Home Builders Slash Production

Fewer home starts will lower excess inventory of new
Spokane homes for sale.

clipped from www.spokesmanreview.com Crisis slams home starts Martin Crutsinger Associated Press October 18, 2008 WASHINGTON – The nation is on track to build fewer homes this year than at any time since the end of World War II, adding to the woes of an economy that analysts said Friday has almost certainly entered a recession. A monthly survey by the National Association of Home Builders showed sentiment among home builders hit a record low in early October. He forecast that builders will keep slashing production in coming months, with construction starts for new homes and apartments totaling just 936,000 this year, the lowest level since 1945. Analysts said new data released Friday showed it's probably too late to avoid a recession. clipped from www.spokesmanreview.com On the housing front, while the sharp cutbacks in production will help reduce huge inventories of unsold homes, the problem is that rising levels of foreclosures are dumping more homes on the already glutted market.