Consumer Confidential: No iPhone for you, home sales down, female Viagra

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Here’s your What’s-on-Second Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Want one of the new-and-improved iPhone 4s? Well, you’ll have to work for it. Apple and AT&T say they’ve stopped taking pre-orders for the gizmos after they sold out online. Now you’ll have to stand in what’s bound to be a hefty line at an Apple store and hope you can get the color and specs you want. I guess all businesses should have such troubles.

-- Home developers, for instance, would love a little of Apple’s problem. The latest word from the government is that new-home construction fell sharply last month, down 10% from April. Not a big surprise why: A government tax credit for homebuyers expired, and the market very quickly cooled off. Some say now we’re back to a normal level for the current economic circumstances. Others say it’ll just take another month or two for homebuyers to get back in the swing of things.

-- The verdict is in: The Food and Drug Administration says a ‘female Viagra’ pill that’s been under review doesn’t seem to light women’s fire (so to speak). A pair of studies show that the drug flibanserin, intended for premenopausal women, doesn’t have a significant impact on the libido. On the upside, though, some women who took the drug reported having more satisfying experiences between the sheets. I’m too much of a gentleman to make a joke here about chocolate being female Viagra, but you’re welcome to post your own thoughts on the matter.

-- David Lazarus