Sales of new homes plummet (40% decline for 3-month period is sharpest in 15 years)

sacbee.com ^ | November 16, 2005 | Andrew LePage

[2banana]

Hmmmm...cooling off, bubble popping, return to normalcy?

[apackof2]

Or regional adjustment

[theDentist]

Sacramento. Houses in California are much costlier, and taxed to the hilt.

[ChadGore]

Admin, please change this headline to include:

in the Sacramento region

[LS]

Exactly as I predicted. Now . . . check EXISTING HOME SALES after CHRISTMAS, when they will go up dramatically, because the price of an existing home relatively to building a new home will be much better.

[son of caesar]

this is happening in all the high cost areas, not just in sacramento. this news is avaiable in any business paper if one cares to find it.

[starfish923]

Bubble not popping.
Interest rates have climbed a bit.
The holidays are coming up.
The new homes MIGHT be where there are no shopping malls, freeways, gas stations, etc.
The new homes MIGHT be over-priced.

Bubble not popping....just readjusting to the local conditions.

An acquaintance of mine has a home in North Dakota....three bedroom, two bath. The home is worth $60,000. That same house in California would be triple the price, at least. In San Francisco, it would be one million. IN L.A. or Hawaii, London, Paris, MILLIONS.

Location, location, location.
Those new homes in Sacramento -- SOMETHING smells a little fishy. :o)

[Long Distance Rider]

"Also, some builders insist they're strictly enforcing the anti-speculator clause in their sales contracts and will cancel deals if they learn a buyer is an investor, not a primary resident"

ANTI-SPECULATOR CLAUSE? What the heck is that? Is it now illegal in in California to speculate on real estate? or own rental property? No wonder people and companies like Nissan are leaving there.

[HamiltonJay]

[raybbr]

... now find it more difficult to use the most aggressive, riskiest forms of financing.

Why now? Why stop offering these risky forms of financing now? If it was okay two months ago why not now?

[afnamvet]

Friends of ours just sold their 2350 SQ FT home for 730,000... 10,000 over asking in Rocklin ( 25 miles E/O Sacramento). They are moving to eastern Kentucky.

Existing home sales are down just a little here.

[redgolum]

Probably a regional thing, but this should be interesting to you.

[rightinthemiddle]

Sacramento.

Not exactly a good barometer for the rest of the country.

[street_lawyer]

Sales of new homes in the Sacramento are falling, which is a testament to how liberal government fails democracy.

[dangus]

Funny... Nationally sales were up sharply, and prices were up by an obscene amount.

[Moonman62]

They can buy eastern Kentucky with that much money.

[.cnI redruM]

Man, I wish that bubble would hurry up and pop! I looked at 2bdrm, 2bathroom pre-existing condos in Fairfax last weekend. The price is still $350K. The new ones are $450K to $500. Whatever is happening in Sactown needs to hurry up and spread so that the rest of us can afford a roof over our heads.

[Blood of Tyrants]

With housing costs at about $500/sq ft in California, I cannot imagine why.</dry sarcasm>

[dangus]

>> Admin, please change this headline to include:
in the Sacramento region <<

I'll second this request. No need to start false rumors, since nationally home sales were up sharply and prices were up obscenely

[angcat]

Same thing here in NE PA. My house in Putnam County NY is 1/2 million. Bi-levels that are 30 years old? Ok mine is only 13 years old. I will never be able to afford to move back to NY, unless I win lotto.