Reuters has the latest on the homebuilders. "Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. on Tuesday further reduced its forecast for home sales in the current year, as new orders for the first quarter fell 29 percent on slumping demand."

"The company's deteriorating forecasts may indicate that the slowing U.S. housing market may be declining faster than previously thought, Raymond James and Associates analyst Rick Murray said. 'Their quarter ends January 31, and a lot of people have been hypothesizing that the weaknesses we saw in October, November and December would perhaps turn around in the beginning of the year,' he said. 'This would seem to indicate that those trends have not reversed course and perhaps have even accelerated to the downside.'"

"Murray also said Toll's indicator also reflects a tough market in the Washington D.C. corridor, where Toll is a significant player." "Toll also said slowing demand..forced it to cut its outlook to sales of 9,200 and 9,900 homes during the fiscal year, ending on October 31, from a previously lowered view of 9,500 and 10,200 homes. New orders during the quarter fell to 1,572, from 2,209, while the value of the contracts declined 21 percent to $1.16 billion."

"'Demand at our communities, which began to soften in early September, now appears to be improving, although demand pressure from speculators has certainly passed,' CEO Robert Toll said in a statement."

"Toll Brothers rattled the market in November when it first cut its forecast to a range of 9,500 to 10,200 from 10,200 and 10,600. Since then, Toll shares, which closed Monday at $31.20 on the New York Stock Exchange, are down 21 percent. Shares were down 3.85 percent at $30 in pre-market trading."

From Bloomberg: "Robert Toll said buyers were holding off because they expect the market to soften. 'We believe when expectations of home-price appreciation are strong, buyers are willing to wait a year or more for their homes,' Toll said. 'When their expectations are more modest, they are less willing to commit so far in the future.'"