Nationally, more on the slowing housing market — Dallas builder Centex slashes overhead

Centex said its third-quarter profit
plunged 60 percent and so it had to write off more than $130 million in costs. Centex said its home sales declined 7 percent and its profits more than 24 percent. It said sales orders in the Southwest region, which includes the Metroplex, were off 14 percent from last year; it cut its earnings projects for the fiscal year (which runs concurrent with the calendar year) by 40 percent.