[image by flickr user Casey Serin]
As we were mentioning earlier, things in the housing market are not good. Those mcmansions and shoeboxes we've been featuring haven't been moving the way they used to. CNN Money reports that home inventories are rising, and not just in LA. Those losers in Vegas are getting especially screwed.
The once remarkably hot Las Vegas metro market, for example, now has more than double the number of homes on the market - 26,243 compared with 13,238 - than it did in September, 2005, when the local housing market was near its peak. In Los Angeles, inventory has more than tripled since July, 2005, as it has in Miami since October 2005. In Phoenix, there were 50,062 homes for sale during April, compared with 11,656 in July, 2005 for more than a three-fold jump.
Also, the LA Business Journal reports that KB Homes has sold off its stake in French developer Kaufman & Broad SA. KB claims it was done so that they can continue to focus on their core business of building homes in America for Americans, who love homes. As long as we keep popping out babies, that business will remain strong.
· Housing glut: From bad to worse [CNN Money]
· KB Accepts Bid on French Builder [LABJ]