CEO Blames Negative Press For Poor Home Sales

New York Times:

The housing market is horrible in most parts of the country, says the chief executive of the luxury home builder Toll Brothers, and he fears it will not get better until the newspapers stop saying how bad it is.

Work continues on Toll Brothers luxury homes in the Brier Creek Country Club development in Raleigh, N.C., despite record cancellations and plummeting sales, down 36 percent.

Toll Brothers, which has operations in 22 states, said yesterday that it expected to take a write-down of $250 million to $450 million because of declining land values when it reports results for the quarter that ended Oct. 31. The company said sales for the quarter fell 36 percent, to $1.17 billion, and that customers backed out of 39 percent of their orders, the highest rate ever.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Maschine]

so let me see, get the media to say real estate is booming and everything will be allright ?

Implode Mofo's, Implode, you deserve it.

Here's something for you , when you do fall to our level, remember we are used to it, and we'll eat your eyeballs out alive.

[fact finder]

Over build, Over price . It's OVER. Blame the duck for quacking. What ever you do do not accept the consequences of your dumb a*&ed greedy actions.

[workingboy]

who will they blame when the real estate implosion hits the invulnerable NYC, particularly Manhattan? glass condos are being thrown up overnight, with prices beyond the imagination. those who've made a fortune with W's war and the oil game have no problem. but everyone else? we may see subprime time for the Big Apple. for more info, google the blog: Jeremiah's Vanishing New York - excellent insight into the city.

[knosiswar]

Those Damn Media outlets reporting on Reality, what we need is more sun-shine blown up my ASS, right buddy? Zip pa DEE Do DA, My OH MY, Reality is that you capitalist pigs have been feeding at the trough until there's nothing left.

[themodernleader]

In the Great Depression, business leaders blamed the down turn on bad news messengers and negative attitudes in general. Nothing new here. The present decison makers in our benighted Republic will blame everything and everybody under the sun except their own poor decisions that precipitated this sorry state of the Union.

[FightingTheRight]

When "interest only loans and 0 down payment loans" were just beginning to be promoted to people, as commercials say "with less than perfect credit", the bankruptcy laws were changed to favor the lending institutions over consumers.

This in turn encouraged the lending institutions to further promote these loans to even less qualified applicants, with the idea being, that borrowers could not legally walk away from them and the lending institutions wouldn't be left holding the bag.

With the large number of people who are not able or willing to be left holding said bag, and more than willing to walk away from their mortgages and face the consequences, the whole scheme is starting to collapse.

[JScott]

Typical from a builder that specializes in overpriced and oversized McMansions (creating more vulgarian sprawl supposedly because 'that's what people want'). Get real housing is just overpriced. And yet Toll Bros. CONTINUES to sell $600,000 condo townhomes right next to the freeway in Chatsworth Ca-touted as with views of the San Fernando Valley but what they don't tell you is that the 118 (RONALD REAGAN Fwy.) is at the bottom of the slope of the site.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

Hey Mr. CEO Man, there is a nice ledge over there with your name on it.

[MFAWG]

He couldn't figure out a way to slip Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Unions in there?

Slipping, the wingnuts are...

[sthomas170]

Maybe the fact that an average American familiy makes the same amount, adjusted for inflation, as they made in 1973 is the reason. Maybe the fact that they have outsourced most of the highest paying jobs overseas is a reason. Maybe the fact that corporations are staffed at the top based on corruption, nepotism, and cronyism is the reason. Maybe the fact that shrub spent 2.4 trillion dollars on an illegal/immoral war is a reason. Maybe the fact that shrub has overshot the federal budget by 4 trillion dollars since he has been in office is the reason. Maybe the fact that that the dollar has fell by 40% since he has been in office is the reason. Maybe the fact that the books are cooked at almost every corporation is the reason. Lots of reasons and they almost all point back to the same source. Impeach shrub and vice-shrub before we become the "New Weimar" republic. Nough Said.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Yeah, man, it's all the media's fault...we didn't do anything dishonest, no....what was
that last part about Citibank, again? Global
fraud and larceny network, folding up like
a cheap kite, former CEO gets 100 million
ANYway?

[Visceral]

Faith-based economy indeed.

[VivaZapata]

I feel sorry for people that bought from the Toll Brothers; they were sold a phony bill of goods. Any company that is so far from reality as to blame the media for the recklessness that everyone in the building industry, including them, is complicitous in causing this crash deserves to lose its shirt.

[MsJoanne]

While I do agree that there is a bit of press fearmongering going on, I think this guy has his head in the sand about low unemployment. Try the fact that it is low because many people have fallen off the list as unemployed so long they are no longer counted, no longer collect unemployment and that is helping in foreclosures and other credit market problems.

This is going to happen more and more to what we once considered middle class people as their salaries don't keep up with cost of living and they become darned close to being at poverty level. They most certainly will not be able to afford his new houses then.

GOP = money to the rich and money from the working class. FCUK every one of those greedy batards. They did it to us and it will eventually trickle up to where it hurts them, too.

[mmckinl]

Did he blame the press for inflating a bubble while it was happpening ?

LOL