The Housing Bubble Blog

The Pelican Press reports from Florida. "A real estate auctioneer hired by Sarasota County to sell off more than 2,000 residential lots in the North Port area last year is still owed a $240,000 bonus for doing a good job. But some of the people who bought lots have walked away from the deals. 'Our...

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The Voice of San Diego reports from California. "When I was talking with Andrew LePage yesterday about these housing numbers, he sent me a breakdown of the median prices for homes sold in December as a function of the size of the homes. The size-adjusted, or price-per-square-foot median gives us a...

A report from the Idaho Statesman. "With 2007 mercifully in the books, Treasure Valley housing industry insiders are hoping for a rebound in 2008. Their optimism is based on Intermountain MLS statistics indicating that show the housing inventory in Ada County is down by 1,000 homes since July and...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Citigroup Inc. posted the biggest loss in the U.S. bank's 196-year history as surging defaults on home loans forced it to write down the value of subprime-mortgage investments by $18 billion. The markdown on subprime securities...

The Baltimore Sun reports from Maryland. "The National Association of Realtors' chief economist told local real estate agents yesterday that he believes the Baltimore housing market has hit bottom and 2008 should be a better year, assuming buyers don't sit on the sidelines, anticipating major price...

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The Union Tribune reports from California. "San Diego County housing prices last month tumbled 13.1 percent from those in December 2006, the biggest drop in 20 years of record keeping, DataQuick reported Monday. The overall median price for all homes stood at $430,000 in December, $10,000 less than...

The Sierra Vista Herald reports from Arizona. "Despite the perception of the current real estate market, a decade into the future, people will look back and kick themselves for not buying a home this year. So says Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, speaking at...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Associated Press, "Sovereign Bancorp Inc. said Monday it expects to take about $1.76 billion in charges in the fourth quarter related to a range of issues, from goodwill impairments to rising loan-loss provisions. The Philadelphia-based bank...

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "Prices in the Boston area more than doubled between 1995 and 2005, even adjusting for inflation. Lax lending standards played a big part. Sellers raised prices, and buyers easily borrowed the wanted money. Many families chose to stretch, agreeing to...

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A report from the Oregonian. "Developers carved out thousands of new home lots on the premise that they'd enjoy the same tidy profits produced in recent boom times. But demand for land and homes has plummeted, particularly in Clark County and Happy Valley, where construction was most intense. As a...

The International Herald Tribune reports on Texas. "Cinnamon Shores, a 250-home 'new urbanism' development, is one of several new projects along the Gulf Coast stretching south from Houston, where there is little evidence of the problems gripping the U.S. housing industry. Values are up in many...

The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Not far from Illinois Highway 7, Diane Hartman's four-bedroom single-family home waits for a buyer who never seems to come. It's the same story across Will County, in new subdivisions built out of cornfields and older streets lined with mature trees:...

What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Falling prices? "The balance of power in the housing market has shifted from the seller to the buyer, according to a new report. According to Daft.ie's Review of 2007 actual prices of property fell consistently throughout the year, while...

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The Mercury News reports from California. "Bill and Beth Scozzola bought a three-bedroom house in Gilroy at an auction in July, redid everything from the floors to the plumbing to the kitchen sink, then put it on the market in September for $599,950. They've had no offers. So this week they parked...

Readers suggested a topic on the economic future. "One topic of interest to me is just exactly how the recession/depression is most likely to effect the average person on a day to day basis. I was talking to a friend in Oregon about this last night and she maintains people will still get their...

The Daily Business Review reports from Florida. "The Whitney, a newly built condo development in downtown West Palm Beach, has joined the growing number of developments hit with foreclosure lawsuits. California-based lender iStar FM Loans is seeking to foreclose on about 146 unsold units, or about...