It will take more than increased consumer confidence in markets like Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc. where the trashed homes can be purchased, rehabbed and still resold at a discount to new homes. Additionally, a lot of new home product (especially the land plans) was designed during the bubble and they constitute a kind of trash that few want to own. That new product will have to be removed and product/land plans designed & built for the current demand. Posted by Frank at New Homes Professional Network

Paul, I read with interest your post on the topic of Trash Inventory. I have thought that this approach is warranted but I felt it would not be polite to actually say that this is what I think. Yet when I read your post you make a good case for it by sighting the various experts who have spoke on this issue. In spite of all we are going through with this recession, we still feel it is distasteful to throw things away. But many neighborhoods in the largest cities would surely be better off with a flat empty lot than a rotting home that is unoccupied and boarded up. Posted by John at Friends of NAHB

Michael Luckado Says... It shouldn't be about tearing homes down. We should take the money that would be used to tear down the unoccupied homes and instead, repair them. The repaired homes could then be resold at a discounted price to those people in need. The only people that lose in this scenario are the banks. We will create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and get people who need a home into a home. The inventory issue is there because everyone is too stubborn to lower prices to realistic levels. The buyers are there at the right price. Posted by Michael Luckado