing market?
| U.S. Home Prices | Down 2.2% from June 06 |
| U.S. Existing Home Sales | Down 11.4% from June 06 |
| Unsold Home Inventory | Up 11.7% from June 06 |
It doesn't really matter that the housing market is on a downward slide-not on cable TV anyway. Check out this list of real estate reality shows playing on televisions near you:
The above list is just a sampling of some of the reality shows that focus on buying and selling housing. There are many other similar programs that have different names or appear on different channels.
Some of the shows focus on selling homes, and feature nervous homeowners who want to ditch their properties for as much money as possible so they can upgrade, move to the city, move to the country, or get out from under two mortgages. There is generally quite a bit of frustration and perseverance on the real estate agent's end and more than a little nail biting on the seller's end, but because this is television, there is always a happily-ever-after finish and a champagne toast when all is said and done.
Other shows - the vast majority of them, actually - showcase fresh-faced young buyers who are shopping for their dream homes. Some of them are hoping to put down roots and others are looking to buy and sell immediately for huge profits. Again, we see more happy endings.
Even in the midst of this housing slump, or perhaps because of it, these shows attract record numbers of viewers. Is it because buyers and sellers are using the shows as study guides, or is it that they are living vicariously though other people?
'Even with the slowing housing market, it doesn't take away people's interest,' said Frances Berwick, the Bravo channel's executive vice president of programming and production. 'If anything, it makes people slightly more crazy about following it.'
Bravo currently has two real estate reality titles in the works. One is charmingly called 'Flipping Out' and details the exploits of Jeff Lewis, an L.A. real estate speculator. The camera follows Lewis as he buys and sells multiple million dollar properties for six figure profits.
Entertaining, certainly, but does the world of reality television take things too far by glossing over the heartache and financial devastation that many real people are facing in today's housing market? After all, not everyone can realistically expect to make a six-figure profit on a single property sale.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Sconce, an associate professor at Northwestern University's Screen Cultures program, argues against that theory, saying that real estate reality shows are not necessarily for people who will be buying or selling a home, but rather for people who have 'a fantasy of buying or selling a home'.
Given the current state of the housing market, fantasy may be a much better word than reality.
*Housing market statistics obtained from the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
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