The Housing Bubble Blog

Readers suggested mortgage fraud as a topic. "I’d like to see a discussion of how all the mortgage fraud and 'price puffing' will play out. I’m referring to the cases where buyer, seller, broker, and appraiser conspire to sell a property at an inflated value, with full intent of letting the home go...

A housing report from the Washington Post. "Sam LeBlanc tried to cushion the blow when he gave his wife, Karyn, the bad news. Her condominium isn't worth nearly as much as she thought. 'I was a little crushed,' Karyn recalled." "Increasingly, though, research shows that emotions play as big a role...

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It's desk clearing time for this blogger. "Sales of existing single-family homes in New York continued their downtrend in September. Realtors recorded 8,876 home sales in September, down 15.7 percent from the record 10,533 sales in September 2005." "The preliminary data showed a median selling...

The San Bernardino Sun reports from California. "Home prices aren't rising very fast, and in some cases, they're even falling as inventories grow. Sellers are offering incentives and concessions to close deals. Should the would-be homeowner buy now or wait a little longer? The answer depends on who...

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the midwest. "The housing market slowdown is nationwide, yet it has taken its earliest toll in Midwestern communities where the word 'boom' never applied to home prices. Here in the northern Indiana city of South Bend, where 'For Sale' signs sparkle in the...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Third-quarter profit at New Century Financial got cut in half, as the mortgage lender to people with poor credit histories saw a decline in loan production." "A top executive at Caterpillar Inc. said late Thursday he believes 2007 will be a...

The Ledger reports from Florida. "September brought more hard times for the local housing market as new home construction and home sales fell sharply, according to The Ledger's monthly Polk Business Barometer. Polk's 295 single-family building permits last month plummeted 82.6 percent from a record...

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Also, don't forget to send your housing bubble pics to: photos@thehousingbubbleblog.com Please type 'HBB' in the message bar to aid with sorting.

From Money Magazine. "When Chicagoans John and Judy Peeler decided to move to Philadelphia last spring, they blithely assumed they'd get more space for their money. Indeed, the couple quickly found a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom colonial for $440,000, just about what they figured their...

The Gazette reports from Colorado. "One Colorado Springs-area home builder is offering landscaping, a sprinkler system and special financing to woo buyers. Another builder is telephoning previous customers in hopes of attracting buyers." "And several builders have joined forces in a first-ever...

A housing report from the Arizona Republic. "Pinal County's nascent resale housing market continues to reflect the Valley's as it backslid in third-quarter 2006. Sales volume was off by nearly half from the same period last year and the median price dipped under $200,000, according to a report by...

Two housing reports from the Virginia Pilot. "The field of dreams for Hampton Roads home builders has been reversed – if they don’t come, you won’t build. Faced with falling sales across the region, some builders are slowing construction, cutting prices and offering incentives unheard of in the...

The Washington Post reports on New York. "After years of soaring prices, the unstoppable New York real estate market has either taken a breather or a truncheon to the skull, which will send it staggering soon enough. Already, apartments are lingering for weeks on the market, and for the first time...

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The Orange County Register reports from California. "Talk about bad timing. Just as homebuilders start on three of the most ambitious redevelopment projects in Orange County's history, the housing market deflates." "What's a builder to do? The answer could have big implications for cities such as...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "A gauge of future home buying fell 1.1% in September, a signal that sales will be roughly flat for the next few months, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The pending home sales index fell 1.1% in September. The index...

The Loudoun Times Community reports from Virginia. "In another sign of the slowing residential housing market and mirroring a national trend, Loudoun builders reported 15 percent of new-home contracts were canceled last month. In September 2005, 2.4 percent were canceled, according to research...

The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "New-home construction, one of the engines of Central Florida's growth, slowed dramatically during the third quarter as builders adapted to lower demand and focused on moving unsold inventory. New-home starts in the Orlando area fell during the third...