Gotcha.
That’s just the sort of frantic, click-hoarding headline St. Johns County’s top real estate YouTuber tackled head on in his latest video.
Thomas Rehberg, the bearded sage behind the popular Living in St. Augustine channel, said online creators know fearmongering boosts views — hence the wild video titles and headlines like the one you succumbed to here.
“There’s plenty of people who make it a business to talk doom and gloom on Youtube,” Rehberg said, noting that he sees his best traffic on negative content while sunnier videos often languish.
With income tied to views, Rehberg said content creators are pumping ruin when it comes to Florida real estate — often at the expense of level-headed analysis.
“When you search Florida housing market on YouTube the first 20 things presented to you are how the market’s going to collapse,” Rehberg said. “That’s what these guys make money off of. Off of views, off of subscribers, off of selling fear.”
He pointed to one YouTuber with more than 250,000 subscribers whose videos suggest that the nation will be little more than a smoldering pile of rubble in a matter of weeks — if not days.
Rehberg recited video titles from other creators that read like low budget horror flicks.
“Condo Nightmare!”
“Panic Selling!”
“Massive Regrets!”
“It’s Over!”
The real estate agent acknowledged his own self-interest in an active market — but said he leans on raw numbers to build trust with subscribers.
“I’m giving you the data that I’m looking at here,” he said. “I research this a lot. I’d be mortified if I told someone something just to make a sale.”
In arguing that Florida’s real estate is careening towards the cliff, “doomer” YouTubers often present bone-chilling statistics without the proper context, Rehberg said.
For example, influencers have pointed to an inarguably sharp rise in housing inventory in recent months as proof of imminent collapse.
But the latest figures, Rehberg said, mark a return to pre-pandemic norms in St. Johns County — and that the area’s population and building booms have pushed numbers higher.
“This active inventory may look a little scary,” he said. “But we have a lot more people living here in Northeastern Florida than we did before.”
To bolster his argument, Rehberg noted that inventory hikes have not tanked prices — and that they are continuing to inch up, albeit at a much lower clip.
“Even though we have more inventory, our properties are still appreciating in our market in a 7% interest rate environment,” he said.
He also addressed a marked increase in how long it’s taking for St. Johns County homes to sell.
“When you see these doomers talking about days on market skyrocketing, well yes, it’s back in the normal range,” he said.
The anxiety artists, Rehberg contended, often present valid arguments and hard data. Is a decline or even crash possible? Of course.
But with their own income tied to terror, objective online analysis too often gets lost in the noise, he said.
One Response
I see what you did there. Interesting article. Truth is no one knows.