I don't know if things will get turned around soon or not. Alongside of home owners just not being able to make that house payment anymore, I am so tired of flipping on the news or surfing the internet to find another company laying off workers.

Jay, the housing market is tough everywhere - except maybe Washington DC and Texas where the ex-politico is going and the new ones are going to be setting up camp.

I disagree with James and his entitlement remark. Why is it always OK to give our tax dollars to Wall Street and Bankers who live a very comfortable lifestyle, but not the American workers? If the plan is to "trickle it down" to me, forget about it. Let's reverse the pay out and give me the money to pay off my mortgage, make repairs to my house, buy a new car, and for those that got "tricked" into buying a house they can't afford - let them re-negotiate the loan to a 30 or 50 year fixed rate. Then the money can trickle up to the Bankers and Wall Street suits.

As for the builders and flippers who got caught in the middle - Well, next time they can go to Vegas and try for the triple 7's. Vote Obama!

As bad as things in Phoenix and Las Vegas are the forclosure capital is still St. George, Utah. Which is just 50 miles south of Cedar City. As a realtor it sucks for the clients but for us my job has gottan easier.

I agree, Jay. It is all rather depressing. I think it is terrible that a homebuilding company that has been building quality homes in the Valley for over 30 years is out of business. Another sign that things aren't getting any better. I believe we will continue to see more homebuilders and real estate companies closing their doors.

**Kim Stoegbauer´s last blog post..Large Valley Homebuilder Collapses - Brown Family Communities</abbr></abbr>

"Maybe this entitlement attitude is what got us in this mess in the first place."

A-freaking-men!

I may have to steal that line for a new post (with full attribution of course!)

Everytime I hear anyone complaining about not recieving any of the 700 billion bailout money it ticks me off. In addition it makes me sad to see what my country has become. Back during the great depression almost no one would take the welfare funds from the U.S. government. Even when they were nearly starving. However today almost everyone is complaining that they have not recieved any of the federal bailout money. Maybe this entitlement attitude is what got us in this mess in the first place.

It's definitely a tough market in Phoenix for many home builders, homeowners and industry professionals/employees. There is light at the end of the tunnel (you mentioned some neutral areas) but the tunnel seems so long.

I just hope that the family's of the 55 (or ?) laid off employees can make it through these times without losing their homes or more. Hopefully, they can find a job somewhere ...

It really surprised me how volatile the Phoenix real estate market is. My cousin who lives just outside of Phoenix ended up losing her home after a divorce because she was upside down. I thought the MD / DC market was tough.

**John´s last blog post..Crownsville Real Estate</abbr></abbr>

@John - I agree with you completely. It's difficult to feel sorry for these builders. They chose to over-build. They were sticking it to buyers (and yes, agents) during the boom times on a regular basis. That they now whine about not getting "bailout" money irritates the hell out of me.

@Property Qwest Blog - you make astute observations. I can tell you anecdotally that we are seeing much more interest of late from cash buyers. I think we'll begin to see price declines slow. We're already seeing isolated areas where the overall market has shifted from a very strong buyers market to more neutral. These are all indicators that we may be nearing a bottom.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Almost as fast as the prices shot up in the Phoenix, AZ metro area, they've dropped. The silver lining is that home sales and pending home sales seem to be trending in the right direction looking back over the past year. Housing starts / building permit numbers "cratered" in the past report which ultimately will help with a stabilization of the outrageous inventory levels, some of the "bailout" money will begin to make it to the street, and it looks like the Feds will bring down the Federal Funds Rate yet again.

Prices have yet to stabilize but I believe the pace of the nosedive will begin to subside as some of the drastic measures that have been employed and the amount of liquidity that has been and will continue to be pumped takes effect. Furthermore, more cash investors should begin to enter the market to take advantage of some of the great values available, improved cash flow scenarios, and the knowledge that prices have dropped significantly but values cannot and will not stay down forever. Couple this with the wild swings on wall street and I believe we are beginning to see a recipe for a market that is slowly beginning to stabilize. We may not quite be there yet but, I believe we're getting close.

**Property Qwest Blog - Real Estate News and Housing Data´s last blog post..S&P Case-Shiller Report - Home Values Continue to Plummet</abbr></abbr>

How much money did Brown Communities make in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and where did that money go?

<cite>Brown said that he has been able to pay refunds to buyers who made down payments on homes that can’t be completed.</cite>

That is nice but what about those poor people who recently bought in his dead end communities which now have standing, uncompleted eyesore homes that may not be completed for years in communities that may not be completed for years and which likely will end up looking very, very different than what the current owners were told by Brown Communities.

I don't know if things will get turned around soon or not. Alongside of home owners just not being able to make that house payment anymore, I am so tired of flipping on the news or surfing the internet to find another company laying off workers.

