New-home sales in July down 57%

Here are some home-building statistics that needed a footnote.

New-home sales statewide were off nearly 57% in July from the same month last year, and median sale prices were down 11.9%, according to the California Building Industry Assn./Hanley Wood Market Intelligence monthly New Home Sales and Pricing Report. Among some of the larger areas sampled, sales in Bakersfield were down 66.2%; the Los Angeles/Long Beach/Glendale area, 64.5%; and the Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario area, 62.5%.

But does that mean much when some developers have mothballed projects to wait out the buying drought?

Builders are slowing the pace of construction, the folks at Hanley Wood explained, but there is still an oversupply of inventory -- a 30.8% increase statewide compared with July last year. This inventory rise is of concern because units are not being absorbed as fast as they are being finished, compared with a year earlier, even with builders pulling back.

-- Lauren Beale