The Housing Bubble Blog

The Rutland Herald reports from Vermont. "Lee Roberge already has trouble paying the monthly mortgage bills. When his adjustable-rate mortgage increases next year, the Cambridge resident will join the rising number of Vermont homeowners at risk of losing homes to foreclosure. 'It could jump 1...

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The San Francisco Chronicle reports from California. "Four major subprime lenders promised to give a break to California homeowners who cannot afford escalating mortgage payments, under a plan announced Tuesday by the lenders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. To qualify, borrowers must occupy their...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Home prices fell in one third of U.S. cities last quarter as stricter lending standards caused a 14 percent decline in sales nationwide. Prices dropped in 54 of 150 metropolitan areas in the third quarter and the median sales...

The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "The financial collapse of one of America's legendary home builders has left people throughout Central Florida stuck with unfinished houses, liens against their properties, unopened clubhouses and community pools, and warranties that could be worthless....

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The Voice of San Diego. "With homes taking longer to sell, and buyers choosing between more homes on the market than just about ever, real estate agents are getting pickier over the clients they'll take. 'If you've driven somebody around for two or three days, six to eight hours of driving around...

The Daily Camera reports from Colorado. "More Boulder County residents defaulted on their home loans in October than they have during any month in the past decade. The 107 foreclosures reported by the Boulder County Public Trustee's Office even bested August's 103 filings, which previously held the...

Some CNN Money news from Wall Street and Washington. CNN Money, "The number of housing permits issued nationwide fell to a 14-year low in October, although housing starts edged up slightly, according to the government's latest reading. It is seen as a necessary step to work through a record glut of...

The Journal News reports from West Virginia. "Amid the backdrop of continuing gloomy forecasts for the housing market, a group of more than 25 local realtors, builders and financial institutions gathered Sunday in Martinsburg and Shepherdstown for potential homebuyers to take advantage of a one-day...

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The Press Telegraph reports from California. "It would be hard to pick the best moment from the presidential inauguration at last week's National Association of Realtors conference in Las Vegas. Incoming NAR President Richard 'Dick' Gaylord, a 30-year real estate veteran, was the centerpiece of a...

The Bend Bulletin reports from Oregon. "Frustrated by a season of sluggish sales, Brooks Resources Corp. put the last three unsold townhomes in its prime RiverWild subdivision at Mt. Bachelor Village up for auction Nov. 2. It was a bit of a bust. Only one of the three sold, and at the minimum bid —...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. MarketWatch, "Swiss Re on Monday said it was taking a $1.1 billion loss after insuring a client's portfolio exposed to the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown and related credit-market turmoil. Swiss Re's credit solutions division had put...

The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "Linda Rovetto is a property-title agent in west Orlandohasn't taken a salary since the summer. She's working fewer hours because there's simply less business to handle. 'We used to do anywhere from 13 to 20 [closings] a month,' said Rovetto, who owns...

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The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "If you bought a house in the Sacramento area last year, chances are your annual income came to about $80,000. But your loan application said you earned a good deal more. A Bee computer analysis of more than 61,000 Sacramento-area mortgages over two years...

A report from the Arizona Daily Star. "Home builders are working to roll back or delay some Tucson-area impact fees to help the new-home industry weather its slump. The Southern Arizona Home Builders Association has been asking local governments to allow builders to postpone paying impact fees...

The Sun Journal reports from Maine. "When New Hampshire developer Jerry Bowes came up with the idea for an 11-acre, 14-unit condo development for people 55 years old and older, the market was hot and real estate agents and townspeople told him the project would sell out fast. That was in the summer...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Overbuilding? "'The Southeast region of the United States 'recently has begun to suffer from too much of a good thing when it comes to housing,' Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said today." "Builders, lenders and others...