Though the final quarter of 2008 brought the sound of fewer hammers, a low not heard of in at least 23 years, they haven't fallen silent. ...more

February 20, 2009

In 2006, at the peak of the building boom, 1,752 building permits were issued for single-family, multi-family and mobile homes in Highlands County. ...more

February 11, 2009

Though the final quarter of 2008 brought the sound of fewer hammers, a low not heard of in at least 23 years, they haven't fallen silent. ...more

February 5, 2009

While many Tampa Bay area home builders have put down their hammers, some continue to start construction on new homes – just not very many of them. Area builders started construction on 932 single-family homes in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to Houston-based Metrostudy, which tracks new home construction, That's a 32.9 percent decrease from last year and the first time in at least 23 years that housing starts fell below 1,000 in a quarter. Why are builders building any homes in this economy? If they want to stay in business, they say they have to keep building at least some homes. ...more

February 4, 2009

A swarm of dire economic reports on Wednesday pushed the Dow Jones industrials to a five-year low below 8,000 points. What happened? Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in 61 years, housing starts fell to the lowest level on record and the Federal Reserve sharply lowered its projections for economic activity this year and next. ...more

November 20, 2008

A swarm of dire economic reports on Wednesday pushed the Dow Jones industrials to a five-year low below 8,000 points. What happened? Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in 61 years, housing starts fell to the lowest level on record and the Federal Reserve sharply lowered its projections for economic activity this year and next. ...more

November 20, 2008

When your party holds the White House, it's unheard of for a presidential candidate to advertise: "We're worse off than we were four years ago." ...more

August 24, 2008

The intense pain caused by the bursting of the housing bubble is beginning to ease. Really. ...more

July 11, 2008

One of the city's largest employers, James Hardie Building Products , laid off 30 temporary and 49 full-time workers last week, citing the downturn in the construction industry. ...more

May 3, 2008

Purchases of new homes in the United States unexpectedly fell to a 12-year low in December, ending the worst sales year since records began in 1963 and signaling little prospect for a recovery in residential real estate. ...more

January 28, 2008