More bad news for the homebuilders

It's going to be another bad year for the homebuiders but, then again, they've been down so long that anything will look like up. The National Association of Homebuilders' housing market index fell from 16 to 15 in January, the lowest level since last June and down from a high of 19 in September in an index that is normalized at 50.

If the typical buyer is anything like my wife and I (probably not, but just in case), they are no doubt aware of the wave of bank-owned properties that are now working their way through the system, set to hit the MLS in a few months - just as the homebuyer tax credit expires and the Fed pulls the prop out from under the mortgage market.