Overbuilding, exotic mortgages, affordability issues and the historically cyclical nature of the construction business have put the brakes on one of the longest joy rides in the history of the U.S. housing market.

Although economists are confident the housing market is going through a fairly typical construction cycle and will find solid ground before too long, they aren’t certain the homebuilding market has yet hit bottom. At the 2006 National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) 2006 Fall Construction Forecast Conference held Oct. 25 in Washington, D.C., David Seiders, NAHB’s chief economist, said builders have at least 400,000 new homes to sell and that this “inventory overhang” will take some time to work off. In addition, the inventory levels of owner-occupied existing homes for sale and of unoccupied single-family rental units are now contributing to a soft housing market.

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