The Housing Bubble Blog

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The Orange County Register reports that home sellers are facing 'hard choices.' "It's not pretty, but homesellers are closing deals by whatever means necessary. They're asking for less money, paying closing costs for buyers or stepping up their marketing amid an eighth straight month of sluggish...

Some housing bubble reports from California. "Home sales in the Bay Area continued to slow last month as prices reached new highs. Prices increased at their slowest pace in more than three years. A total of 9,892 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That...

Housing news from Wall Street and Washington. "U.S. homebuilders started work on fewer homes in June as higher mortgage rates discouraged buyers. Would-be homebuyers are moving to the sidelines, dissuaded by the highest mortgage rates in four years and prices that are still above year-ago levels."...

A trio of reports on the Florida housing bubble. The Motley Fool. "Crane-counting. That's a new game that I play with my family as we drive through downtown Miami. There are so many high-rise condominium buildings sprouting up, most of them in inexplicable places far removed from the beaches and...

Some housing bubble reports from the northeastern US. "Rising federal interest rates combined with growing concern among the nation's lenders over how much supply Jersey City's Downtown can handle has some experts and local officials predicting a significant slowdown in the city's bullish...

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The press looks at the days events. "The confidence of U.S. home builders plummeted to the lowest level in more than 14 years in July as buyers canceled contracts and investors pulled back from housing, an industry survey reported on Tuesday." "Builders are getting 'a little testy' about their...

The Dataquick numbers are out. "Southern California home prices climbed to a new peak last month, even as June sales fell to a seven- year low; the result of higher borrowing costs, more inventory and less urgency among buyers." "'Many view this as a great conundrum: Prices continue to rise, as...

The homebuilders association has their monthly report out. "Increased concerns about interest rates and housing affordability caused builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes to slip three more notches to 39, according to the National Association of Home Builders." "'The HMI is...

A trio of reports on the borrowers situation in California. "Orange County's foreclosures nearly doubled in June, rising to 65 property sales from 35 in May. Overall, foreclosure activity, including default warnings to delinquent homeowners, was up 60 percent last month, the report shows. The...

Some housing bubble reports out of Florida. "Midtown Miami, the massive mixed-use residential development is up for sale. Real estate broker Edie Laquer said they always planned to sell after construction started. But market watchers immediately questioned whether this is another example of a...

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A trio of reports from Colorado. "Like many other cities in the region and nation, Loveland is seeing residential construction come to a screeching slowdown. Through June of this year, the city issued 243 residential building permits for single-family homes. That’s a 40 percent drop from the first...

Some Wall Street and Washington reports, starting with Paul Muolo. "At least five Wall Street firms are actively in the hunt to buy mortgage banking franchises, hoping to take advantage of profit-margin-challenged lenders that want to exit the business as the 'cycle' winds down." "A new report by...

The Ottawa Citizen reports on the housing bubble in Canada. "We Canadians love our shelter, and like many others around the globe, we're increasingly willing to pay a whole lot of money for it. But in many hotspots, prices have started to slide, as has the number of home sales. Australia is well...

The LA Times has this report on the San Diego housing market. "Finally, the seemingly unstoppable ascent of real estate here has stopped. Sellers are chopping prices to get deals done. Buyers worry that values will continue to fall, putting their investment at risk. There's widespread uncertainty,...

A pair of reports from the northeastern US. "Fairfield County’s housing market is getting a little squishy around the edges, but it’s nothing to be alarmed about, real estate agents say. The market should settle into a buyer’s market stretching into next spring." "Right now, however, things are in...

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Some housing bubble reports from the soutwestern US. "One high-rise condo project has halted construction pending new financing and another has closed its sales center, sources said Friday. Construction of Spanish View Towers in the southwest Las Vegas Valley stopped for two weeks and should resume...