Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Sales of new homes fell 3.2% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.004 million, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. New-home sales are now down 25.4% in the past year. Measured out over the first 10 months of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005, sales are down 17.9%."

"Median sales prices were up 2% in the past 12 months to $248,500. Home builders have piled on incentives, including offering free vacations and new cars, to sell homes and work off inventories. Such incentives are not subtracted from the sales price reported to the government."

"Sales are reported when a contract is signed, not at the closing of the sale. Home builders have reported a large increase in cancellations in recent months. Cancellations are not reflected in the government data, so the reported sales are likely overstated."

"The Commerce Department said...the number of homes completed and waiting to be sold rose by 6,000 to 166,000 in October."

"The U.S. economy grew faster than first thought in third quarter on strong business investment, even as the housing sector posted its biggest decline in more than 15 years, the government said Wednesday. Investment in housing tumbled by 18 percent during the quarter. It was the biggest decline since a 21.7 percent slide in the first quarter of 1991."

"Wolseley Plc, the world's biggest supplier of plumbing and heating equipment, said it cut 2,000 U.S. jobs after a housing slowdown reduced earnings."

"Copper fell to a one week low on speculation demand from homebuilders in the U.S., the world's second-largest user of the metal, will slow as the pace of new construction declines. 'Activity in housing is still very weak, and we are far from turning any corners here,' Ed Meir, a commodity analyst said."

"The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the regulator for mortgage financing concern Fannie Mae, said it intends to sue ousted chief executive Franklin Raines and former chief financial officer Timothy Howard in an effort to recover salaries from the time the company overstated earnings by billions."

"An OFHEO report issued in May said that Fannie employees manipulated accounting to hit quarterly earnings targets and allow senior executives to collect performance bonuses between 1998 and 2004."

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday that the worst of the housing adjustment was over. But he also said there would be actual price declines in housing."

"New signs appeared yesterday that the economy is stuck in a slowdown, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke made it clear he's more worried about inflation and is not prepared to cut interest rates anytime soon."

"The head of the nation's central bank said in a New York speech that the 'core' inflation rate, which excludes food and energy costs, 'remains uncomfortably high' and could even trigger an interest-rate increase if not brought under control."

"Carl Tannenbaum, an economist at LaSalle Bank in Chicago, said financial markets expected one interest-rate cut in 2007, and possibly two cuts. Now, with Bernanke's statement, there's a good chance interest rates will remain steady throughout next year, and possibly could be increased again, he said."

"Lower oil prices and a U.S. commercial property boom will help offset the serious problem of a cooling housing market, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said in an interview."

"German financial daily Handelsblatt said Fisher described the downturn in the housing market as a 'very serious problem' which had been exacerbated by keeping rates too low for too long."