The Housing Bubble Blog

Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.

Equity Inmates Trapped In Homes They Cannot Sell

The Star Tribune reports from Wyoming. "For the past few years Rebecca Thomas has struggled to find affordable, quality housing to rent. A single parent to 6-year-old Jordyn, Thomas lived in low-income housing in 2007, but earned too much money during her first year living there to qualify to stay....
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Burning Out The Bottom Of The Pot

This weekend I finished winterizing the homestead. In a flurry of activity, I turned off the irrigation and drained the pipes, hauled myself up onto the roof to clean out the chimney and service the swamp cooler, tucked some extra insulation into the chicken coop where a brood of...
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The Next Thing We're Going To See Will Be Bell-Bottoms

The Sun Times reports from Illinois. "Foreclosure is not a pretty word. And the process can be downright ugly. But some hope was available for the taking when the Mortgage Relief Project came to town. 'Aurora is one of the hard-hit areas,' said Brent Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of...
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If Something's Missing, It Doesn't Sell

The Santa Fe Reporter from New Mexico. "Kaziah Mraz, 34, has done everything society expects of a responsible citizen. She works full time, while attending college, raising two children, paying off a mortgage and trying to maintain her credit score. And yet when she hit a rough spot,...
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The Falling Knives That No One Wants To Catch

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "As City Manager Penelope Culbreth-Graft grapples with the biggest financial crisis to hit Colorado Springs in decades, she faces a financial quagmire of her own, brought on by the impending foreclosure of her $1.25 million California beachfront...
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HBB Rates The Media: Florida

The HBB continues it's look at the media and the housing bubble, with Florida. The good: Palm Beach Post, March 2005: "Don Todorich is one of many Palm Beach County residents who find themselves suddenly wealthy on paper yet trapped in their homes.'I'd have to spend $500,000 to $700,000 (for a new...
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Good Ideas Require Good Policy

When we were kids, my brother’s best friend practically lived with us while the two of them pursued their Eagle Scout merit badges. Gunther's parents both worked “in aerospace” and kept irregular hours. Our busy household was well-stocked with after-school snack foods, and the field out back...
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