The Housing Bubble Blog

Readers suggested a topic about the changes in the subprime lending world this past week. "My topic suggestion, with all the bad news in the sub-prime sector will we ever see a return to more conventional lending with the old school lending practices or are these garbage liar no doc, no money down...

The Star Telegram reports from Texas. "Home sales are down for the eighth month in a row, compared with the same month last year, according to figures released by the North Texas Real Estate Information System. Sales of existing homes are suffering as the market contends with an oversupply of...

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It's desk clearing time for this blog. "Fraud and sloppy lending practices are likely to be at the heart of recent news of rising defaults in the sub-prime mortgage lending sector,' said William Poole, the president of the St. Louis Fed, on Friday." "Poole said many of the sub-prime loans did not...

The Union reports from California. "Grass Valley's median home price fell to $350,000 in December, down 20 percent from $439,000 a year earlier. The local market is in a normal downward side of the latest upward cycle, said Skip Lusk, executive director of the Nevada County Board of Realtors."...

The East Valley Tribune reports from Arizona. "When Shannon and Chad Edgerton jumped into the housing boom frenzy, they didn’t want to miss out on the giant equity gains homeowners were celebrating. But the couple plunged in a little too late when they bought a roughly 1,280-squarefoot home in the...

The News Press reports from Florida. "The developers of a 473-town house community in south Fort Myers are suing 25 people for nearly $700,000 in deposits for not closing on the properties and they want the court to force the investors to buy them. But some of those are being sued said the...

The Courier Post reports from New Jersey. "Anand Ramanathan was approaching the gas station where he normally fills up when he saw them, people dressed as dollar bills holding signs that said 'Free Gas.' 'It's a great thing, really,' said Ramanathan, who chuckled at his good fortune as gas streamed...

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

The Seattle PI reports from Washington. "Seattle's median home price in January was the lowest it has been in a year, according to statistics released Wednesday. The median price of $379,990 was down from $420,000 in December, according to the Northwest MLS." "A dip might help home shoppers such as...

The Kalamazoo Gazette reports from Michigan. "Home sales in the Kalamazoo area will remain fairly stable this year compared to other parts of the state and country, a seasoned real estate professional and statistician says. 'Even by my worst projections we will do better this year than in 2002...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Toll Brothers Inc. said it may post quarterly writedowns as high as $160 million or more, which would handily top its previous estimate for all of 2007. The home builderposted first-quarter home-building revenue of $1.09 billion, down 19%...

The Tampa Tribune reports from Florida. "Home builders should offer incentives or slash prices to sell off hundreds of thousands of vacant new houses glutting markets nationwide, housing experts warned Wednesday at the International Builders Show in Orlando." "'I'm telling builders that we...

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The Orange County Register reports from California. "California's housing slump is in part a result of conflicting expectations of buyers holding out for better deals and sellers still seeking a premium for their homes, a state Realtors group concluded. As the market began to slow, buyers sensed...

KARE 11 reports from Minnesota. "Over the last ten years, housing prices here increased 6 to12 percent a year, in one of the longest, most profitable runs of any boom market ever in history. But the Minnesota Realtors Association wants you to understand something, it was an anomaly." "Josh and Jen...

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "Mortgage lenders submitted a record 19,487 foreclosure filings in Massachusetts last year, leaving more homeowners in danger of losing their homes than at any time since the real estate recession of the 1990s." "Filings in Barnstable County rose 91...

Bloomberg reports on Florida. "Brian Tuttle owns so much land that he paid $3.6 million to get rid of 125 acres ready for development in the middle of Florida's Palm Beach County. 'In 2005, I was a brain surgeon, and in 2006, I was a moron,' said Tuttle, who walked away from his deposit on the land...

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