The Housing Bubble Blog

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The Sacramento Bee reports from California. "Growing consumer defaults have claimed the first home loan lender in the Sacramento area with the closing of Folsom-based Central Pacific Mortgage. The firm shut its doors last week and dismissed an unknown number of employees, the state Department of...

A report from the Arizona Republic. "Marilyn Olinger can give you a tour of her house, but it won't be the kind from a beaming new-home owner. Instead of bragging about the space or crown molding, Olinger sees only flaws: a peeling porch roof, flaking stucco, chipped doors, bowed walls." "She...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "As troubles continue to roil the market for subprime mortgages, New Century Financial Corp. says that it's technically in default with several lenders and is under investigation by federal regulators. Analysts cautioned it could spell the...

The Boston Herald reports from Massachusetts. "The Bay State’s battered but slowly reviving residential real estate market is poised to enter its most crucial test in years. The number of homes and condos on the market as the spring season starts is up over last year, according to the MLS Property...

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The Marin Independent Journal reports from California. "Hundreds of buyers, sellers and brokers are trying to figure out where Marin's fabled real estate market is headed. The answer: No one knows for sure. Corina Rollins, a Greenbrae appraiser and real-estate instructor at College of Marin, is, if...

The Yuma Sun reports from Arizona. "Increasingly, people's dream homes of two or three years ago turn into nightmares because of mortgage payments they no longer can afford. 'We used to get one or two (foreclosures) every couple of months,' said Vicki Bardo, 2007 president of the Yuma Association...

The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "After a December dose of optimism, Broward County's housing market backpedaled to start 2007. The county had 458 sales of existing homes in January, down 17 percent from 552 in January 2006, the Florida Association of Realtors reported. The median price was...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Price reductions? "Despite the fact that apartments in the capital were subject to the biggest regional price increase in November last year, flat prices over the Greater London area have recently plunged. The price of a city apartment has fallen...

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The North County Times reports from California. "The nation's troubled housing and mortgage markets will decline even further before they rebound, a prominent mortgage executive told a gathering of real estate agents at Cal State San Marcos on Friday." "Robert A. Camerota, Sr., senior VP and...

Readers suggested inventory as a topic. "How about inventories? I have been expecting them to grow, but in Baltimore, inventories are flat or falling in many areas. Not falling by much, but not growing either. Are sellers a bit gun-shy and are going to hold off as long as they can, or are they just...

A report from the New York Times. "Federal prosecutors and securities regulators are investigating stock sales and accounting errors at the New Century Financial Corporation, the biggest mortgage company that specializes in lending to people with weak, or subprime, credit, the company disclosed in...

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It's Friday desk clearing time. Connecticut. "Gene Fabbri, owner of Independent Mortgage in Fairfield, sees Fairfield County as immune to any serious downward trends in real estate because of its desirable location, proximity to New York City and Long Island Sound." "'Everything is cyclical,'...

The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "New-home sales in Colorado fell by 21 percent in 2006 from the previous year, according to a report from the Genesis Group in Englewood. Too many new and existing homes are on the market given the number of available buyers, said Mike Rinner, a senior analyst...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Standard Pacific Corp. said Thursday net new home orders for the first two months of the year fell 19 percent, hurt by weakness in Florida and Arizona, two of the markets hardest hit by the national housing slump. Standard Pacific used what...

A housing report from the Virginia Pilot. "Home building will be under continued pressure rhis year, speakers at Old Dominion University's annual real estate forecast predicted Wednesday. Hampton Roads builders have to contend with a large inventory of existing homes still on the market, J. Van...

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