I’ve always loved that phrase — augering in — ever since I heard it first, I think, in the movie The Right Stuff. It referred to what happens when a pilot takes one of the fighter jet/test plans into a death spiral and then can’t pull out — he literally "augers in" to the ground, decisively ending his career. Anyway, I thought of that while reading today’s DMN stories on the decline in sales of new and pre-owned homes in North Texas. According to the News, new-home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth fell more than 17% in the quarter ended June 30, while pre-owned homes were off 15%. Oddly enough, the biggest drop in new-home sales was in homes below $150,000, according to the news, with the story attributing part of the drop to fewer available sub-prime mortgages. I’m not sure how the stats really impact our area; usually, the News does a more comprehensive graphic, by neighborhood, a few days after the initial stats are released, and usually, our neighborhoods fare better by far then the outlying suburbs that subsist on new home construction. Just from my drive-by experience, I’m not seeing signs in front of for-sales sticking around forever; particularly the high-priced homes seem to be turning over pretty quickly. Guess there’s no shortage of money for that sector of the market yet.
