Suburbs are unsustainable?

[begingri]

Builders of New Homes Seeing No Sign of Recovery

Sales of new single-family homes in February were down more than 80 percent from the 2005 peak, far exceeding the 28 percent drop in existing home sales. New single-family sales are now lower than at any point since the data was first collected in 1963, when the nation had 120 million fewer residents.

Builders and analysts say a long-term shift in behavior seems to be under way. Instead of wanting the biggest and the newest, even if it requires a long commute, buyers now demand something smaller, cheaper and, thanks to $4-a-gallon gas, as close to their jobs as possible. That often means buying a home out of foreclosure from a bank.

Four out of 10 sales of existing homes are foreclosures or otherwise distressed properties. Builders like Mr. Meier who specialize in putting up entire neighborhoods on a city’s outskirts — Richmond is some 50 miles northwest of downtown Chicago — cannot compete despite chopping prices.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/bu...mc=rss&src=igw

[Det_ard]

Builders of New Homes Seeing No Sign of Recovery

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/bu...mc=rss&src=igw

Those new homes weren't selling after the sub-prime meltdown either, when gas was $1.85. You can't build a new house for less than a foreclosure or short sale in most markets.