Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Housing starts in the U.S. plunged more than forecast to a 14-year low in September, the Commerce Department said. Building permits fell 7.3 percent to a 1.226 million pace. The number of housing starts was the lowest since March 1993. The decline was led by a plunge in construction of townhouses, apartments and condominiums."

"Construction of single-family homes fell 1.7 percent to a 963,000 rate, today’s report showed. Work on multifamily homes slumped 34 percent to an annual rate of 228,000."

"The decrease in starts was led by a 28 percent drop in the Midwest. Construction fell 12 percent in the South and 10 percent in the West. Starts jumped 45 percent in the Northeast. The number of homes under construction fell 1.4 percent to a 1.114 million pace and the number of properties completed dropped 8.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.391 million."

The Street.com. "‘Starts have declined at almost a 40% annual rate over the last three months, as the problems in credit markets gave the housing market another leg downward,’ said Wachovia economic analyst Adam York. ‘We think new construction will continue to decline into 2008.’"

"Housing analysts continue to say that a reduction in overall home inventories is a necessary precursor to any recovery in housing prices, which are falling in nearly half of U.S. markets."

From MarketWatch. "Economists were clearly shaken by the accelerating weakness in housing starts. ‘There is no end in sight to the drop,’ said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics."

"He noted that housing starts fell 66% from 1978 to 1981. ‘This episode will likely be worse. The housing hit is intensifying,’ Shepherdson said."

The Housing Hit Is Intensifying