Robert Toll, Chairman and CEO of the homebuilder Toll Brothers, Inc, is at the Milken Institute Global Conference. At a roundtable discussion on real estate he summarized the current market situation:

- Boston is in the pits, in New Jersey things stink.

- New York City strength on top of strength, Texas is good, Pennsylvania burbs are okay .

- Florida, it’s so bad “Death takes a holiday,” Phoenix right into the bucket, Chicago not working, Las Vegas is terrible.

- Washington DC has come back, Southern California started to come back but has dipped again, Michigan is a place that may never come back.

Toll also noted that the housing downturn was unique in that it isn’t accompanied by a recession. He asked, “What happens if there is a recession?” He then answered his own question, “It would be cataclysmic for the housing industry.”