The Housing Bubble Blog

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The Press Democrat reports from California. "Sonoma County’s housing downturn deepened in October, when sales tumbled to a 16-year low and the typical house sold for nearly 9 percent under a year ago, according to The Press Democrat’s latest real estate report. Only 233 homes sold in October, well...

Readers suggested a topic on circumstance and the housing bubble. "I was wondering, what would we all be saying if the shoe was on the other foot? By that I mean what if those of us who are currently renting due to the insanity of home prices had bought a home pre-bubble? (I am a renter). Would we...

The Sun Herald reports from Florida. "Sean Snaith, a University of Central Florida economist, is noted for his work debunking the media-driven image of a 'housing bubble.' A speculative 'bubble' is a rising market driven only by expectations of still greater price increases. The cost of Florida...

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It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Faced with declining demand at current prices, a Lake Oswego home builder said he will put all 230 of his unsold homes and condos on the auction block next month. Though asking prices have ranged from $300,000 to $650,000, bids will start as low as...

The Contra Costa Times reports from California. "Bay Area home sales had their worst October since 1988, with much of the blame placed on a drop in higher-priced loans. It was a record low for all three East Bay counties: Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano, said Andrew LePage, an analyst with Data...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Fannie Mae executives on Friday defended a change in the way the mortgage finance company calculates losses on home loans, responding to analysts' concerns. Using the new method, it reported, on an annual basis, a credit-loss ratio of 4...

The Daily Democrat reports from New Hampshire. "Strafford County has seen a significant increase in the amount of property foreclosures in the last three years, and there may be more to come. Numbers released by the Registrar of Deeds show 167 foreclosures through Nov. 1. At the same time in 2005...

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

The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "DataQuick reported Thursday that 2,467 new and existing homes changed hands in October in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. That's more than 1,000 fewer than the same time last year. Sacramento County's...

The Dallas Morning News reports from Texas. "Almost 43,000 Dallas-Fort Worth area home foreclosure postings were recorded for 2007 – up 10 percent from last year and near a record. Home foreclosures in the D-FW area have grown by about 50 percent in the last five years, due in large part to lax...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s third- biggest bank, wrote down about 1.3 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) of credit-related securities tied to the U.S. subprime-mortgage market collapse. Barclays booked a gross writedown of 1.7 billion...

The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "North Port and neighboring Charlotte County, each with tens of thousands of vacant lots, are now home to 1,200 abandoned construction sites, yet another aftershock from region's real estate market collapse. North Port and Sarasota County combined have about...

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The Union Tribune reports from California. "All six Southern California housing markets suffered year-over-year price drops last month for the first time in 12 years, DataQuick reported Wednesday. The overall median was down 8 percent to $444,000 from $482,750 in October 2006, the San Diego-based...

The Columbus Dispatch reports from Ohio. "C.V. Perry & Co. spent the better part of six decades turning the fruits of its customers' labors and good fortune into dream homes. That was yesterday. Today, the company is gone. Some of the homes that bear the company's stamp still stand, barely,...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Associated Press, "HSBC Holdings PLC said Wednesday it was taking a $3.4 billion charge against third-quarter profits because of accelerating losses in its HSBC Finance Corp. mortgage business in the United States. 'There is the probability...

News 14 reports from North Carolina. "There is bad news in the real estate market in the Charlotte region. For years, the area seemed almost immune to the national housing slump. That immunity appears to be wearing off as fewer homes are selling and the ones that are selling are doing so for less...