The Housing Bubble Blog

-by the Mysterious Flying Miser The following questions were sent to the FDIC, OTS, OCC, and Federal Reserve. Answers from the FDIC were posted previously. Answers from the OTS and OCC are pasted below. The Federal Reserve has not responded. It seems to this author that these two agencies are...

All Things Considered reports on Ireland. "The government has depended heavily on consumption taxes, which are down sharply, as well as taxes on real estate transactions. Because of government policies that encouraged property development and a flood of foreign investment, the country experienced...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "In 2004, the Federal Reserve began a slow and steady march toward higher interest rates, a quarter-point at a time. Many economists have questioned whether the Fed’s deliberate approach to tightening monetary policy, from exceptionally low rates in...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

KKTV reports from Colorado. "Millions of Americans facing foreclosure have turned to the government for help but a congressional report is showing mortgage aid programs aren't doing much to help stop the housing crisis. For every person who got help, 10 others lost their homes. Here in El Paso...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

From the Houston Chronicle. "On Wednesday, Senate Republicans ended their blockade to financial reform and filed their own proposal for preventing a repeat of the financial crisis. The dissipating cloud of political rhetoric revealed something surprising. The two plans aren't all that different....

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

KFSN reports from California. "California homebuyers who make a deal by midnight can save a lot of money. In order to get the federal credits, a deal must be in place by midnight April 30 and finalized by the end of June. The State Credits start May 1, but there's enough overlap for double dipping....

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

The Houston Chronicle reports from Texas. "In 2007, Pulte Homes announced its first Del Webb age-restricted community in the Houston area. Even though the local housing market was already seeing signs of stress, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based builder was anticipating a spring 2009 opening. Now,...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here. Click here for the shadow inventory thread.

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here.

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Hundreds of miles inland from the booming real estate markets of Beijing and Shanghai, an unlikely property fever is gripping this middling industrial outpost. Taxi drivers boast of owning multiple flats for investment. Billboards hawk developments...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here.

The Miami Herald reports from Florida. "Continuing a months-long slide, South Florida home prices inched down in February. Some experts say the latest pricing figures indicate a leveling off in the tumultuous real-estate market. 'Pretty much we've reached a plateau where things have bottomed out,'...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. The DC meetup link at the forum is here.