That Hissing Sound... Me, Pessimistic?

By Ben Tripp
Created Nov 27 2006 - 9:22am

If you have ever wondered what the bursting of the South Sea Bubble or the
Tulip Bubble or the Wall Street Crash of 1929 sounded like, listen carefully
to the housing market [1] --with the rest of the economy to follow.

"Homebuilders received more unwelcome news on Friday, as a U.S. Department
of Commerce report noted that privately owned housing starts in October were
14.6%% below the revised estimate for September and 27.4%% below the October
2005 rate. Single-family housing starts also plunged 15.9%% below the
prior-month rate."

Shakka-bamm.

"Last month, the Commerce Department reported that the median price of a
new home fell by the largest amount in 35 years. The median home price in
September was $217,100, representing a 9.7%% decline from September 2005. It
was the steepest year-over-year decline since December 1970."

Fa-zowie.

Add that little nugget of brown stinkiness to the following [2]: