Comparing this current new home construction bust to the earlier ones is stunning. Those earlier ones were terrible, I remember them, but this one is a lot worse!
On the other hand, I don’t think there is anywhere to go but up from here… well, I guess we could go sideways for a while. Like in the past, Arizona will eventually pull out of it. (The graph is for U.S. housing starts, not just Arizona housing starts.)
Factoid: If you use 2010 as your base year, the U.S. construction industry built enough new homes in 2005 to last four years.
The Arizona new home construction industry was HORRIBLE about cutting production even after it was clear the party was over. I learned that homebuilders build until they run out of money. Arizona homebuilders continued to overbuild until the bankers cut them off.