The Housing Bubble Blog

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

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

The Record.net reports from California. "Lackluster sales of existing homes in San Joaquin County rose slightly in May, but the median sales price slid for the third consecutive month, this time to the lowest level since the spring of 2005. The median sales price has steadily fallen from $395,000...

The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado."The number of new and previously owned homes sold in the six-county Denver area fell by 10.6 percent in the first quarter, compared with the first three months of 2006. The report shows that the median, or middle, price of all homes dropped 1.3 percent...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. The Financial Times. "H&R Block on Thursday became the latest large financial institution to be hit by the turmoil in subprime mortgages this quarter, as it served up a loss during what is normally its strongest reporting period. The company...

The Roanoke Times reports from Virginia. "Foreclosures are up an estimated 35 percent to 45 percent in the Roanoke Valley, according to Kathy Nunnally, president of the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors. Virginia recorded 1,455 foreclosures in April, according to RealtyTrac. That's a 400...

Plese post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports from California. "The sluggish housing market hasn't stalled the overall California economy so far, but researchers at the UCLA Anderson Forecast expect lower construction employment to drag growth lower next year. The UCLA report stresses construction and real...

KXLY 4 reports from Washington. "Downtown Spokane showed off its increasing number of condominiums to the public on Saturday. Developers say they are still selling condos, just not as fast as before. Several major, high-end downtown housing projects are in the works. But soaring construction costs...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. CNN Money, "Merrill Lynch has seized about $800 million of assets from troubled hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns, throwing in doubt the chances that the funds will survive. The assets, which were collateral for underperforming loans made...

The Miami Herald reports from Florida. "Since South Florida's raucous real estate party ended, the hangover has taken different forms, sales plunging, foreclosures rising, lawsuits flying. Now, a Hialeah condo conversion company has gone bankrupt in one of the biggest bankruptcy cases yet to come...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

The Appeal Democrat reports from California. "News about the housing-market downturn and the market’s future is of little relief to struggling sellers, but may bring some encouragement to bargain-hunting homebuyers. In Yuba and Sutter counties, the median home price for a single-family home had...

The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Every evening, Pat Wendelken goes online and peeks at the posted mortgage interest rates. She winces at what she sees. 'I watch the rates going up every week,' said Wendelken, who must decide soon the best way to finance a home she and her husband are...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Housing starts in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in May as interest rates rose, suggesting no early end to the recession in residential real estate. Builders broke ground on new houses at an annual rate of 1.474...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Lee County’s burgeoning skyscraper condominium market is a renter’s paradise, but a landlord’s hell. Experts say as increasing numbers of condo units pour into an already overflowing supply of residential real estate, renters can almost name their price for...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.

In Business Las Vegas reports from Nevada. "With Nevada ranking first in the nation in foreclosure rates in the first quarter of 2007 and again in April, the mortgage lending industry and consumers are taking notice. Foreclosures in April were 225 percent higher than April 2006. And insiders say...

The Gazette reports from Colorado. "Front lawns, driveways and foreclosures. These days, they’re a part of every Colorado Springs-area neighborhood. Against a backdrop of escalating numbers in Colorado and the nation, the Springs and El Paso County were on pace through May to approach a nearly...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washigton. MarketWatch, "The outlook for U.S. home building is the worst in 16 years, the National Association of Home Builders reported Monday. The builders' housing market index fell by two points to 28 in June, the lowest since February 1991." "The...