Read the following article and see if you can guess which housing market the writer is writing about. I've replaced all the references to the particular housing market and any other key words that might give away the answer with blank spaces. Youll find the answer at the end of the article.
Home sales forecast to plunge in 2008
2008-07-11 09:54:43
Sales of residential houses in the _______________ _____________ are forecast to plunge this year to the level of 10 years ago as homebuyers and investors continue to adopt a wait-and-see attitude as prices nosedive.
"Prices are expected to drop another 10 percent as some struggling small- and medium-sized real estate developers and speculators are selling properties for cheap to maintain cash flow," said ___________, a senior real estate analyst with ___________________________.
According to the latest research report on ______________’s housing market in the first half of this year, released by the _____________________________________, the average housing prices in May fell 36 percent from the peak in October.
The total supply of new residential houses amounted to nearly (16.6 million square feet) in the first half of this year, down 54 percent from a year before. About (7 million square feet) remained unsold, up 84.5 percent from the same period last year.
"Based on current sales, we forecast that just about (37.7 million square feet) of residential housing area will be sold this year," said _________, director of ________ Real Estate Institute.
The tightening mortgage policy has put a sudden brake on the overheating housing market, especially in ________, __________, and _______, where prices had mainly been driven by speculation.
Economic uncertainties as a result of the global slowdown and the tight monetary policy at home have also dampened the real estate market, __________ said. But he added that the current slump would soon pass. "Property demand will keep rising in the long term and _________’s real estate market will regain its vitality."
Chuck Miller GMB CGB CGP MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder – Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
(208) 229-2553