Jay, the housing market is tough everywhere - except maybe Washington DC and Texas where the ex-politico is going and the new ones are going to be setting up camp.

I disagree with James and his entitlement remark. Why is it always OK to give our tax dollars to Wall Street and Bankers who live a very comfortable lifestyle, but not the American workers? If the plan is to "trickle it down" to me, forget about it. Let's reverse the pay out and give me the money to pay off my mortgage, make repairs to my house, buy a new car, and for those that got "tricked" into buying a house they can't afford - let them re-negotiate the loan to a 30 or 50 year fixed rate. Then the money can trickle up to the Bankers and Wall Street suits.

As for the builders and flippers who got caught in the middle - Well, next time they can go to Vegas and try for the triple 7's. Vote Obama!

As bad as things in Phoenix and Las Vegas are the forclosure capital is still St. George, Utah. Which is just 50 miles south of Cedar City. As a realtor it sucks for the clients but for us my job has gottan easier.

Yes Jay, the market is getting volatile day by day. The news is same here in Texas. With every new Goverment action to stabilize the housing crisis, it seems to get worse. Maybe this is just a phase and lets hope everything stabilizes with the new Government in power!

I agree, Jay. It is all rather depressing. I think it is terrible that a homebuilding company that has been building quality homes in the Valley for over 30 years is out of business. Another sign that things aren't getting any better. I believe we will continue to see more homebuilders and real estate companies closing their doors.

**Kim Stoegbaueru00c2u00b4s last blog post..Large Valley Homebuilder Collapses - Brown Family Communities</abbr></abbr>

"Maybe this entitlement attitude is what got us in this mess in the first place."

A-freaking-men!

I may have to steal that line for a new post (with full attribution of course!)

Everytime I hear anyone complaining about not recieving any of the 700 billion bailout money it ticks me off. In addition it makes me sad to see what my country has become. Back during the great depression almost no one would take the welfare funds from the U.S. government. Even when they were nearly starving. However today almost everyone is complaining that they have not recieved any of the federal bailout money. Maybe this entitlement attitude is what got us in this mess in the first place.

It's definitely a tough market in Phoenix for many home builders, homeowners and industry professionals/employees. There is light at the end of the tunnel (you mentioned some neutral areas) but the tunnel seems so long.

I just hope that the family's of the 55 (or ?) laid off employees can make it through these times without losing their homes or more. Hopefully, they can find a job somewhere ...

I agree Jay the news isnt so good concerning anything in AZ about real estate. Eventually things will rebound but from day to day its like just more bad news down the pipe.

It really surprised me how volatile the Phoenix real estate market is. My cousin who lives just outside of Phoenix ended up losing her home after a divorce because she was upside down. I thought the MD / DC market was tough.

**Johnu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Crownsville Real Estate</abbr></abbr>

John - I agree with you completely. It's difficult to feel sorry for these builders. They chose to over-build. They were sticking it to buyers (and yes, agents) during the boom times on a regular basis. That they now whine about not getting "bailout" money irritates the hell out of me.

@Property Qwest Blog - you make astute observations. I can tell you anecdotally that we are seeing much more interest of late from cash buyers. I think we'll begin to see price declines slow. We're already seeing isolated areas where the overall market has shifted from a very strong buyers market to more neutral. These are all indicators that we may be nearing a bottom.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Almost as fast as the prices shot up in the Phoenix, AZ metro area, they've dropped. The silver lining is that home sales and pending home sales seem to be trending in the right direction looking back over the past year. Housing starts / building permit numbers "cratered" in the past report which ultimately will help with a stabilization of the outrageous inventory levels, some of the "bailout" money will begin to make it to the street, and it looks like the Feds will bring down the Federal Funds Rate yet again.

Prices have yet to stabilize but I believe the pace of the nosedive will begin to subside as some of the drastic measures that have been employed and the amount of liquidity that has been and will continue to be pumped takes effect. Furthermore, more cash investors should begin to enter the market to take advantage of some of the great values available, improved cash flow scenarios, and the knowledge that prices have dropped significantly but values cannot and will not stay down forever. Couple this with the wild swings on wall street and I believe we are beginning to see a recipe for a market that is slowly beginning to stabilize. We may not quite be there yet but, I believe we're getting close.

**Property Qwest Blog - Real Estate News and Housing Datau00c2u00b4s last blog post..S&P Case-Shiller Report - Home Values Continue to Plummet</abbr></abbr>

How much money did Brown Communities make in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and where did that money go?

<cite>Brown said that he has been able to pay refunds to buyers who made down payments on homes that canu00e2u0080u0099t be completed.</cite>

That is nice but what about those poor people who recently bought in his dead end communities which now have standing, uncompleted eyesore homes that may not be completed for years in communities that may not be completed for years and which likely will end up looking very, very different than what the current owners were told by Brown Communities.