The Housing Bubble Blog

The Associated Press reports from Florida. "Travis Munnerlyn just wanted to add on to his Orlando home to make room for grandchildren coming to live with him and his wife. A couple years later, Munnerlyn cannot make the increasing payments on his adjustable rate loan - not even close - and could...

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The Voice of San Diego reports from California. "Lela Mazzeo rested an arm on a doorframe in the first home she ever owned and sighed. The two-story house on a large lot in Casa de Oro has been listed for sale for three months. The Mazzeos haven't lived in it since 2003, when they bought and moved...

The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "Despite a concerted effort to reduce the tide of people losing their homes, foreclosures in Colorado shot up 40 percent in 2007 compared to 2006, according to a count from the Colorado Division of Housing. Public trustees in Colorado reported 39,915...

The St Charles Journal reports from Missouri. "With the full results for 2007 in, St. Charles County evaded some of the more dramatic drops seen in other parts of the country in new home sales. 'What those numbers are indicating is a logical slowdown in permits in the last two years as we are...

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The UCLA Newsroom reports from California. "In its fourth quarterly report of 2007, the UCLA Anderson Forecast holds steadfast to the basic tenet of a forecast they have been making throughout the year, that the national economy is not technically in a recession, nor is there a national recession...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. CNN Money, "New construction of single-family homes fell to a 17-year low in January, according to a government report. Starts of single-family homes fell to an annual rate of 743,000 in the tenth straight monthly decline. The level of...

The Pocono Record reports from Pennsylvania. "Real estate appraiser Joseph C. Fisher and Realtor Eileen Chaladoff agree the Monroe County housing market didn't perform as well in 2007 as in 2006. Total county home sales last year — 2,876 — were down 38 percent from the 3,972 sales the previous...

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The Ventura County Star reports from California. "With a sleeping bag wrapped snugly around his shoulders, Kamran Jabbari was spending the night camped in front of a new condominium complex in Oxnard, staking out his spot as No. 7 in line to buy a home. Jabbari was willing to rough it for a few...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Philadelphia Inquirer, "Radian Group Inc., a Philadelphia insurer of mortgages and bonds, said yesterday that it lost $618 million in the fourth quarter as the credit condition of American households worsened. Claims paid for mortgage...

The Tampa Tribune reports from Florida. "Florida ranks behind only Nevada in the percentage of foreclosures fueling the current housing bust, Pasco County Community Development Manager George Romagnoli told about 120 people at the Richey Suncoast Theater. Some lost their jobs. Some got divorced....

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The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports from California. "The median price for a single-family home in Santa Cruz County dropped to $599,000 in January, down 18 percent since December and a level not seen since 2004. Only 63 sales closed escrow, a new low, the previous was 107 in 2006. More than 170 local...

The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "After years of easy money, when people in the lending industry joked that all you needed was a pulse to get a loan with a low, initial teaser rate, lenders have returned to making sure borrowers are qualified to make payments. 'Some of my loan...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Realtor Trae Zipperer is the agent for a Key West style home along a canal in the gated, Palm Isles subdivision off San Carlos Boulevard, near Fort Myers Beach, that has an asking price of $559,000. Zipperer said he handled the sale of a lot similar to the one...

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The Press Democrat reports from California. "A total of 47 cases were scheduled for hearings Thursday in Judge Alan Jaroslovsky's Santa Rosa bankruptcy court, each involving a creditor seeking permission to seize a debtor's property. The vast majority involved lenders attempting to foreclose on...

A report from the Idaho Statesman. "Four area home builders and three investors stuck with seven vacant luxury homes have decided desperate times call for desperate measures. They're going to try to sell their homes, originally priced from $900,000 to $1.7 million, at an auction March 1 in...