Another nice real estate article from John Yantis at the Trib.
R.L. Brown, who tracks the local housing market for homebuilders and real estate clients, said data through July show Valley housing starts are down 20 percent from last year, new home closings are down nearly 10 percent and sales of existing homes have fallen 28 percent.
” I didn’t think it would get this low, and it is,” he said of new home permits.
I don’t follow new home sales like R.L. Brown but a 20 percent decline doesn’t surprise me at all because of this and it’s a good thing. Builders gotta get a grip on their supply.
On slower sales in the resale home market:
” In a sense, that drives the new home market,” Brown said. ” If they can’t sell their present house, wherever it is, then they can’t buy their new house.”