Whoa Nellie!

For a more national perspective on the housing market, take a look at these two quick-hitters from the Times. The first one indicates what we feel is a disturbing trend. New homes sales are up and so are housing starts. Given the not-soon-be-over foreclosure crisis, it's distressing to think that developers are starting to build new homes when so many existing homes will soon be flooding the market at already discounted prices. The second op-ed piece dovetails nicely with the first, noting that a look at the supply side of the housing equation casts doubt on whether recent home price inceases will last.