The Housing Bubble Blog

CBS 46 reports from Georgia. "Atlanta home prices are the highest in recent memory. According to the Atlanta REALTORS Association, Atlanta’s median home price jumped from $105,000 in 2012 to $250,000 today. With some properties seeing such quick gains in pricing, however, some real estate agents...

A report from the New Zealand Herald. "One of New Zealand's most controversial citizens has cut a record-breaking deal over the $40 million assets seized as part of a money-laundering inquiry. The deal struck with William Yan - also known as Bill Liu, Yang Liu and Yong Ming Yan - is the final...

A report from the Tennessean. "Some things are more predictable than others. The topic and timing of this week’s column is one of those. For the last several years, David and I have attended a late summer conference in steamy Austin, Texas. Keller Williams Realty International’s (KWRI) Mega Agent...

The American Statesman reports from Texas. "Average apartment rents in the Austin area increased in July for the seventh straight month, though the rate of increase from last year fell to a six-year low, according to Axiometrics. 'Austin has been adding a lot of jobs, but also adding a lot of...

A report from Builder Online on Florida. "Metrostudy’s 2Q16 survey of the Tampa housing market shows that 2,034 single-family units were started in the quarter, a 1.9% increase from 2Q15. The annual rate of 8,191 starts showed a 24.2% increase compared to last year. Single-family quarterly closings...

A report from the Australian Financial Review. "Buyers seeking advice need to take extra care they're not being flogged developer apartments in deals better suited to their adviser's pocket than their own situation. Leaked documents show hard-sell strategies being offered to advisers promise them...

The Tribeca Citizen reports from New York. "Last August, I counted 100 available retail spaces in Tribeca. This year, there are 129.* This is sure to inspire comments about 'greedy landlords,' but the landlords lose money every month their storefronts remain vacant. Asking rents are clearly too...

A report from Bloomberg. "Chinese authorities said 450 suspects have been arrested this year in a crackdown on using offshore companies and 'underground banks' to transfer money illegally, underscoring the scale of the task for officials trying to control capital flows. The cases involved almost...

The Globe and Mail reports from Canada. "A year ago, when Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz cut interest rates for the second time in six months, we knew we’d have to take the bad with the good. Slashing the bank’s overnight rate in half to 0.5 per cent would surely further inflate regional...

Realtor.com reports on California. "To its neighbors in the San Francisco Bay Area, the city of Vallejo, CA, has long been known for several things. There was the notorious bankruptcy in 2008. There was the ignominious honor of ranking No. 9 on the Forbes list of Most Miserable Cities and No. 2 on...

The Global News reports from Canada. "Global News obtained MLS sales data from several key Metro Vancouver markets and found the number of homes sold during the first two weeks of August in Greater Vancouver dropped by 85 per cent on average. Richmond experienced a 96 per cent drop in the number of...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The annual off-campus student housing boom near Missouri State University has a little more ooomph this year. Since the recession, new private development around campus has had an almost singular focus: amenity-rich apartment complexes. This month...

A report from Stowe Today in Vermont. "The market for homes between $1 million and $2 million hasn’t been robust, said McKee Macdonald of Coldwell Banker Carlson Real Estate in Stowe, meaning buyers interested in 'entry-level luxury homes' can get 'a lot of house for their money' right now. Stowe’s...

A report from Multi-Family Biz. "Some 47,700 new beds are expected to come to market in privately-owned, purpose-built student housing properties in time for the Fall 2016 semester, with university markets in the Southeast region the primary target, according to Axiometrics, a provider of student...

The Pioneer Press reports from Minnesota. "According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the price of farmland, averaged across the whole country, fell in 2015. That puts the official seal on what people involved with farming in the Midwest have felt for two years — that the peak of the farmland...

A report from China Daily. "Yao Lisha, 38, lives with her family at a villa in suburban Shanghai, and has invested in Australian properties. Now, she is desperate to ensure her investments do not lead to losses. She runs a trading company with her husband in Shanghai. In 2014, she was persuaded by...

A report from USA Today. "Apartment building owners are struggling to rent many of the luxury units that have flooded downtowns across the country in recent years even as a relative shortage of multifamily homes in the suburbs has driven up rents. The downtown building frenzy has been...

A report from The Street. "Since the 2008 crash, domestic capital has been scarce, sitting at just $3 billion in 2009 after hitting a whopping $230 billion in 2007. Naturally, EB-5, an investment program allowing foreigners to essentially buy green cards in exchange for a $500,000 investment, along...

The Missoulian reports from Montana. "The skyrocketing prices of homes in Missoula this year have even long-time real estate agents shaking their heads in disbelief. 'I’ve never seen anything like it,' said Brint Wahlberg of Windermere Real Estate. 'It’s truly an unprecedented market. I’ve been in...

Insider Louisville reports from Kentucky. "Government have been closely watching as Metro Council members grapple with how to best use a popular local tax incentive called a TIF, according to council president David Yates. Councilman Bill Hollander, who at one time didn’t support TIFs for either...