The Housing Bubble Blog

The Olympian has this update from Washington. "As the South Sound real estate market cools from overheated to warm, sellers are increasingly offering price reductions in order to speed up sales. Real estate agents say the recent appearance of homes marked as 'Price Reduced' indicates that this...

The Tallahassee Democrat reports from Florida. "The downturn in Florida's real-estate market hit home Friday when The St. Joe Co. laid off employees in three divisions statewide. 'We're responding to the business cycle,' spokesman Chris Corr said. 'There's been a slowdown in the Florida real-estate...

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A pair of reports on the fading condo boom. "David Black, a broker in Cherry Creek, recently searched the listings for a client seeking a condominium. The buyer wanted a one-bedroom unit, costing less than $150,000, in the Southeast Denver area. Black typed these criteria into his computer. 'Six...

Some housing bubble reports from California. "It's over. For the past 10 years, the San Fernando Valley's residential real estate market has been fascinating to watch. Those who jumped in this time last year might be getting jittery. Likewise for anyone holding a teaser rate loan with a mortgage...

Readers suggested recent Federal Reserve actions as a topic. "Will the Fed eventually regret being kinder and gentler than under Volcker?" One replied, "Maybe things will be OK. Real estate will stabilize and household debts will be manageable with falling rates, oil and energy costs will decrease,...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Will a homebuilder let you 'pick your payment'? Slow open houses? Here's one from Arizona, "I live in Page, and the housing market has always been very poor here. We had our four-bedroom house on the market for 14 months recently and it never...

A pair of reports from the East Valley Tribune in Arizona. "Home buyers have the upper hand in the Valley’s real estate market for the first time since the record run-up in prices began two years ago, but industry-watchers say most are waiting to see when values will bottom out." "'There’s a lot of...

Some housing reports from the northeastern US. Rhode Island, "As housing inventory builds and the pace of sales slows, some local condominium developers are turning toward a market segment that was somewhat neglected during the housing boom, low- to middle-income workers, even as development...

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The St. Petersburg Times reports on one analysts' suggestions to local homebuilders. "So what will it take to get the housing market back to normal? Yes, this housing market, where prices have skyrocketed, but where builders are now offering incentives, everything from free granite countertops to a...

Readers suggested this article as a weekend topic. "Convinced home prices will fall? So are a lot of other Americans. Some, known as bubble sitters, are acting on their conviction. They’re cashing out by selling their homes and renting, figuring they’ll return to the market after prices have...

The Dallas News reports on the housing market. "North Texas homebuyers took a vacation in July. Sales of preowned homes were down 10 percent during the month, the largest decline in more than two years. 'Buyer traffic is good, and we are doing better in the city than out in the suburbs,' said...

The Union Tribune follows up on the Dataquick numbers. "San Diego County's housing market weathered its second straight month of price declines in July, when overall prices dropped 1.8 percent from a year ago to $487,000, DataQuick reported. Taken together, the two summer months showed the first...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. In Massachusetts, "The Newburyport real estate market is faring better than Essex County or the state as a whole, but homes here are staying on the market longer, creating an inventory bubble that is giving buyers more negotiating power, according to...

The Bulletin has this report from Oregon. "Linda Laws and her husband have been trying to sell their little 712-square-foot rental house on west Bend's Northwest 12th Street since June. The price, after a drop from the initial listing price, is standing at $349,000, still a tidy profit on a house...

Some housing bubble reports from California. "Los Angeles County home prices in July rose at their slowest pace in six years while values in San Diego County continued to fall, more evidence that the Southland's real estate market continues to slump, data released today show. Sales in Los Angeles...

The July numbers are out for Arizona. "By now it's obvious the traditional surge of home sales in the summer isn't happening this year. Actually, it's worse than that. The latest numbers on housing resales Arizona State University show that sales of single-family homes throughout the Phoenix area...

A housing report from the Baltimore Sun. "Housing sales in the Baltimore area skidded more than 23 percent last month from July 2005 levels, and price appreciation slowed as a shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market took hold. That represented the biggest decline for any month since MRIS...

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