Builders Report Rising Sales Losses From Credit Crunch

More tightening of mortgage credit for prospective home buyers just in the past month has further weakened housing market conditions and has increased chances that the housing downturn could draw the nation’s economy into a full-fledged recession toward the end of this year, participants in an Aug. 28 NAHB teleconference on the credit crunch warned.

In a national survey of builders just completed by the association, 62% reported that tighter mortgage lending standards had taken a toll on their home sales during the past month, said Jerry Howard, NAHB’s executive vice president and CEO. That was up dramatically from a 33% response when the same question was asked in March, he said. ...

Oversupply of Rentals Weighs on Multifamily Housing Activity

Feeling the fallout from the ongoing correction to the 2003 to 2005 housing boom, the near-term outlook for multifamily activity is “rather weak,” according to a new forecast report from NAHB economists.

While condominiums — which rose to an abnormally high share of the multifamily market at the height of the boom — are being hit the hardest, market-rate rentals also face tougher going as the supply of available units is bloated by for-sale properties that, at least until conditions improve, are being put up for rent. ...

Nation's Building News Will Not Be Published Sept. 3 and 10

Nation's Building News will not be published Sept. 3 and 10. Regular weekly publication will resume Sept. 17.