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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (759883)	2/28/2007 4:47:28 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

"Housing starts... I think that spring could bring good news in that sector." Think you are probably early for that hope: Residential construction industry is suffering its steepest annual sales drop in 16 years. Investment in residential construction – also know as homebuilding – is plummeting, as is the growth of personal spending. (Home equity represents more than half of household net worth – and close to 75% of middle class household net worth.) Freddie Mac tightening lending requirements... (doesn't want to buy anymore sub-prime loans that may go bust). The slump in housing deepened during the final three months of last year with sales falling in 40 out of 50 states. 21 mortgage lenders have now gone kaput since about December 2006... See the 'Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter': ml-implode.com Wall Street balking at extending credit to lenders.... Financial Times reported that housing starts in January fell to their lowest level in 10 years. Work on houses dropped 14% in the month. (Bad weather was likely a factor, too....) According to Freddie Mac, U.S. house prices have climbed 6.2% a year over the past 30 years. (Most homeowners didn’t actually net this much, however. To calculate bottom-line profits, you’d have to deduct property taxes, homeowners insurance, maintenance costs, and mortgage interest.) Latest numbers (median sales) showed that --- for the first time in decades --- house values actually declined last year... to the tune of approximately -1.4%, if memory serves. I would wait awhile before accepting at face value the spin from the housing industry's PR flacks that 'the bottom is in'....