After a slew of positive readings on the nation’s housing
recovery, sales of newly built homes were a big disappointment.
Despite the big public builders reporting big jumps in new
orders and builder confidence positively leaping to the highest level since
2006, sales just don’t compute, and even September’s numbers were revised
down.
A big concern for home builders now is the looming fiscal
cliff. The housing recovery depends on the economic recovery and continued
improvement in the jobs picture. There is also great concern that the mortgage
interest deduction could fall victim to the cliff.
That’s why housing lobbyists have upped their budgets this
year to $30 million from $27 million in 2011, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics. The National Association of Realtors leads by far with a
record $25,982,290 spent on lobbying so far.
Fears of the fiscal cliff could be impacting potential
buyers already. The new home sales monthly number from the U.S. Department of
Commerce is based on signed contracts, not closings, so it is a clear gauge of
what potential buyers are feeling right now.
“It is making me nervous for sure to have such uncertainty
over such a traditional expectation, the mortgage deduction,” says Stephen
Paul, of Mid-Atlantic Builders, a Maryland-based company. Paul says he hasn’t
seen any cancellations over it yet, but it has come up in conversation plenty.
