Home Research Commentaries The Housing Bust, by Region
The Housing Bust, by Region PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kerry A. Lynch   
Wednesday, 09 April 2008 06:33

The number of new single-family homes sold in the United States last year, 775,000, was 40 percent below the peak reached in 2005. The extent of this remarkable bust has varied widely by region, just as the preceding boom did.

As shown in the chart below, the boom was greatest in the South and the West. (These two regions together account for 75 percent of all new-home sales). In terms of the number of units sold, these regions have also experienced the sharpest downturns. However, in percentage terms, the downturn has been most severe in the Midwest. The boom there was modest to begin with, and sales of new homes have fallen by over 40 percent from their peak.

Home Sales by Region

 

 
Comments (2)
Land use
2 Friday, 11 April 2008 16:05
Michael Rizzo
Don't overlook the fact that much of the northeast suffers from strict land-use policies that prevent as many new homes being built here as elsewhere. I doubt that existing home prices, or sales of existing homes resemble the above picture. And also don't forget that this is not a cerebis paribus picture ... what would new home sales have looked like in the northeast absent the boom?
Shocking
1 Friday, 11 April 2008 13:14
Ryan Goodenough
I'm shocked by the fact that the Northeast didn't experience the housing boom like other areas of the country. Thankfully, that also means that we aren't experiencing the same bust. Apparently, we learned our lesson in the mid 80's.

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