The Housing Bubble Blog

The New York Times has this report on adjustable rate home loans. "The raising of interest rates on millions of adjustable rate mortgages over the next several years has all the makings of a classic horror story. As home prices appreciated from ridiculously high to unbelievably higher, more...

Readers suggested lesser known housing markets as a bubble topic. "Possibility that the areas that will suffer the most during the pop are the areas everyone thinks there are no bubbles. In the U.S., areas like the rust belt and portions of the Midwest where fundamentals (jobs, population & real...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Auctions? "Newly Remodeled Harbor Estates Home on extremely rare Single Loaded Street. Bike to Dana Point Harbor, Capo Beach and Doheny Beach. "How about builder incentives? "In addition to the fixed four-percent over three years, Standard...

The Record Online has this update from California. "These days are a good time to buy a residence, says Leslie Brewer, who has been shopping for a condominium since March. And she's content to take her time doing so. 'I'm hoping that prices will fall more while I'm looking,' said Brewer, a Stockton...

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here!

A pair of reports from Florida. "The residential housing market in the Pensacola Bay Area has been on a wild ride the past two years. Home prices shot up as much as 40 percent in just months. As of mid-July, buyers could choose from a record-breaking 6,500 homes in the Escambia and Santa Rosa...

The Washington Post has this update on the DC area condo market. "It's no secret: After a dizzying five years during which buyers threw ever-larger sums of money at condominium projects, units are languishing on the market and prices have stalled. So why, then, are so many developers still building...

Several readers suggested a topic on where the legal chips may fall in a housing downturn. "Who holds the Real Estate legal hot potato(es)? So many fingers in the real estate industrial complex pie." "As the bubble breaks, lawsuits from upset buyers, money lenders and the like would seem to become...

The Arizona Republic reports that the big homebuilders are 'regrouping.' "A parade of builders has announced sales declines of as much as 40 percent in what one analyst called 'confession season.' It has been hard for some builders to face the new reality. Some analysts say builders got so...

The Voice of San Diego has this report on the condo market. "While the news that home prices finally went negative year-on-year last month grabbed plenty of attention this week, a new report shows that the price dip has been even more exaggerated for condos and townhomes." "When compared with June...

It's desk clearing time for this blogger. "U.S. homebuilders' shares dropped, led by D.R. Horton Inc., the latest to cut its earnings forecast after Federal Reserve interest rate increases lifted mortgage costs to a four-year high. 'If the Fed wanted to cool housing, they certainly succeeded,' said...

A pair of reports from the northwest US; the Bellingham Herald, in Washington. "Even with more houses on the market, home prices continue to rise in Whatcom County. 'Looking at the sales more closely, I found that the attractive, well-priced properties are getting full-price offers, while other...

Some housing bubble reports from the northeastern US. "Kim Bronson's West Windsor, Vt., home has everything a buyer might expect in a pastoral North Country property. The only thing the property doesn't have is a buyer. Ms. Bronson put her home on the market more than a year ago at $4.9 million,...

The USA Today reports on failed condo projects. "There's relief in sight for some renters as the oven-hot real estate markets cool off: A huge number of new condos could be converted into rental properties over the next 18 months." "In Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and much of...

There is big news from Wall Street this morning. "The largest U.S. homebuilder said that its orders for the quarter ended June 30 fell 4.4% to 14,316 homes from 14,980 a year earlier. The value of the homes sold dropped to $3.8 billion from $4.1 billion." "'The current home sales environment is...

Some housing bubble reports from Colorado. "For the sixth consecutive month, Colorado has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said he thinks the state will be grappling with the foreclosure problem for at least another year or two." "Suthers said that...

Please post you weekend topic suggestions here! And don't forget to send in housing bubble pictures to: photos@thehousingbubbleblog.com

The Santa Cruz Sentinel has this update from California. "June's median home prices were up $10,500 over May. Still, the $760,000 median price for a single family home did not beat November's record of $789,250, as reported by number cruncher Gary Gangnes. February's recent low was $709,000."...

The Lewisboro Ledger has this report from Connecticut. "With inventory up and house prices leveling off this year, the local real estate market is swinging inexorably in favor of buyers. Sellers are growing increasingly uneasy, wondering exactly how long it will take for their 'For Sale' signs to...

Some housing bubble reports from Florida. "Housing prices in Palm Beach County are so high that 90 percent of the workforce can't afford to buy the median-priced home. An obvious solution, raising wages, isn't practical, business leaders said." "Jennifer Vacco, human resources manager for Lockheed...