Tumbling

World Markets Tumble Amid US Woes
New York Times

LONDON (AP) -- Markets in Europe and Asian (sic) slid Friday, signaling alarm over a broadening deterioration in the U.S. housing sector that is beginning to resonate worldwide. ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday that the proportion of U.S. mortgages falling into foreclosure jumped to a record 0.83 percent in the final quarter of 2007.

The Federal Reserve reported that Americans' home debt exceeded their equity for the first time since the central bank began tracking the figures in 1945. Homeowners' percentage of equity fell to 47.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

''We are worried about the U.S. market,'' said Shim Jae-youb, a strategist at Meritz Securities Co. in Seoul. ...

Us too, Shim.   

In the Albuquerque Journal we hear KB Homes is leaving New Mexico.  Sign of the times.  But I imagine this loss will be attributed to those burdensome impact fees and water conservation measures in some future development debate.