New homes taking 13 months to sell

Last September the median number of months a new home took to sell was 9.1 and ever since that, the trend for every subsequent month has been either equal to the previous month or higher than the previous month, according to the Commerce Department.

For all of 2007 the figure was 6.2 months. For all of 2008 it was 9.2 months.

This trend is not a good sign for new home builders.

Commenting on the third quarter developments in the new home construction industry, Richard J. Dugas, Jr., President and CEO of Pulte Homes, said "The operating environment continues to be challenged with elevated levels of new and resale home inventory, tightening of mortgage liquidity, and weak consumer sentiment for housing."

Robert I. Toll, chairman and chief executive officer of Toll Brothers, stated that, "For the first time in three years, the number of homes in our backlog grew compared to the prior quarter, reversing a twelve-quarter trend."