Some
believe Long Beach, Calif., won't be hit hard by real
estate slump
LONG BEACH -- It was a scary October for home sales
in Southern California, a real estate report issued
Tuesday shows.
Last
month was the slowest October for the region in a
decade, according to a report by DataQuick Information
Systems.
A total of 22,117 new and resale homes were sold
in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San
Bernardino and Orange counties in October, according
to the DataQuick report.
That number was down 22.4 percent from October a
year ago, and sales were down 2.4 percent from September,
according to DataQuick.
Omaha
real estate glut puzzling
It's something people wonder about as the for-sale
signs proliferate and linger in their neighborhoods:
Why are so many homes for sale?
CBSHome President Larry Melichar said he gets calls
from clients asking, "What's going on?"
Jeff Swantek of East Homes said he and his subcontractors
are comparing the current housing slowdown to the
one they experienced in the early 1980s but are scratching
their heads about why.
"It got this bad when interest rates were 15
(percent) to 20 percent," Swantek said. "It's
slow like that now, but it's different because there's
nothing to really blame it on."