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New Home Numbers Continued Decline in May

June 26, 2007

RAY SUAREZ: Raphael Bostic, what's the scene as you review the data that's coming out of California?

RAPHAEL BOSTIC, University of Southern California: Well, in some regards, we're quite similar to what you're seeing in New England, in that we have a tight housing market, in terms of very little supply that's being added in the core part of the region, but also we have really strong underlying fundamentals, which have really helped keep or minimize the extent to which you're going to see these price declines.

What we see in the West is a lot of strength and a lot of confidence, but also pockets of concern, particularly among home builders, who have taken a bet that the houses they're going to build will be sold, sort of "if they build it, they will come." But we're starting to see weakness in those areas.

But in the core parts of most western cities and western locations, we're still seeing strength as the underlying fundamentals, the demand, job growth and job creation have stayed strong, and have really helped keep those markets somewhat stable.

For a complete transcript, please visit the PBS website at
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june07/slump_06-19.html