December 1, 2008
... Clearly, the home building industry will have to do some serious swimming upstream, because the economic current will be flowing strongly against it in 2009. The recession, according to most economists, isn't likely to end until the second half of the year. It will result in rising unemployment, weak consumer spending, and more foreclosures. Stan Ross, chair of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate, predicts "an even steeper rise in bankruptcies" and an unemployment rate that will reach "at least" 9 percent. "I think we will dig out," he says, adding that the overall economy isn't likely to recover until the fourth quarter of 2009...