The median price of a new home dropped nearly 10% in September, 2006 -- the largest one-year decline since 1970. Home builders reduce prices to clear inventory.
"Rule of thumb: If you want to know how bad a housing downturn is, look at prices of new homes. Builders need to keep their cash flowing to meet obligations to lenders, so they do whatever it takes to move the merchandise, even when demand is slumping."
"...The reason new-home prices are a better gauge than existing-home prices is that owners of existing homes can pull their homes off the market when conditions are weak. Doing so shrinks the supply and props up the prices of those few homes that do get sold."
From a press release by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development:
"Sales of new one-family houses in September 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,075,000,according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing andUrban Development. This is 5.3 percent (±15.6%)* above the revised August rate of 1,021,000, but is 14.2percent (±12.2%) below the September 2005 estimate of 1,253,000."
Thanks to Hugh Pavletich
Read the full story: The Housing Fire Sale
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Mass. votes against statewide minimum lot size for single-family homes
Over 2 million residents voted on Question 7; it was decided by just over 30,000 votes.
Maryland’s $15 billion bridge project gains key approval
The Maryland Transit Authority said the project will create over 60,000 jobs and add $23 billion to the local economy.
‘No clear next steps’ for Chicago's permanent festival grounds
Eleventh Ward Ald. Nicole Lee has suggested Soldier Field as a possible location for the permanent event space.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority