The Housing Bubble Blog

A housing report from the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Call it a chill, call it a lull, but don't describe the Center City housing market as a 'bubble about to burst. At least not to Paul Levy, president of the Center City District. Center City has shown it has the ability to annually absorb 1,500 to...

The Palm Beach Post reports from Florida. "For Bob Healey, the city's $2.4 billion waterfront redevelopment plan is like a yacht stalled at sea. His company was picked a year ago this week to turn 400 acres of blight into a dazzling waterfront. There is little to show, after 12 months and more than...

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The Record.net reports from California. "The red and white banner hanging outside the entrance to Lathrop's Mossdale Landing housing development can be seen from the freeway advertising 'new lower prices.'" "In one of the neighborhoods featured on that sign, development company Beck Properties Inc....

The Longmont FYI reports from Colorado. "Colorado leads the nation in foreclosure rates, and Weld County leads Colorado. Weld housing officials blame the phenomenon mostly on gullible buyers who accept risky home loan packages including adjustable-rate, no-money-down and interest-only mortgages....

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Citigroup on Monday cut its price targets on nine U.S. homebuilders. Citigroup said industry demand had pulled back more sharply than anticipated and that the brokerage was now more conservative about its sales and margin assumptions for...

The USA Today reports on September 11th and the markets. "Since the attacks hit during a recession, it forced the Federal Reserve to slash short-term interest rates more than expected, says Liz Ann Sonders of Charles Schwab. Short-term rates hit an almost unheard of low of 1% in 2003, which helped...

The Palm Beach Post reports from Florida. "Big home builders have been warning Wall Street for months that housing demand just isn't what it used to be. They're slashing profit targets as stocks slide and would-be home buyers try to make sense of it all. Even in Port St. Lucie, the country's...

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The Reno Gazette Journal reports from Nevada. "Conventional wisdom might lead many to believe that sagging sales of existing single-family homes this year would be enough to send would-be Realtors to truck-driving school. But this year membership in the organization increased 13.5 percent."...

The Sydney Morning Herald has this report from Australia. "Sydneysiders are losing their homes at a record rate, forced out by crippling mortgage payments, exorbitant petrol prices and high personal debt. The latest NSW Supreme Court figures show repossessions by financial institutions are...

A recent topic suggestion revolved around the housing bubble 'camps.' "How to constructively communicate with agents, sellers and Joe’s on the street about the issues. I’m no anger manager, and I’ve ranted at some possibly nice folks. Forgot they were people like me, with kids to feed, just with...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Builder incentives? How about a buyback plan? "Developers of Woodland Pond at Manchester are offering new buyers a two-year price protection guarantee. 'We're very committed and bullish on southern New Hampshire, and for good reason,' parnet...

The Tribune reports from California. "Home builders in San Luis Obispo County are scrambling to lure buyers. Incentives are being offered at a pace not seen since the early 1990s when the housing market suffered a serious downturn. Home sales are down 35 percent year-to-date. Inventory levels are...

A housing report from the Chicago Tribune. "As the housing boom winds down the finger-pointing is just warming up. Last week, home builder Robert Toll, CEO of Toll Bros., one of the country's largest builders, jumped on the blame bandwagon, pointing to terrorism, the war in Iraq and Hurricane...

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The Review Journal from Las Vegas. "Home sales continued to slide in Las Vegas during August, dropping 37 percent from the same month a year ago to 2,097, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Friday. It's the 11th consecutive month of declining single-family home sales, starting...

The Star Bulletin reports from Hawaii. "Median home prices on the Big Island, saw a 14 percent price drop (from) a year ago. On all the neighbor islands, much like Oahu, the pace of home sales declined dramatically, reflecting a deceleration in the market during August." "On the Big Island: Only...

With all the home builder news out this past week, readers suggested related topics. "How about a ranking of public homebuilders in order of likelihood of implosion i.e. weakest to the strongest? Nominate your 'favorite' HB below for inclusion!" One nomination, "From the bigger builders i vote for...

The Baltimore Sun reports from Maryland. "The number of houses sold in the Baltimore area fell more than 25 percent in August compared with August 2005, leaving frustrated sellers with houses sitting on the market longer than expected. The area has not seen such a sharp decline in sales in any...