News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
New home sales slide
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
The Valley’s new home market continued to sag in November, as building permits and sales slumped. Builders took out 1,985 permits for homes last month, down 55 percent from the same period a year before, according to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter released Thursday by real estate analyst RL Brown.
Some 40,125 new home permits were issued in 2006 through November, a 31 percent decrease from last year.
“The market basically is still reacting to the surge of speculative buying that we saw in 2005 and the fi rst part of 2006,” Brown said.
That resulted in a wave of building contract cancellations when investors grew nervous, he said.
Hundreds of lots of land have been graded in subdivisions throughout the Valley, but few homes are actually being framed, Brown said.
Permit activity won’t start to revive until builders can rid themselves of standing inventory, and when that might happen is anyone’s guess, he said.
“It’s impossible to get a real count,” he said. “It’s a moving target. It changes every day.”
Some 4,139 new home sales were recorded last month, down 18 percent from November 2005.
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: