Jul 27 2007 7:12AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
Blog This! using: Blogger.com | LiveJournal |

I have been involved in the home building industry for over 43 years and I know one thing for sure - the industry never learns from past events!  This morning’s newspaper was full of stories about new home sales being down again, the effect of the home building decline and sub prime debacle on the stock market and there was also an article about one public home builder’s record loss for the quarter.

I have seen several cycles in my career and marvel at the fact that builders and suppliers never seem to learn and I don’t know why.  My gut tells me that greed plays a key role for this “non-learning” phenomenon.  I think that greed clouds one’s thinking in that it creates a false feeling of invincibility.

I think another reason is just a lack of looking at the facts and at the reality of the market.  I know of manufacturers who invested millions in new capacity at the exact time when the home building market was beginning to turn down.  Now they are sitting on excess capacity and lower profits.

One thing is very clear, the home building industry plays a very essential role in our nation’s economy and the leaders of this industry must step up and manage their respective companieswith a greater sense of responsibility to its stockholders, owners, employees and the nation. 

There, I feel better now that this is off my chest.