The Housing Bubble Blog

The St Louis Post Dispatch reports from Missouri. "The downtown St. Louis turnaround that seemed just around the corner last fall may take longer than many had hoped. Indeed, the once-booming downtown residential market has cooled considerably. Over the past two years, 2,500 new rental and for-sale...

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The San Francisco Chronicle reports from California. "The coordinators of Sunday's auction of 41 units at the new Eight Orchids condominium midrise in Oakland billed the event as a means of finding the actual market value for such homes. Among the dozen transactions recorded by The Chronicle, sales...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Comstock Homebuilding Companies, Inc. announced that in connection with their unqualified opinion regarding the Company's 2007 audit, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, indicated their...

The Sun Herald reports from Florida. "Tern Bay Golf & Country Club Resort, the first phase of a 1,789-acre, 1,810-home development, is now owned by the landscaper. And Scott Hawkins will sell it to you, to anyone, for the $300,000 he's owed on the stalled project. One caveat: 'You can't build a...

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Radio Netherlands reports from California. "In Los Angeles, at the heart of the American dream, the economic malaise can be seen on the streets. There are For sale signs in the gardens all over the place. And on many of them the word 'foreclosure' has been added - forced sale. This is the case with...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Northern Rock Plc, lost 243.5 million pounds ($483.4 million) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the company said in its annual report published today. 'The 2007 results reflect the impact of deteriorating market conditions and the...

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "More than 700 properties in Boston fell into foreclosure last year, about three-quarters of them in Dorchester, Roxbury, Hyde Park, and Mattapan. The city's Homeowner Foreclosure Prevention Workshop workshop was one of a host of efforts the city has...

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The Times Herald reports from California. "Most homes for sale in Solano County are classified as "distressed," which likely means a change is coming to the area, real estate experts said Friday. 'This is the first time in my 20 years in the industry that the distressed properties are driving the...

The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "The crowd filed in to the large white tent behind the Bahia Mar resort for Friday's real estate auction organized by Sotheby's and Daniel DeCaro Auctions as a four-piece jazz band played a peppy rendition of 'I Feel Good.' Only a handful of the properties...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Price cuts? "James Matey, a Cape Coral builder, leans on the granite counter of an empty riverfront house he built for New York real-estate marketer Ted Kurz. Mr. Matey says the 5,139-square-foot house, with five bedrooms, wood-coffered ceilings...

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The North County Times reports from California. "Homeowners in the new Shady Grove subdivision said Friday they were concerned that their upscale houses will plummet in value if the developer of the neighborhood is allowed to shrink the size of most of the homes that are still in the planning...

Readers suggested a topic on current credit trends. "Tightening Credit? Is anyone seeing/feeling this in your area. Some of our local banks are still pushing zero down 100% home loans with a good credit score. Chase is still pushing 0% C.Cards on transfers up to 15 months… 6.9% fixed.Just had that...

A report from the Virginia Pilot. "For the first two months of this year, the number of Hampton Roads individuals trying to hold onto a home or other major asset by means of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy jumped 84 percent to 373 from slightly more than 200 for the same period last year, according to the...

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It's Friday desk clearing time. "Illinois' year-over-year sales in February were down 23 percent, and prices were off 5.6 percent. Chicago-area sales slipped about 27 percent, the Realtors said. Francisco Ybarra hopes a price reduction to $699,000 from $719,000—plus a little jazz —will land a buyer...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "KB Home, the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported a fiscal first-quarter net loss was $268.2 million. Revenue fell 43 percent and net orders plunged 75 percent to 1,449 homes, the company said in a statement. Los...