Placing the blame for the housing recession squarely at the feet of the mortgage market meltdown, NAHB CEO Jerry Howard and chief economist David Seiders warned of another bleak year for housing in 2008, during the NAHB's year-end Housing Forecast call on Thursday.

Prices for finished lots in the Antelope Valley and Inland Empire areas of southern California are now significantly below what developers and owners were asking two years ago, and in some markets prices have fallen to levels not seen since 2002, according to a report released this week.

The past 24 hours haven't been kind to Hovnanian Enterprises.

In what has been a tumultuous year for foreclosures nationwide, there finally is some good news-even if it ends up being short-lived.

Housing starts dropped in November, and permits for future construction slid to a 14-year low, according to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Government continues to react to the turmoil in the mortgage market.

Noting that mortgage issues and excess inventory continue to impact home builders, the NAHB today announced that its Housing Market Index held steady in December, at a record-low of 19.

With California facing a budget deficit of up to $14 billion, a shortfall caused largely by the subprime mortgage meltdown and subsequent housing slump, home builders in the state want to help the legislature get the housing industry moving again.

The NAHB's top executive blasted mortgage lender Fannie Mae for the government-sponsored group's plan to impose a 25-basis-point surcharge on all new mortgages that it backs or purchases after March 1, 2008.

Last week, the Bush administration unveiled initiatives designed to battle the worsening mortgage crisis, including a voluntary interest rate freeze for subprime mortgages.