The Housing Bubble Blog

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. said on Wednesday it expected to report lower quarterly revenue and warned that its profit would fall short of its own forecasts, as the protracted downturn in the U.S. home market worsened. 'Twenty...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Florida's stagnant real estate market sunk Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities Inc. to a first-quarter loss of nearly $16 million, the company said Tuesday. 'The first quarter was a tough quarter with no broad signs of improvement, particularly in Florida,'...

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The LA Times reports from California. "Plans for a $1-billion high-rise condominium complex overlooking Pershing Square park in downtown Los Angeles were unveiled Monday by developers who expect to build the tallest residential building west of Chicago. The project is drawing its doubters from...

The Honolulu Advertiser reports from Hawaii. "The number of O'ahu single-family home and condominium sales peaked in 2005 at 12,607. Sales dropped 17 percent to 10,421 last year, and have continued to decline this year but at a slower pace. Inventory, which dropped to roughly 1,700 units in...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. CNN Money, "Home prices are expected to finish down for the year, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, which would mark the first drop since the group started tracking values in 1968. According to Lawrence Yun, a senior...

The Providence Journal reports from Rhode Island. "Rising home foreclosures in Rhode Island could claim a new casualty, house prices. In 2005, house sales in Rhode Island outnumbered foreclosure auctions advertised in The Providence Journal by 14 to 1. Now, that ratio has narrowed to less than 3 to...

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The Daily Star reports from Arizona. "Tempted by a generous price cut, Cynthia Saenz couldn't resist buying a new house in Vail about eight months ago. She put her Southeast Side house up for sale five months ago and has reduced the 1,800-square-foot home's price from $230,000 to $200,000. Still,...

The Telegraph reports on Colorado. "For Cathy Busby, May 1 marked a personal 'Mayday!' as she was sucked into the housing crisis sweeping the United States. On Tuesday, she went into arrears on her mortgage after her monthly repayments soared by 40 per cent. The hospital administrator will lose the...

The Post & Courier reports from South Carolina. "Contractors for D.R. Horton were clearing the thick wooded tract behind Carol MacLean's home to make way for a 127-home subdivision. Though Horton's corporate headquarters hadn't yet purchased the land, local officials wanted to get a head start on...

The New York Times reports on Florida. "For several years, the defining images of Florida’s frenzied real estate boom were crowded open houses and speculators flipping preconstruction condominiums. But since the market sputtered in mid-2005, as sales fell and inventories soared, property auctions...

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The LA Times reports from California. "Escondido homeowner Rogelio Alvarez paid $485,000 in February 2006 for a three-bedroom home, moved in with his wife and their two children, now ages 2 and 8, and began making the $3,700 monthly mortgage payments, which include property taxes and two loans, one...

The Associated Press reports on Texas. "Maxine Bryant received an ad in her mailbox last year for undeveloped land in West Texas and bought, sight unseen, 20 acres of sorry-looking desert in the middle of nowhere. She said she was led to believe that this was a place where ;things are happening.'...

Readers suggested a topic on the departing NAR economist. "Let’s talk about DL." One said, "I know he already has a job but we should write his resume for him." Another suggested, "DL - 'I’ve enjoyed about enough of this as i can stand.'" "Perhaps he may be having some concerns about being sued for...

The Citizen Times reports from North Carolina. "Twice this year, real estate broker and analyst Don Davies has accepted a contract to sell property he owns in Leicester, once from buyers from Florida, once from a California couple. Both times, the buyers backed out. The bursting of the real estate...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? An auction? "The auctioning of a large condo conversion project in Baltimore County drew a crowd of gawkers yesterday but only one bid, from the foreclosing lender. It is one of at least three local projects owned by Triton Real Estate Partners...

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Inside Bay Area reports from California. "While the industry is defending itself against claims that the high-risk subprime loans were irresponsibly made to borrowers who shouldn't have gotten them, a Burlingame-based mortgage broker is siding with the critics. And if that weren't enough, Steven...