[Austin]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/24/D8GI0TIO0.html
New Home Sales Plummet in February
Mar 24 10:22 AM US/Eastern
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON
Sales of new homes plunged by the largest amount in nearly nine years in February while the median price of a new home dropped for the fourth straight month, providing fresh evidence that the nation's once-booming housing market is cooling off.
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes dropped by 10.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 1.08 million homes. It was the second straight monthly decline and was much bigger than the small 2 percent dip that Wall Street was expecting.


PS: 2% is a little different than 10%. Si or NO?

[Denis DeSaix]

Wall Street analysts need to get out of the skyscrapers and go out in the field and see the discounts and credits being offered by the builders for homes that had contracts that have been canceled (many by so-called "investors").

[Wil in Norcal]

IN the metro Phoenix area last year was a record setter. So what I am seeing now is more like the market is correcting it self. I do Appraisals for several large builders in the area and the work is steady. Last year I saw base price increased as much as 40k in just one month. Now it seems we are returning to a state of semi normalacy. I am seeing increased in base price now but closer to 2k-5k a month or every sixty days.

[Steve Owen]

The difference between correction and bust is merely degree. I don't see any evidence of a bust in my market area yet... there may be a bit of correction going on.

[Jerry Lieb]

Our "bubble" has not burst, but there is definitely a good sized leak in it...!

Maricopa County Arizona, which I believe is where Phoenix is located (Wil, correct me if I'm wrong) was the fastest growing county in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census Bureau. I would think your market will do fairly well - even if it slows a bit.

We're in Riverside County California, which was second fastest growing county in the U.S. according to the same U.S. Census report. This is growth by "numbers of people", not by percentage. Our order flow is down from a year ago - but we're still managing to keeping busy both residentially and commercially.

[Dee Dee]

http://www.benengebreth.org/housingt...izona/Phoenix/

[Bobby Bucks]

Dee Dee I like that avatar….whoever it is has their ducks in a row…..the virus is real, the bubble isn’t. I wonder if it's Mike Simpson out collecting rent?

[jay trotta]

How come "bubble" is being used when it's really more like a balloon ?

leakage (in a balloon) results in the balloon comming back down to earff

similarily, the housing market has been in the high winds for some time now and me thinks the balloon has sprung a leak.....fizzle fazizle

[Brad Ellis]

Austin,

But sales of existing homnes incrreased 5.2% last month.

Brad

[jonathan asbury]

Slight correction going on in the SF bay, mostly on the outskirts. I only do residential appraisals (purch,re-fi,estate) and this quarter (jan-mar) is my best ever. I am absolutly swamped.

jonathan