Thread: New home sales: Down 80% from the boom

Don't look to the new home market for glad economic tidings: Home builders had another dismal sales month in October, falling to just one-fifth of the sales rate during the boom five years ago.

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How much of this is due to fewer new homes being built?
Personally, I'm surprised that so many real estate developers are still trying to build new residential housing; in most places, the local markets are more than saturated with existing homes for sale and foreclosures.
On the demand side, it's minimal to put it mildly, with so many ex-homeowners opting for a residential lease to reduce their financial commitment and the sense of risk.
If you really want to boost real estate values, put a local moratorium on new construction, and encourage developers to renovate existing properties instead. It would consolidate communities and restrict supply for a time, allowing the local market to recover faster.
Cheers,

Here's an interesting discussion about the wavering European real estate market:

Forums - The insanity of European property markets

and some links that were posted on the thread to back up the OP's ideas:
Foreclosed Homes May Flood Spanish Market as Banks Offload Unwanted Assets - Bloomberg
BBVA to Buy Stake in Turkey's Garanti Bank for $5.8 Billion - Bloomberg
BBC NEWS | In Depth | UK House Prices | Overview

As one poster claims though, in France it appears the values are going up:
L’immobilier flambe à nouveau à Paris - Logement - France 3 Paris Ile de France Centre : actualités de Paris et Centre - France 3
But obtaining a mortgage in France is considered strict as compared to US. The number of transactions went down but the price remained fairly stable.

An article that just came out today about the Australian market:
Residents clash with developers over Toorak towers

and

Global trend analysis:
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Foreclosed Home Sales in Spain to Triple Next Year; Steve Keen Comments on Foreclosures in Australia



This may be a decent time to start taking bites at US real estate and perhaps sell it for profit in the next few years and then maybe start looking across the pond for other discounts?