Mainstream media tends to present CoreLogic price data as the definitive view on real estate prices – indeed, the only view.

So when CoreLogic says house prices fell (slightly) in Sydney and Melbourne in March, media presented that as fact.

But it’s not fact. It’s simply the world according to one research source.

There are other credible, reputable research entities in Australia, including Domain, SQM Research and the ABS.

And often their data contradicts the CoreLogic figures.

It is important for real estate consumers to be aware that there are different stories being portrayed by the research figures, depending on where you source your data.

And, in the final analysis, it doesn’t really matter which is more accurate. Because both are depicting what recently happened – allegedly – with property prices.

And that does not inform the future.

In real estate investment, it’s the future that matters, not the recent past.