HOUSING HICCUP - Developers stuck with hundreds of houses as economic slowdown affects buyers .... Large numbers of unsold units on market ... High-end homes put on hold

Jamaica Gleaner News"THE DOWNTURN in the economy has hit real-estate developers, with some forced to stall projects while others are hurting in the pocket as houses on the market are being sold at a painfully slow pace.

Reynold Scott, president of the Jamaica Developers' Association, told The Sunday Gleaner that the global economic downturn, which has caused the cost of raw materials to escalate and has led to a spike in domestic interest rates, has been having a devastating impact on the real-estate business."