ABC’s Housing Crisis Newest Bad Guy: The Builder

It must be difficult every night for the media to find a fresh angle on the housing downturn. Perhaps the so-called "victim" angle is played out, so ABC's May 7 "Nightline" blamed the builders.

The broadcast featured Maricopa, Ariz., a community near Phoenix where one in 10 homes is for sale.

"While existing homes go begging for buyers, builders continued putting up new houses," said ABC correspondent Brian Rooney. "As many as one in 10 of the homes in Maricopa are for sale right now, as builders, banks, homeowners with mortgages they can't afford all compete to sell at lower prices."

Instead of focusing on the irresponsible lenders or borrowers that created the market for home builders to thrive, "Nightline" blamed builders for capitalizing on the market. The report didn't include anyone speaking on behalf of the homebuilders in that particular Arizona market.

"I pleaded with [the National Homebuilders Association] that the investors are coming in to town," Maricopa Mayor Kelly Anderson said. "They need to watch what they're doing. One in five homes were sold to an investor. But times are good - they wanted to keep the sales going to satisfy the stockholders in those firms."