Homebuilders such as Dallas-based Centex Corp. and Pulte Homes Inc. aim to survive an industry-wide unraveling by selling houses at bargain prices, slashing jobs and scrapping growth plans reports the Dallas Morning News.

 

But as the housing downturn worsens, experts say at least a few major U.S. homebuilders may end up bankrupt.

 

Builders constructed more than 2 million housing units nationwide in 2005, the year the boom peaked. So far this year, housing starts have fallen to an annual rate of 1.2 million units through September, and economists expect the number to drop to an annual rate of 1 million by mid-2008.

 

Some analysts foresee a shakeout similar to that of the early 1990s, when numerous builders went through bankruptcy, including Reston. Va-based NVR Inc. and U.S. Home Corp. of Houston, now part of Miami’s Lennar Corp. A consolidation of weaker players may also be on the horizon.

 

The industry is “going to be a shadow of itself once we get through this downturn,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who predicts home prices won’t rebound until late 2009 or early 2010. “Everyone was too optimistic.”

 

Developers are reeling from sharp increases in loan defaults, which force lenders to be far more cautious about new mortgages. The result: sinking home prices, surpluses of unsold homes and a spike in canceled orders.

 

Read it here: Experts: Housing slump may bankrupt some builders