MarketWatch has this update on the homebuilders. "UBS cut its earnings projections for home builders Monday, with several companies reducing their home-delivery targets as the steam continues to come out of the U.S. housing market. 'The long-anticipated housing slowdown appears to be finally upon us,' wrote analyst Margaret Whelan, citing new-home sales down 21% from their July high, while new-mortgage applications are off 23% from their peak in June."

"Whelan's long-standing expectation was a 'soft-landing' scenario. 'Of late, however, the more rapid rate of decline in demand, down 21% in eight months, has led us to rethink our thesis for the near term,' she said. 'Given tough comparisons and a proliferation in for sale listings in some of the hotter markets, demand has fallen more quickly than we expected.'"

And a reader sent in this example of a homebuilder taking care of business in Antelope Valley. "Gang problems, open drug sales and threats from rowdy neighbors aren't part of the lifestyle residents anticipated when they purchased large new homes in west Lancaster. The residents say the company sold many homes in the neighborhood to investors, who rented them out to problem tenants or left them vacant, with tall weeds filling the yard."

"It was clearly not what the home buyers paying premium prices expected. 'We bought what was billed as a family-friendly subdivision, and that is not what they delivered,' Christopher Yaussy said. 'They have stuck homeowners into investment hell.'"

"Not long after moving in last spring, problems began, things one wouldn't expect in a move-up neighborhood where homes originally sold for between $325,000 and $360,000, and now go for $100,000 more than that."

"A D.R. Horton development company sales manager said the company has the right to sell their homes 'to whoever we want.' 'It's not the builder's job to keep things safe,' said Jim Blake, a VP of sales and marketing. 'We sell homes. We sell them to legitimate buyers. A builder can't keep Lancaster safe.'"

"In the company's Desert Sunsets tract, where homes range from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, neighbors relate accounts of groups of young men milling around in the street, not moving aside for passing vehicles, instead making obscene gestures and slapping the vehicles."

"What is most aggravating to the Yaussys is that they were directed to sign owner-occupancy contracts promising they would live in the home as their principal residence for one year or pay a penalty of 10% of the base purchase price. Using real estate records, the Yaussys estimate that more than 40% of the homes in their neighborhood were sold to buyers who had no plans of living in the tract."

"Six months after the homes were ready for occupants, many still sat empty, with knee-high weeds, dead lawns and lack of window coverings giving away their vacant status. One resident said when he was considering a purchase, he specifically asked sales agents if the company sold to investors and was assured that only owners would occupy the homes. Other residents say they were asked if they wanted to buy an extra home as an investment."

"In recent months, Yaussy said, a number of the homes have been put up for sale, including homes that were occupied by problematic tenants."