Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Housing Bubble, Part MCXLVII

Big story! The housing bubble is really bursting now. This time, for sure. From a lede story in the Times stating that the housing market has slowed in every hot market in the country:

In Manhattan, the average sales price fell almost 13 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter, according to a widely followed report to be released today by Miller Samuel, an appraisal firm, and Prudential Douglas Elliman, a real estate firm. The amount of time it took to sell a home was also up 30.4 percent over the same period.

Of course, we’ve been whipsawed by conflicting housing data for awhile now, so here’s the knock-out graph:

In another sign that the housing market might have reached a peak, executives at big home builders have sold almost $1 billion worth of company stock this year.

So there it is.