November 18, 2009 9:20 AM
New U.S. housing starts in October unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in six months, weighed down by a sharp decline in new construction. Despite or perhaps “to spite” expectations for 600,000 new units, housing starts dropped 10.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units, the lowest level since April and the percentage drop was the biggest since January.
Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital tells Tech Ticker that house prices are still too expensive with the large supply of new and old houses:
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This has to be a joke. They are “surprised”? Why would anyone build new houses when there is a complete glut of unsold homes, old and new–and more coming on the market every day as foreclosures continue. Every developer and builder is screwed for years to come, and a lot of homeowners to boot.