The Housing Bubble Blog

The Press Telegram reports from California. "California's median home price will drop in 2007 for the first time in 10 years, according to the California Association of Realtors. 'The housing market has slowed down at a much faster pace than anybody has anticipated,' said Robert Kleinhenz, a CAR...

Some housing news from Wall Street and Washington. The Commerce Department. "Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,772,000. This is 5.9 percent above the revised August estimate of 1,674,000, but is 17.9 percent below the September 2005 rate of...

The Charlotte Observer from North Carolina. "Following slowing sales and falling prices in cities across the country, monthly home sales in the Charlotte area were down in September, the first drop in more than three years." "Veteran real estate agents say they'll wait to see whether the September...

From the Virginia Pilot. "They are signs of the times: red placards standing in front of two homes on one block in the Coleman Place neighborhood. 'For Sale. Price Reduced.' From Virginia Beach to Suffolk, much of the momentum in the local real estate market has shifted to buyers after years of...

Newsday reports from New York. "Two months ago, Chuck Davis finished building a new three-bedroom, two-bath ranch in Shirley, and he put it on the market for $315,000. So far, however, Davis hasn't had any calls on the house, which, although new, is competing with 1,000 existing-home listings in...

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A California report from Dataquick. "Bay Area home prices fell on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than four years last month. Sales were at their lowest level in five years, a real estate information service reported. The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area...

The Detroit News reports from Michigan. "When James and Gabriela Rudin bought their 3,100-square-foot Tudor on a cul-de-sac in the well-manicured subdivision last year, they expected to spend the rest of their lives there. The housing market was healthy at the time, and they figured they were...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Home-building and mortgage-banking company NVR Inc. Tuesday said net income dropped 32% from the previous year and lowered its outlook on continued deterioration in the U.S. housing market. The company said its gross margins continue to...

The Associated Press reports on incentives. "Buyers are demanding cash payments and other incentives that may be artificially propping up sales prices, suggesting the market downturn could be even more pronounced than has been reported." "Gonzalo Sotelo, a licensed real estate agent in Salinas,...

The Philly Burbs reports from Pennsylvania. "Area home prices dropped in September on a year-to-year basis, only the second time this year that has happened and just the latest sign of a cooling housing market. 'Until the sellers who don't understand it's a longer market are off the market, they'll...

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The LA Daily News from California. "In a declining real estate market, condo sales were on the downswing last month, with fewer units changing hands than in any September since 1998. Young potential first-time buyers are waiting, perhaps expecting prices to plummet, said Realtor Mike Lebecki."...

MarketWatch reports on a Federal presidents speech. "The housing slowdown has turned some areas of Phoenix and Las Vegas into 'ghost towns,' where many unsold homes stand empty, Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said Monday." "Yellen said that she heard the ominous...

Some housing reports from Wall Street and Washington. Paul Muolo, "Some industry executives are telling us there's a growing wave of refinancings sweeping certain segments of the business. Which segment? Servicers of payment-option ARMs, watch out. Apparently, all the negative publicity surrounding...

The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Bankruptcies have started to move back upward after an unusual roller-coaster ride over the past year. Though the numbers of new filings were low during the first three months of this year, each month was higher than the one before. Chicago bankruptcy...

The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. "Port Richey is supposed to be bursting at the seams. In the spring, officials expected five condominium and townhouse complexes to break ground by year’s end, doubling the city’s population of 3,200." "But one of the largest projects, the 170-unit Bay...

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The Sacramento Bee from California. "It's finally come to this in Sacramento's weakened real estate market. Denial that the boom has ended isn't moving houses. The upbeat talk of real estate agents hasn't worked. Even price cutting isn't working for many as thousands of houses languish on the...

The Asbury Park Press reports from New Jersey. "When Kara Homes filed for bankruptcy this month, Amboy National Bank of Old Bridge was listed as the largest creditor with $58.2 million in loans. When local real estate mogul Solomon Dwek's $400 million empire was frozen by a judge following charges...