The new home sales numbers are out. "Piling on more proof that the housing boom is over, the Commerce Department reported Thursday that new home sales fell by 4.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 1.072 million units. The decline was the largest since an 11.5 percent plunge in February. The inventory of unsold homes climbed to a record high."

"The government reported that the median price of a new home was $230,000 in July, down from $233,800 in June and up from $229,200 a year ago."

"Sales of new single family homes came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.072 million houses, down from the revised rate of 1.12 million in June and dropping 22% from 1.367 million from a year earlier."

"The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July rose to the highest-ever number of 568,000 from 566,000 at the end of June..up 55% from a year earlier and the highest months' supply since 1995. 'One thing that concerns me is the inventory,' says Phillip Neuhart, an economic analyst with Wachovia."

"Anyone buying now has to ask: Is a bubble about to burst? 'The hesitation on the part of sellers and the hesitation on the part of buyers has made for kind of a normal market,' real estate agent Marcy Moyer told correspondent John Blackstone."

The New York Times. "The housing market is deteriorating by the month. 'It does feel a little scary right now,' said Celia Chen, director of housing economics at Moody’s Economy.com. 'I think these markets will correct. The price gains that they have seen have exceeded what can be supported by the economic and demographic fundamentals.'"

"'Certainly, the housing market is undergoing a measurable adjustment,' Lawrence Yun, senior economist with the Realtor association, said. The bloated inventory levels, Mr. Yun said, indicate 'a very sudden change which I have never seen before.'"