The Housing Bubble Blog

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The Reporter from California. "Economic growth in the Vallejo-Fairfield metropolitan area will be among the strongest in the region, says a recently released study. 'Part of the story,' said professor of business economics Sean Snaith, 'is housing and the larger trend of this demographic shift from...

The Providence Journal reports from Rhode Island. "The Villages on Mount Hope Bay is a 55-plus residential development nestled along a stretch of waterfront. The project, which is more than halfway completed, will include a total of 290 condominiums." "The decision to auction the 33 lowest-priced...

Readers suggested a topic about who is buying houses these days. "Flippers, move-up and subprime buyers would appear to all have been recently knocked out of the demand queue by flat or falling prices. And anyone who was ridiculed for sitting on their hands while all the financial geniuses were...

A housing report from the Washington Post. "Lisa and Reggie Starr thought they were getting a good deal when they signed a contract to buy a new six-bedroom house in Woodbridge almost a year ago. But after they had trouble selling their own house and wanted to get out of the deal, the fine print in...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Price reductions? "In Somerville, just outside of Boston, a condominium developer trying to sell the last of 18 units slashed prices, dropping the price for the three-bedroom condo to $599,000, nearly 17 percent below what a comparable unit sold...

The News Press reports from Florida. "Condo sales have slowed during the past few months. In September, 61 existing condos were sold, compared to 126 during the same month a year ago. The median price dropped, from $316,800 in September 2005 to $305,600 this year." "'The residential market, I...

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A housing report from the Arizona Republic. "This is a good time for first-time homebuyers to get into the market, real estate agents say, but Gilbert may still be a tough place for new buyers. 'Mesa has a little more variety, more options for first-time buyers,' said Nelda McClaskey, a Realtor in...

Readers suggested a topic surrounding the subprime news this week, starting with some quotes from an article. "Let’s talk about complacency for a moment. Ownit Mortgage Solutions, a California-based home lender, closed this week and told more than 800 workers not to bother coming back to work. The...

The Daily News reports from California. "Home sales and prices in the Santa Clarita Valley continued to plunge. Sales of single-family homes fell by 22.1 percent, which amounts to the lowest number of November resales since 1999, according to the monthly report issued Friday by the Southland...

The Pensacola News Journal reports from Florida. "Housing prices continue their steady decline in the Pensacola Bay Area, accompanied by huge drops in sales volumes for new and existing single-family residences. Escambia County's total single-family home sales volume plummeted 40 percent in...

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Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Economist Irwin Kellner on Friday said Long Island’s financial outlook is the same as the nation’s: It’s good, but factors that could sour it loom on the horizon. 'Long Island in one of the real bubble markets,' he said. And the number of unsold homes on...

The Seattle PI reports from Washington. "Shopping for a home in Seattle? The median sales price appears to be rebounding somewhat, after drops in August and September from July's median. Those numbers do not account for homes that sit on the market for months." "In a news release Thursday,...

The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "Metro-area home sales fell at a double- digit rate in November and resale prices remained soft, according to housing statistics released Thursday. The number of homes sold fell 13.7 percent in November to 3,565, down from 4,133 in October. In November 2005,...

The Express News reports from Texas. "The party isn't exactly over for San Antonio real estate, but the champagne has stopped flowing. Home builders, feeding off of the anxiety of the national real estate meltdown coupled with the typical seasonal slowdown, have started offering deals and...

The Queens Chronicle reports from New York. "To hear brokers tell it, now is the best time to take advantage of the 18 month lull in the national housing market and seal the deal on a new home, condo or co op. Likely advice from a real estate agent, maybe, but only a handful of local markets in...

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