The Housing Bubble Blog

The Orange County Register reports from California. "Kim Freeman calls her tale a 'riches to rags story.' At the center of it is a house in Tustin her husband calls 'the albatross.' The good news here is that the Freemans' house is in escrow after 2 1/2 years on the market. The bad news is they've...

The Independent Record reports from Montana. "Local real estate professionals say it’s a daily struggle to explain to buyers and sellers alike that the national downturn in housing hasn’t had a strong influence on the local market. By some measures the local housing market is indeed slowing; new...

The Houston Chronicle reports from Texas. "Houston-area home sales fell 4 percent last year, but 2007 still marked the second-best year on record after sales peaked in 2006. The largest piece of the market, homes priced between $80,000 and $150,000, were the hardest hit last year, falling 11.6...

What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Lower prices? "The housing slump hit Mecklenburg County hard last year, with building permits for new homes down 29 percent to the lowest level in at least 10 years. Builders saddled with unsold homes are cutting prices. 'We think the...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

The Sun reports from California. "Cora Viado came here three years ago to be closer to her son during her retirement. Now she's moving away. Viado lives in Sierra Lakes, one of the housing developments in Fontana's north end, which has become ground zero in San Bernardino County for home...

Readers suggested a topic on the housing downturn and people you know. "This weekend I would really love to see a thread that gives anecdotal details of how J6P is really holding up. Being isolated on this island and not living in the real world makes it very hard for me to sometimes understand...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Up and down this two-mile palm-lined piece of paradise - also known as Bonita Beach -nearly 100 homes and condos are for sale at pocketbook-pleasing prices. 21 percent of the single-family beachfront homes in this southernmost corner of Lee County are for sale....

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "On average, Nantucket homes last year sold for 88 percent of their listing price, down from 91 percent in 2006 and 93 percent in 2005. Particularly at the high end, however, some prices were significantly slashed. An eight-bedroom compound on 14.8...

The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "Priced out of buying a house in 2003, Santiago Avila-Gomez and Stephani Crespin rented all through the housing boom, then waited out the bust until the closing days of 2007. That's when they finally scored the house of their dreams. The house was built...

The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "The top economist for the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday offered a positive prognosis for the Denver-area housing market. While the housing market is in the dumps nationally, it's important to remember that all real estate is local, Lawrence...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

And send in your housing bubble pics to: hbbphotos@gmail.com

The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "One of the most turbulent years in a decade for Sacramento-area real estate ended in December with 2,440 homes changing hands in the eight-county region, the fewest sales since 1995 in some counties, according to DataQuick. Sacramento County's median...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. CNN Money, "Housing starts and building permits plunged in December much more than expected, resulting in a full-year decline in new home construction that was the sharpest drop in 27 years. And there is little sign things will get better...

Bloomberg reports from New York. "Long Island and Queens home sales dropped 25 percent in the fourth quarter and the inventory of properties surged as the housing decline hit residential areas east of Manhattan, Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers said. A total of 38,769 homes were on the market,...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

The Ventura County Star reports from California. "Real estate figures released Tuesday show that Ventura County sales plummeted in 2007 to the worst level since the market took off in 2002. Sales of new and existing homes and condominiums totaled 8,861 last year, less than half of the 18,563 deals...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast, said fourth-quarter profit declined as borrowers fell behind on $1.56 billion of loans. Net charge-offs, the cost of bad loans that won't be fully repaid, jumped to $1.2...