The Housing Bubble Blog

The North County Times reports from California. "Often heralded as a fortress of strength in a weak housing market, upper-end home prices in North County's posh neighborhoods have started to show some cracks. In Rancho Santa Fe, mostly composed of custom homes with price tags above $2 million, it...

The Des Moines Register reports from Iowa. "Iowa's largest home builder, Regency Cos. of Des Moines, has laid off the entire staff of its home building business and left behind 300 homes that lenders and buyers will now have to sell or finish. Jamie Myers, president of Regency, said it became...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Borrowers underwater? "Local real estate professionals say the Katy market continues to remain active while many parts of the country are battling with dropping home values and buyers who cannot qualify for home loans. In Area 25, there is an 11...

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The Used House Salespeople report from California. "Home sales decreased 24.5 percent in March in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 29 percent, the C.A.R. reported. 'The lack of available funds for loans, even for qualified buyers,...

Readers suggested a topic around the growing number of foreclosures. "Let’s talk about squatters The societal implications of having this in your family history. The financial implications of being one. The moral implications. The physical ones (no lawn mowing?). The emotional implications. The...

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The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "The slump in the new-home sales market in the Denver area continues. Experts predict that new-home sales will drop another 10 percent this year, on top of a 31 percent drop in 2007. And with fewer consumers taking out loans because of stricter...

The Sun News reports from South Carolina. "Grand Strand real estate sales continued seeing some of the steepest decreases in the state in March, according to an S.C. Association of Realtors report. All areas of the state saw declines compared with March 2007. On the Grand Strand, there was a 33.3...

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The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "After months of wrangling with lenders over huge debts accumulated during the housing boom, prominent Sacramento-area home builder John D. Reynen filed Wednesday for personal bankruptcy protection. Analysts say the value of thousands of acres the company...

Some MarketWatch news from Wall Street and Washington. MarketWatch, "U.S. home builders have slashed their prices by a record amount, but sales still plunged by 8.5% to a 17-year low in March, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday. The decline in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual...

The Valley Voice reports from Vermont. "Despite national headlines, local realtors remain optimistic that the Addison County residential real estate market is strong and will improve throughout 2008. The first quarter 2008 closed with thirty-two residential sales in Addison County as reported by...

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The Union Tribune reports from California. "Lenders took back the homes of struggling San Diego County homeowners in record numbers during the first quarter. Real estate agent Linda Ring, who specializes in foreclosure sales, said she has seen many homeowners simply walk away from their properties...

The Capital Journal reports from Kansas. "Topeka, like much of the rest of the country, is a buyer's market when it comes to real estate. Home sales fell 26 percent here in the first three months of 2008 compared to sales during the same quarter a year ago. Average sales price in the first quarter...

The News Journal reports from Florida. "The local housing market shuddered again in March as sales of previously occupied, single-family houses plunged 27 percent from a year earlier and the median price took a double-digit tumble, too. Worse, the declines in both sales volume and prices were from...

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The Contra Costa Times reports from California. "Foreclosures are a third of all home sales in California as the majority of homeowners in default lost their homes in the first quarter of the year. About 68 percent of homeowners in default during the first few months of 2008 lost their homes,...