Back in March, we reported that the prolonged housing decline hadn’t affected the popularity of home improvement shows–in fact, TLC was coming out with six new ones this season. And now, the Chicago Tribune says that while consumers may not want to buy homes, we still want to play with them. Take for example, "Build-a-lot," a video game that presents players with home-building challenges including balancing cash flow to meeting the mayor’s demands to ordering supplies. Created for the Windows set by HipSoft, the game was released late last year–when the slump was in full effect. It has since been…

Forget concern about the U.S. sliding into a recession. According to a survey of all 50 state fiscal directors, many states are already in a recession–and as the July 1 fiscal year approaches, the situation may get worse, the New York Times says. The National Conference of State Legislatures report, released Friday, said that "whether or not the national economy is in recession– a subject of ongoing debate — is almost beside the point for some states." The funding shortfalls are so severe in some areas of the country, it looks like–even once the housing slump does noticeably improve–states may…

The government’s new home sales and price results are in–and they don’t seem to indicate that the housing slump might finally be ending. According to the Commerce Department, new home sales fell in March to their lowest level in 16 years–and median home prices fell by the biggest amount in almost 40 years. New home sales declined by 8.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units. That’s the slowest new home sales pace since 1991. Sales were down last month in all regions–most prominently in the Northeast, where they fell 19.4 percent. In the West,…

Single-family homes may be taking a beating–but multifamily affordable housing isn’t. Just ask Fannie Mae. According to The Wall Street Journal, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working to make up for the lenders who have pulled back from project funding, especially in the multifamily affordable housing market. A spokesman for Fannie Mae said that the multifamily market’s low delinquency rates–a scant one-tenth of 1 percent in January–makes it a good bet for the government-backed agency, according to the Journal. Fannie and Freddie aren’t the only ones working to increase affordable housing. As the subprime housing crisis continues, states–including New…

New information from the National Association of Realtors and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight released today provides a fresh look at the housing crisis–but not necessarily a clear one. The OFHEO said today that home prices grew 0.6 percent from January to February. In the 12-month period ending in February, prices fell 2.4 percent. Prices increased 2.2 percent a seasonally adjusted basis in New England, rose 0.3 percent in the Pacific region and fell 0.6 percent In the Mountain region. NAR found that existing home sales fell slightly in March and prices increased a little compared to the…

It’s spring, which according to the New York Times, means thousands of recent college grads will soon be hitting the rental market looking for an apartment … and many will be in for a shock. There is no rental market quite like New York City. As a result, there’s no landlord like a New York City landlord. In some markets, rental property owners may be having a hard time filling units as the economy slows. Vacant units have caused foreclosures in some markets, such as Boston, where multifamily foreclosures rose 27 percent from February 2007 to 2008, according to the…

The rumors were true: President Bush today nominated the head of the Small Business Administration, Steve Preston, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And the media had a ton to say about it: The Associated Press, New York Times and Bloomberg all covered the news almost as soon as it broke. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, also reacted quickly to the news. "I’ve worked with Steven Preston as the SBA Administrator for almost two years now and I’ll be sorry to see him go," Kerry said in a statement. "Mr. Preston inherited an agency…

Two news items today indicate the economy is in real trouble–and may be approaching an even tougher time in the near future. The Fed’s Beige Book indicates the economy is getting worse. The Fed said that "economic conditions have weakened since the last report." Nine districts reported a lesser economic pace; the other three said activity was "mixed or steady." The culprit? Housing: According to Bloomberg, because of the "worst housing contraction in a quarter century," growth declined to a 0.6 annual pace from October to December–a reduction from a 4.9 percent pace during the three prior months. Merrill Lynch…

Disappointing news from the Commerce Department today–housing starts hit their lowest level in 17 years last month. Let’s just take a moment to mull that over: Seventeen years. And that wasn’t the report’s only low point: U.S. homebuilder starts dropped to the lowest rate since 1991, falling 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000. That’s 36.5 percent less than a year ago. Building permits also dropped to 927,000 last month–a 5.8 percent decline and 40.9 percent drop from March 2007. Multifamily unit starts also fell in March by 24.6 percent. The future doesn’t look much brighter–multifamily permits…

Some renters who thought they’d wait out the housing decline before buying may find the slump is landing at their doorstep anyway–and it could leave them homeless. That’s according to an article today in the New York Times that highlighted some of the problems renters are experiencing as landlords default on their loans. From declining service to flat-out evictions, renters are feeling the subprime sting–and they often get little notice their living situation is about to change. Rental properties are now involved in 38 percent of U.S. foreclosures–168,000 households, CBS estimates. The hardest hit areas are ones that have experienced…