Building costs are plumetting like a rock. Lumber prices have dropped by more than half since 2004, despite rampant USD$ inflation and devaluation. Plenty of cheap Mexican day labourers are available for almost nothing if you know where to find them. This bubble won't be over until it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to build. But even at current prices, theres still plenty of money to be made building houses. Sure, builders might be taking losses on their inventories of land and they might be struggling to make their machinery payments, but they'll keep building until such a point where they can't cover their variable costs (supplies, labour, and fuel). And even then, the builders will all go into Chapter 11, and rape whoever leased or lent them money to buy their construction machinery for all they can (just like the airlines seem to do every few years). The government, IMHO, needs to desperately find a way to re-shape the home building industry into an infrastructure development and construction industry. Theres thousands of bridges that are out of date, interstate highways are crumbling, and public works in many places everywhere are in serious states of decay. The longer that the industry stagnates, the harder it will be to gear it back up.
The economy sucks because of the Bush government. ______________ I'm not a BUSH FAN but this has to be on of the most idiotic statements made by "Idiots" today. He did loosen the lending rules for the POOR and MIDDLE CLASS sheeople, but in no way is the economy due to BUSH. It is so F*&( stupid that I will not waste my time trying to prove the "STATEMENT" invalid and unsound.
26,000 foreclosures in the city of Las Vegas alone.....Ouch. http://www.realtytrac.com/MapSearch/MapSearch/MapSearch.aspx?zipcode=las vegas, NV&zipOnly=true
Can you look at it this way: Its a shame that 10 million Americans opted to rent rather than put a roof of their own ? Money paid on rent goes down the drain and you pay hefty taxes from your paycheck. There is nothing to show and your kids cannot have that puppy this year, and they have to play on the street dodging passing cars? I mean how stupid people can be when it comes to making choices in life. They bury their heads in the sand and life passes them by...
It seems that you are right, for the following link tells of the housing sales slump in the market: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080424/economy.html
Or the millions of people that committed financial suicide buying a home they couldn't afford with the help of the REIC. Yeah another way to look at it. Rent a depreciating asset for 1/3 the cost of buying a home in my area is an intelligent choice for those that don't drink the NAR kool-aid. Even after tax benefits, you're still way ahead renting and haven't suffered a loss of equity/down payment. Buying is NOT always a good choice.