Hitting a wall in August

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Awhile back we asked for insight and anecdotes on exactly what happened in the housing market in August -- under the belief that August probably marked a major deterioration in the market, but that we wouldn’t be able to fully quantify the weakness until well into September, perhaps even October. We still don’t have the gold-plated statistics for the month, but here’s a summary of what we’ve reported:

--Sales in L.A. in August dropped by 50% from year-earlier levels, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.
--Through Aug. 22, sales in Orange County were running 34% behind year-earlier levels.
--A survey of mortgage brokers showed that 57% of their customers who have ARMs and wanted to refinance were unable to do so in August. The same survey reported that one-third of home purchase closings were canceled in August.
--The NAR, based in part on what happened in August, again reduced its sales forecast for 2007.
--Westside Bubble reported that August sales in Santa Monica and Mar Vista dropped 50% from year-earlier levels.
--The inventory of for-sale homes in Greater L.A. increased by 2,370 units, or roughly 80 houses per day.

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