The Housing Bubble Blog

The Dallas News reports on foreclosures. "The number of mortgage defaults in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is up 30 percent this year. In North Texas, rising property taxes and increasing mortgage rates on adjustable loans are also taking a toll." "Kemisha Jones doesn't want to leave her 2-year-old...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here!

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'Consumers held the least favorable home-buying plans since the low point in the 1990 recession, which indicates continued declines in sales of new and existing homes during the year ahead,' according to Richard Curtin, of the University of...

The Pasadena Star has this report from California. "Jim and Gerry Balazs' La Habra home has been on the market for eight months, so they agreed to spice up the offer by throwing in a new car or truck. Their broker, Mark Tacconelli, got the idea from a similar offer in Virginia. Tacconelli suggested...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "The dollar's early afternoon recovery, in the wake of a solid US jobs report for August, came to an abrupt halt on mounting concerns that the US housing market is teetering on the verge of collapse. The National Association of Realtors...

The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "School district figures show that 284 teachers stated in their May exit interviews they were moving out of Palm Beach County, up from 210 in 2005 and 140 in 2004. The information doesn't specify where the teachers moved or why. But district officials say...

Post weekend topic suggestions here! Also, send in your housing bubble photos to: photos@thehousingbubbleblog.com A schedule note; this blogger is taking the holiday off, so on Monday looks for a Bits Bucket and Labor Day predictions thread.

Business Week looks at exotic loans. "For cash-strapped homeowners, it was a pitch they couldn't refuse: Refinance your mortgage at a bargain rate and cut your payments in half. New home buyers, stretching to afford something in a super-heated market, didn't even need to produce documentation, much...

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here!

The Pasadena Star reports from California. "When economists start talking about cycles, it's a good bet they're talking about a downturn. That was the message Michael Carney delivered Wednesday when the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California held its quarterly luncheon at Cal Poly...

The Calgary Sun has this report from Canada. "The bubble watch is on in Calgary. According to a report released by TD Economics today, the city could be experiencing a housing bubble. 'The market is so overheated at the moment and new home supply so tight that a bubble may be forming, or could...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "H&R Block is due out with its quarterly earnings report today. Bob Moon: The higher that home prices climbed in recent years, the riskier the loans became for some mortgage lenders. Now, with adjustable rates going up and a growing...

Inman News has this on New York. "Sales of existing single-family homes in New York fell by double digits between July 2005 and July 2006, according to preliminary single-family sales data accumulated by the New York State Association of Realtors." "There were 9,392 sales recorded statewide in...

MSNBC has this report on exotic loans. "'Joe' is a homeowner who did not want to give his full name for this story because he’s ashamed to admit that he soon won’t be able to afford his monthly mortgage payments. In order to get the $800,000 house he bought early last year in California’s Silicon...

Please post off topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here!

The LA Times reports from California. "KB Home has started pruning its land portfolio in Southern California, a byproduct of a slumping housing market that is forcing big builders to reevaluate their property holdings. The Westwood-based builder said Tuesday that it had sold its 49% stake in the...

The Review Journal reports from Las Vegas. "Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research, counted 2,869 recorded new home sales in July, compared with 3,071 sales in the same month a year ago. The slowdown is really being felt on the resale side, Smith said. Sales of existing homes in July...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Shares of homebuilders declined in midday trading Wednesday, led by Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., after JPMorgan issued a note on the builder raising questions about stock options practices and forecasting weaker earnings per share...

The St Petersburg Times reports on the consumer survey. "Floridians' confidence in the economy plunged this month to its lowest level in 13 years, University of Florida economists said Tuesday. The chill in the housing market, higher interest rates and fuel prices appear to be taking their toll....

The Boston Herald looks at home sales reporting. "A bad storm is brewing in the once high-flying real estate market, and the Boston area, is right in the eye of it. For many hapless home sellers, desperately scrambling to find living, breathing buyers, this tempest appeared to come on as quickly as...