The Housing Bubble Blog

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It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Mortgage scammers took advantage of loopholes in New York State lending laws to defraud homeowners and lending institutions all over the state, according to a new report. In one example from 2006, Suzette Francis, a woman with two young children, no...

The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "From 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Custom home builder Darryl Wagner is listing three of his expensive homes in a Western Real Estate Auction. The auction will feature new homes priced from $375,000 to $3.2 million in Centennial, Castle Rock, Denver, Parker,...

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Bloomberg reports on California. "Almost $1.3 trillion of homeowner equity was lost in California since home prices peaked in December 2005, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. 'California is having a wrenching decline in wealth, but this is a cathartic event that will lay the...

WPTV reports from Florida. "The 'For Rent' sign is hanging in more and more places these days, as homeowners open their doors to strangers to help close their budget gaps. 'Everything's here. Ready to move in and very comfortable,' said homeowner Gary Friedman. He's now turning his guest room into...

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The San Francisco Chronicle reports from California. "In the San Francisco metropolitan area - which Case-Shiller defines as the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo - prices fell 22.9 percent in May compared with a year ago. That made the area the sixth...

The Fulton Sun reports from Missouri. "There is no doubt that the mortgage crisis has made its way to Missouri, and the effects are slowly trickling down to the state and county level. Mikki Starmer, a real estate agent, said she thought the reason for an increase in foreclosures was due to lenders...

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The BBC News reports on California. "In May 2006, at the height of the housing boom, Karen Trainer bought a $500,000 apartment in California - with money borrowed from her bank. By this year, Karen still owed $500,000 on her mortgage, but her apartment was worth $200,000 less. So she was deep in...

The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "Home prices in the Denver area fell by 4.8 percent in the one-year period ended in May, well below the record 15.8 percent drop in 20 major metropolitan areas surveyed around the country, according to the closely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Home...

The Seacoast reports from Maine. "A study released by Maine Real Estate Information System Inc. indicates that the drop in units sold statewide is a steep 24.32 percent, with the median sale price also dropping by almost 6 percent. According to MREIS, the median sale price for a home in Maine was...

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The Press Democrat reports from California. "Every week in Sonoma County, banks take back 60 homes from owners who have fallen behind on their loan payments. Sensing an opportunity in an otherwise slow market, real estate agents and mortgage brokers are organizing tours to showcase foreclosure...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Michael and Judith Van Dress have a lot of privacy and not a lot of competition when they use the brand-new fitness center at their condominium in Concordia. They moved to the north Cape Coral community a year ago, just as construction of the project was...

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The Burbank Leader reports from California. "Home prices in Burbank and Glendale plummeted more than 12% in June as foreclosures soared in the second quarter this year. The average median sale price for single-family homes in Glendale, now $654,000, dropped 13% in June from the same point last...

A report from the Oklahoman. "Housing made forward progress with a shotgun approach for years, but it's become a ground game in Oklahoma City, with buyers and sellers staring one another down across a line of scrimmage called a contract. Some buyers don't get it, Realtors said. 'They offer silly...