Housing Slump News Blog @newzblogz.com

Nothing is sure but death and taxes, they say, but few would agree that either one is fair.

Politicians are constantly promising to make taxes more equitable, but even at their most sincere, they are striving for an unattainable goal. Certainly, some tax structures seem to spread the burden better than others, but in the end, taxes are a product of political pressure to provide services people believe they deserve from the government but for which they think someone else should pay the bill.

As Florida's lawmakers struggle to answer a public outcry calling for lower property taxes, particularly for homeowners who move or are new to the area, it is instructive to look at how this state stacks up on the taxation front.

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A look back at the week's top Business stories

1. Florida is back on top

Florida regains the top spot from California in a national survey of tourists' favorite vacation spots.

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| Kurt Montufar isn't stressing over the housing slump. He's actually hoping things get worse.

Like many wannabe homebuyers who were priced out of the market during the last boom, Montufar spends time these days scanning real estate ads and news reports to determine if it's time to take the plunge and buy.

Foreclosures rising? Great. Cash-strapped sellers pressured into lowering prices because they can't find buyers? Even better.

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CONFERENCE BOARD: The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose a higher-than-expected 0.3 percent in May, boosted by rising stock prices, higher consumer expectations and the availability of jobs. The Conference Board’s upbeat report shows that the impact of the housing slump has been fairly contained so far, said Patrick Newport, an economist with Global Insight.

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS: The Labor Department reported that unemployment claims totaled 324,000 last week, up 10,000 from the previous week, to the highest level since mid-April. While the big increase was unexpected, analysts said it did not change their view that the labor market remains hardy. Even with the increase, analysts noted claims remain close to their average — 319,000 — over the first 5½ months of the year.

NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION: The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 2.1 percent last month, the poorest performance since a huge 13.9 percent plunge in January. The decline, which followed small gains in April and March, left construction 24.2 percent below the level of a year ago. Construction of single-family homes was down 3.4 percent last month while construction of apartments rose by 3.1 percent.

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•With interest rates rising and home inventories high, existing home sales nationally for May should show a decline. The outlook has been a bit better locally, but the local number is not out yet. Sales of existing homes peaked in September 2005. The decline through April 2007 has been a relatively modest 16.9 percent compared with the drop in new home sales, which are down 29.3 percent since peaking in July 2005.

TUESDAY | New home sales

•New home sales will be down in May after showing a surprising uptick in April. Economists are having a hard time predicting how long the housing slump will last, given that mortgage rates have been rising.

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