The NAR has this press release with details on the speculator numbers. "Most investment home buyers are in the South, 38 percent of the total. Buyers in the Midwest and Western regions each purchased 24 percent of investment property, and the Northeast, 15 percent."

The Houston Chronicle reports on that trend. "Drive almost any direction from the city center, and one thing remains constant: home building, and lots of it. While new-home sales are dipping nationally, builders are putting up, and madly selling, thousands of homes around Houston."

"Charlotte Gilpin, a real estate agent, said builders trying to unload their unsold inventory are offering plenty of extras. One company is letting buyers choose between a swimming pool or $15,000 off the home's price, she said."

"Houston's lower new-home prices are enticing to a wide range of buyers. This year, Gilpin has seen an increase in buyers from out of state looking for investment properties. She's already sold five homes to Californians who bought new homes here with the fortunes they made selling their West Coast properties."

"'They're just blown away at the square footage and the kinds of houses they can get,' she said."

"Builders use a variety of techniques to turn a profit in this tough market. Trendmaker avoids shrinking profit margins by building higher-end homes. The majority of the new construction has been in the entry-level market. 'That's where there's more of a blood bath in the margins,' Holder said. 'We're not doing anything below $200,000.'"

"Rising costs for land and materials are shrinking profit margins in Houston's booming housing market, where competition limits price increases, and a couple of builders are leaving to focus on other cities."

"'Lack of barriers to entry in this market leads to high competition, which in turn drives a high use of incentives,' Richmond American Homes said in an e-mail responding to questions about its exit. 'Consequently, margins are low, thus driving the need for high volume in the market.'"