T’was the week before ‘two-three, when all through the land
New home supply’s awaiting the pulse of demand.
Incentives and discounts and deals and concessions
All working full-blast to calm fears of Recession.

While backlogs and pace with a path once so clear,
Were nowhere the sure-bet they both did appear,
As homebuying prospects awoke to the day
The game commandeered by a fellow named Jay.

When rates started spooling, monthly payments right there with them,
With a full-throated goal of crushing momentum.
For only when new-home’s engine showed capitulation,
Would it scarce be enough to cool down the raging inflation.

Late-Spring was surrender, buyers about had enough,
That’s the time most homebuilders felt the going get rough,
The markets were cooling, traffic slowed to a trickle,
And booms turned to busts, and demand proved quite fickle.

In Phoenix, and Nashville, Atlanta, and Austin,
In Portland, and Denver, Seattle and Boston,
It was all Newton’s Law ‘What goes up must come down,”
The spigots shut tighter in town after town.

Builders rechecked their costs and they reeled in their prices
Déjà vu set upon them as they peered ahead at a crisis.
They cut all their losses, walked away from good lots
While their loan guarantees tied their stomachs in knots.

And many can say it, “we’ve been here before,
Through downturns less worse, and some cycles, more,
But whatever may come when we’re down but not out,
We’ll always roar back with no shred of a doubt.

“Just look what we managed from the chasms of ’20,
The things we got done, you can surely count plenty.
We’ve cut down on the friction, we won’t make you cry,
You can choose your own home, then simply click ‘buy.’

“We’ve added new-home spaces we know you like best,
Whether it’s work, eat, or play, connect, or just rest.
We’ve put the whole process in the palm of your hand,
From the curb elevation to the lot and land plan.

"Our supply chain was broken, we played wack-a-mole,
Until we made progress digging out of our hole,
And what also needs mention as an accomplishment,
A transformative pivot into build-to-rent.

“It was one for the books, this tale of two years,
The front half for back-flips, the back half for tears.
And next year we hope it’s the opposite way,
In this game commandeered by a fellow named Jay.”

Let’s take a final quick moment to pay last respects
To a few of our legends, whose loss we regret,
Larry Johnson, Jim Ryan, Herb Kohler, Bob Toll,
Tony Pasquinelli, Christine Fortenberry, and all.

Our wishes to all as we see out this year,
Are for love and for peace, for warmth, and good cheer.
The people of building are its soul and its heart,
There’s no better way to make ’23 a new start.