The Housing Bubble Blog

Readers suggested a topic on personal consumption and the economy. "When is this recession going to get here? Gas prices are going up, housing market is in the dumps and there beginning to have major job layoffs. The ever resilent consumer keeps spending, something is gonna have to give here soon."...

The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "Craig Meadow is in financial hot water after contracting with Punta Gorda-based Ideal Homes Inc. for a $305,000 dream home that the builder never completed. He said he has been devastated financially. Meadow is among a growing group of consumers contending...

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

It's Friday desk clearing time. "Real estate prices on Cape Cod dropped again in April, said Barnstable County Register of Deeds John Meade yesterday. The median sales price in April was $340,000, 8 percent lower than at this time last year, marking the sixth consecutive month of declining prices."...

The Signal reports from California. "The housing market may be either 'back to normal' or 'depressed,' but one thing is for certain, it's not what it used to be. 'I've been in real estate for 20 years, and I've seen changes in the market,' said real estate agent Margo Sherwood, adding that the...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., the worst performing U.S. homebuilder stock, reported a wider second- quarter loss than earlier forecast and said the subprime mortgage crisis is exacerbating weakness in the home sales market. 'The...

The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. "As of last month, a record 30,000-plus single-family homes were listed for sale in the Tampa Bay area, and for the first time in three years, the median sale price in Pinellas County dipped below $200,000." "Realtor Nancy Baird doesn't mince words when...

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

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

The Hollister Free Lance reports from California. "Despite making only $14,000 a year, strawberry picker Alberto Ramirez managed to buy his own slice of the American Dream. But his Hollister home came with a hefty price tag, $720,000. A year and a half later, Ramirez has defaulted on his loan, and...

The Aurora Sentinel reports from Colorado. "It's a buyer's market in Aurora as foreclosures in 2007 are outpacing the number of residents who lost their homes in 2006. local real estate experts say. At the end of March 2006, Adams County had 1,094 foreclosures. In the first three months of this...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington, Bloomberg. "GMAC LLC, the finance company partly owned by General Motors Corp., said it had a $305 million first- quarter loss and injected $1 billion into its home-lending unit amid a 'sharp downturn' in the U.S. mortgage market. GMAC's...

The Guardian reports on Florida. "Florida's over-saturated luxury housing market has caused Taylor Woodrow to abandon plans to build a massive $180 development. The builder paid more than $31.5m for the land at Clearwater Beach in 2005 and planned to build a 15-storey tower. A second tower was to...

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

The Manteca Bulletin reports from California. "It is a tidy, sharp looking home. The Mossdale neighborhood west of Interstate 5 is clean and desirable. It has more than 2,200 square feet of bright living space and is less than two years old. If you had bought it 15 months ago you would have paid in...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Fannie Mae, which finances one of every five home loans in the United States, reported it...expects to report lower earnings for 2006. The government-sponsored company is remaking itself as it recovers from a multibillion-dollar accounting...

The Baltimore Examiner reports from Maryland. "You face foreclosure. You quickly move to refinance but qualify only for a double-digit subprime rate. You take it, pay for an appraisal and learn your house is worth $425,000. Then the lender reduces your appraisal by $100,000. That’s the situation...

The Bradenton Herald reports from Florida. "Lenders have filed 573 foreclosure actions in Manatee County Circuit Court through the first four months of 2007, including a record 156 in April alone, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Court's Office. At that pace, the county's annual...

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

The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "Few places in America benefited from the housing boom more than the Central Valley. Now, housing starts are down 20 percent to 50 percent. 'We're concerned because so much of the employment was due to construction,' said Rollie Smith, head of a federal...