LOS ANGELES, Sept. 15 California home builders face a growing backlog of unsold homes as lenders tighten their standards and speculative buying has cooled.
Last month was the worst August in 15 years for home sales in southern California and prices in most communities in the region fell, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
To unload homes, many builders in California and around the country are offering everything-must-go sales with big discounts and giveaways, such as expensive big screen televisions and appliances, the Times reported.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., for example, this weekend is offering price cuts of as much as $100,000 on new homes it owns in 19 states, the Times reported.
The sales promotions "show the builders are serious about moving inventory," said Patrick S. Duffy, a Los Angeles-based building industry consultant. "They are trying everything."
Copyright 2007 by UPI
