Just a simple chart here, from Sempra Metals‘ prolific John Kemp.
New home sales shrank again in January to a seasonally adjusted rate of just 604,000, running at less than half their July 2005 peak. Starts also continue to fall as builders respond to a slumping market.
The worst is not yet over. Housebuilding rates will continue to fall throughout much — perhaps all — of 2008. There will be no recovery before 2009 at the earliest.
