The Housing Bubble Blog

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank, will bail out its two structured investment vehicles, taking on $45 billion of assets to avoid a fire sale of bonds. SIV holdings have declined $75 billion since July, and net asset...

The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "Alice Gordon was getting ready to put her villa up for sale in Palm Isles, but she's decided to wait. She wants to move into independent living, but Alice is putting her move on hold because of the flat real estate market. How long was she told it would take...

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The Bay Area News Group reports from California. "In southeast Antioch, where a swarm of East Bay foreclosures makes its thickest nest, the children on Catanzaro Way live among a grove of real estate signs that turn like autumn leaves, from 'For Sale' to 'Reduced Price' to bright 'Auction' yellow....

The Great Falls Tribune reports from Montana. "Growth may not be noticeable from inside the city, but get to the edges of Great Falls, and it's clear to see that the city is slowly creeping outward. Local real estate agent and developer Kyle Haynie is used to hearing that Great Falls isn't growing,...

The State Journal reports from Kentucky. "Pat Layton isn't ready to launch a career in blues singing yet. But she's beginning to feel she could supply B.B. King with some new and true lyrics...if the real estate market doesn't improve in 2008. A prominent real estate agent in Frankfort, Layton has...

What do you see in your local housing market thsi weekend? Lower prices? "What is striking about the mansions and tree-lined roads of this exclusive suburb of Detroit is not the elegance and wealth — it’s the real estate signs. Almost 700 homes are currently on the market in the five Grosse Pointe...

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A report from the Arizona Republic. "Houses have their own Web sites and hold open houses every day. Classified ads start with 'desperate' in boldface. In this desperate, desolate, strung-out housing slump, it was only a matter of time before someone thought of T-shirts. When it comes to selling...

Readers suggested the future of mortgage securitization for a weekend topic. "I suggest a weekend thread on housing bust litigation. Some examples of which I am aware include: 1) NY state Attorney General subpoenas of Fannie and Freddie, plus related investigation of WaMu and outfit that does its...

The Hook reports from Virginia. "With the real estate slump and glut of new houses on the market, it probably comes as no surprise that one of Charlottesville's many builders has decided to get out of the biz. But few in the home building community could have predicted the first to go would be one...

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It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Median new home prices in the Las Vegas area fell 9.2 percent in October to $299,575 while sales plummeted 49 percent to 1,302, compared with the same month a year ago, according to SalesTraq. Existing home prices dropped 11.4 percent in October to...

The Modesto Bee reports from Caalifornia. "Gov. Schwarzenegger proclaimed 'a very, very big victory for the people of California' this week in getting lenders to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, but the deal he announced apparently isn't new at all. The governor took credit Tuesday for...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Profits in the Japanese banking sector have taken a 1.2 trillion yen (£5.3 billion) hit from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the country’s central bank has said that worse turmoil may be on the horizon. Seiji Nakamura, a board member...

The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "When the city decided to redevelop 860 acres in the Midtown district five years ago, officials estimated it would take until 2025 to complete the job. But the housing slump threatens to delay the project's completion by five years, City Councilwoman Diane...

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

What's your prediction for the shopping turnout tomorrow and for the holiday season in general, in light of the housing bubble pop? "Black Friday, the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season when retailers hopefully see revenue move from the red to black. Wal-Mart, the world's largest...

The Dallas Morning News reports from Texas. "The Dallas-Fort Worth area joined the long list of U.S. cities with falling home prices in a new nationwide survey. The D-FW third-quarter decline was worse than the nationwide 2 percent drop in pre-owned home sales prices, the real estate trade group...