The Housing Bubble Blog

The New York realtors report on October sales. "Sales of existing single-family homes in New York state in October dropped slightly more than 7 percent compared to October 2005, according to preliminary single-family sales data. The preliminary data showed a median sales price decrease of 6 percent...

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The California realtors have the affordability index out. "The percentage of first-time buyers in California able to afford a median-priced home stood at 24 percent in the third quarter of 2006, compared with 28 percent for the same period a year ago." "The minimum household income first-time...

A housing report from the Oregonian. "Portland hasn't seen a housing market like this one in at least 10 years. Listings are up. Sales are down. Buyers, sensing an edge, are leaning hard on prices. The region's 7,000 or so Realtors are working harder to sell homes." "'If I'm not selling it...

A housing report from Maine Today. "Workers have begun framing the first home in a new subdivision in Westbrook. It's a 1,400-square-foot cape with a base price of $204,000, roughly $50,000 below the median home price in Cumberland County. That price point is no accident. The builder had initially...

The Wilmington Star reports from North Carolina. "Amid national concerns of a deflating housing bubble, Wilmington remains a choice destination and prices in its core have stayed strong even as homes are taking longer to sell, demand at the beach has turned anemic and buyers have hopped in the...

The Pensacola News Journal reports from Florida. "In a year marked by falling home prices, record-high inventories and shocking property tax hikes, putting a positive spin on the Pensacola area's 2006 housing market would seem a difficult task." "But some local Realtors are...striking a similar...

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The Daily Bulletin reports from California. "Residents hoping to incorporate Eastvale might have to wait longer for land on which their future civic center and fire station can be built. Developer D.R. Horton, which had planned to build a housing development called Riverdale and set aside 20 acres...

The Honolulu Advertiser reports from Hawaii. "Hawai'i developers aren't confronting ballooning inventories of unsold homes or falling prices like on the Mainland, but a few are offering special deals to keep the sales coming as buyer demand retreats." "Corinda Wong, (an) agent who's been in the...

The Waco Tribune reports from Texas. "Thomas is a Central Texan who knows the heartbreak of foreclosure, something more Americans are facing as easy credit during the housing boom 'comes home to roost,' as one industry expert put it." "Thomas, who did not want his last name used because of his...

The Post Tribune reports from Indiana. "Some single-family residential properties in Northwest Indiana are taking a month longer to sell than last year, but fortunately, the housing bubble has not burst here as it has in other regions of the country, according to local real estate agents and...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Auctions? Builder incentives? "ILO Group of Houston, Texas, is pleased to announce the launch of the Punctual Payment Program. For the first time in Texas, ILO Group is offering any new buyer of a condominium at Towers at Clear Lake, no payments...

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "If home shoppers are frustrated by the lack of bargains in the real estate market, they might want to follow John Pesa's lead. When sellers would laugh at his outrageously low offers, he would counter with a lower figure. He would dig up information on...

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Readers suggested a topic surrounding holiday shopping. "It would be interesting to have a thread on how those of us on this blog are spending (or not spending) money on holiday gifts." A reply, "I’d be interested in hearing that too, but I’d like to hear it done as a comparison to say 5 years...

A report from the Arizona Republic. "The number of people losing their homes to foreclosure or falling behind on their mortgages in metropolitan Phoenix is near a two-year high, the latest and most tragic sign of the Valley's housing market slowdown." "People are losing their homes at a nearly...

Several readers suggested a topic about spring sales tactics. "How about some dicussion on what tactics the agents and builders will use this spring to create a 'sense of urgency' among buyers. The last few years its been very effective to tell people that they would be 'priced out forever,' or to...

The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "The torrent of unpalatable real estate data is enough to ruin some folks' holiday appetite. But there might be some good news despite the fact that the Sarasota-Bradenton market led the state in the third quarter with an 11 percent erosion in median sales...

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