Most People, Not All

Housing crashes through floor

Sales decline picks up speed in 4th quarter; a tough spring ahead

Sales of new homes in the Chicago area fell even faster in the fourth quarter, and with the economy on the brink of recession, homebuilders face another tough spring selling season.

Builders sold 2,196 units in the quarter, a 51% decline from the year-earlier period and the biggest quarterly drop since the residential slump began more than two years ago, according to Tracy Cross & Associates Inc., a Schaumburg-based real estate consulting firm. Homes sold in the quarter at the slowest pace in 15 years, the firm says.

"It's frightening, it's nerve-wracking — it's a lot of things," says Jerry Thiel, president of G. W. Thiel Inc., a Rolling Meadows-based carpentry contractor that employs about 30 carpenters now, down from 275 in 2005.

Sorry, the Golden Age of the construction worker has ended. Back to business as usual. Did they really think it would go on forever??

The housing downturn, longer and deeper than most people expected, has rippled through the local economy, hitting businesses like Warrenville-based Neumann Homes Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, and USG Corp. of Chicago, which saw its third-quarter profit plunge 95% amid weak demand for its wallboard, a key residential construction material. Chicago-based publisher Tribune Co. has seen a steep drop-off in real estate-related advertising. And big-box retailers Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc. are tapping the brakes on plans to expand in the suburbs as residential development slows (Crain's, Dec. 24).

Ya, I suppose they did.

The market "is probably worse than it was in the early '90s," he says.

Well, It did go UP much farther than the 90's too. Shame on you for not getting out while the getting was good. Nothing last forever. Nothing.