Changing the scale again for new home construction

It's a good thing that Microsoft Excel has a handy feature that automatically changes the scale on charts after you add new data - it's sure coming in handy lately.
Such was the case this morning when the Commerce Department reported a 14.2 percent plunge in housing starts during December and an 8.1 percent drop in permits for new construction. These two important housing statistics are now at 16-year and 14-year lows, respectively.

For all of 2007, housing starts fell 38.2 percent and permits declined 34.4 percent.

Just when you think things can't get any worse for homebuilders, they do.