The Housing Bubble Blog

The News Journal reports from Delaware. "While foreclosure filings continue to rise throughout the state, housing counselors at Neighborhood House Inc. in Wilmington say they're overwhelmed with pending mortgage defaults. Filings in Delaware continued to tick up in September, bringing the total...

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The Ledger Dispatch reports from California. "For the past three months, Pine Grove resident Michael Scott has been pretty picky. He and his fiance have started to search for an Amador County home to permanently call their own, but it has been a slow process. 'We're trying to find the perfect...

The Dallas Morning News reports from Texas. "North Texas home sales plunged in September. The 19 percent drop in sales of pre-owned homes was the largest such decline in more than seven years. Local real estate agents sold only 6,031 pre-owned homes last month. That's a big fall-off from August's...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "St. Joe Co., Florida's largest private landowner, plans to eliminate more than 75 percent of its workforce, sell about 100,000 acres of land and scrap its dividend to contend with the worst housing slump in 16 years. 'This is not...

The Miami Herald reports from Florida. "Since 2005, home buyers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have signed so-called 'exotic' mortgages at twice the rate of borrowers in the rest of the country. Roughly one in five mortgages written in Miami-Dade and Broward counties between 2005 and July 2007...

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The Recordnet reports from California. "Nervous homeowners in foreclosure or experiencing sleepless nights over the prospect of losing their homes were among some three dozen Record readers who took advantage of a free two-hour call-in Thursday night to speak with financial experts. Tax expert Hank...

The News Tribune reports from Washington. "Pierce County home prices dropped in September for the first time in years, as sales activity continued to ramp down. Sales activity also lagged, with 40.5 percent fewer homes sold in September compared to the same month last year. Puyallup saw one of the...

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "The section of the South Shore centered around Plymouth continues to experience a big drop-off in home sales and prices. Figures compiled by the Warren Group show that home sales throughout Plymouth County are down 10 percent so far this year, compared...

What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Legal actions? "The Massachusetts attorney general's office has sued Fremont Investment and Loan, once the state's second-largest subprime lender, accusing it of using predatory lending practices to sell loans to some borrowers who...

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The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "With more people afraid their homes won't sell in today's slumping real-estate market, the number of existing homes listed for sale in the Denver metro area in September dropped from the same period a year ago. 'Sellers, if they're not in an upside- down...

Readers suggested a topic on home prices and overall price movements. "Where to now………………? Inflation or deflation?" One said, "I know alot of retired people who tell me that inflation is killing them, especially the food prices at the stores and medical costs. Also, its interesting how the global...

The Memphis Business Journal reports from Tennessee. "Shelby County's second-largest homebuilder, Levitt & Sons of Tennessee LLC, is leaving the market after parent company Levitt Corp. made a decision to exit the state. 'Sales are not as prevalent as last year,' says Anthony Gunter, president of...

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It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The number of planned new single-family homes in St. Lucie County, Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce decreased 65 percent between January and August compared with the same months of last year. 'These numbers are indicative of what needed to happen,'...

The Desert Sun reports from California. "Uncertainty surrounds Escena, the much-touted 1,400-home project that is the first golf course development built in Palm Springs in two decades. Home-building giant Lennar Corp. has stopped pouring foundations for new homes at the upscale gated development...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Subprime mortgage bonds created in the first half of 2007 contain loans that are going delinquent at the fastest rate ever, according to Moody's Investors Service. The average rate of 'serious loan delinquencies' in the...

The New York Times reports on Maryland. "Colorful banners, draped across buildings like giant flags, urge people driving through Baltimore’s rebuilt downtown neighborhoods to move into the new condos and apartments inside. 'Sophisticated Urban Living W/Garage and Gated Off-Street Parking' one sign...