Things are starting to look ugly for the housing market on a national level, with home sales falling and the more homes than ever sitting on the market. Housing starts are starting to decline, too, though they are still high by historical standards. As for single-family homes, sales are down 4.4 percent, the largest drop since 1995, with the number of existing single-family homes on the market up 33 percent year-over-year. The most pain has been felt so far in the South and the West. “[The housing market] hasn’t slowed down a little bit — it has slowed down a lot,” said Doug McCraw, a developer who has scrapped his plans for a 205-unit condominium tower in a neighborhood just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “Anybody who did not have a shovel in the dirt has chosen to wait till the market settles.”
Many Homes on Market, Sales Declining [NY Times]
Housing Slows, Taking Big Toll on Economy [NY Times]