Luxury Home Builder Says Prices Stopped Rising

Toll Brothers, the country’s largest builder of high-end homes, reported yesterday that the era of sky-rocketing prices is drawing to a close:

“The price increases pre-Katrina were at warp speed, and since Katrina, instead of going up $5,000 or $10,000 every week or two, we have been limited to no price increases or very limited price increases,” Robert I. Toll, the company’s chief executive, said in a conference call yesterday. The number of investors buying condominiums and houses in the hope of turning a quick profit also seems to have plunged, he said in an interview last week. “The true speculator is gone from the market,” Mr. Toll said.

No need to cry for Toll Brothers however: Even with its reduced forecast, the company expects to sell 7 percent more homes this fiscal year than last.
Builder Sees Slower Home Sales [NY Times]