The Housing Bubble Blog

Some Wall Street remarks on the housing sector. "After a pullback in the U.S. housing market sent home-building stocks into a tailspin, some observers believe that the sell-off is overdone and say the shares represent a value opportunity. Yet many bearish analysts caution that the picture is likely...

Some housing bubble news from Washington. "An index of U.S. leading economic indicators fell in May by the most in nine months. The Conference Board's index last fell in consecutive months in February and March 2001. 'The Fed is going to get exactly what it was hoping for, but unfortunately the...

Reuters has this report from Cincinnati. "When Keith Gersin saw the perfect four-bedroom house in southern Ohio four years ago, he jumped to buy it before anyone else could snap it up. When he finally sold it last month, it went for $30,000 less than he had hoped, and that after seven months on the...

A pair of reports from California. "Loma Linda resident Bradford Botanes expected the market to be slower now than when he bought his three-bedroom, two and one-half bathroom house 18 months ago. 'It's slower than what I expected,' he said, noting that no one has toured the house, on the market...

The Journal News has this update from New York. "It's over. The crazed phase of frenetic home buying in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties has screeched to a halt, leaving some industry experts wondering if the sound they hear now is the housing bubble bursting." "'The market isn't soft. It...

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Public Radio takes a look at the legacy of the former Fed chairman. "World financial markets have been on a wild ride recently. One group of fund managers and commentators is fingering a more surprising culprit: They accuse Alan Greenspan." "One economist called him 'the greatest central banker who...

Dataquick has new numbers for northern California. "Sales of Bay Area homes declined for the fourteenth month in a row in May as prices continued to slowly edge up. A total of 9,064 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 8.4 percent from 8,358...

Chicago Business looks at a past and current condo craze. "Sara Benson acquired her first condominium in the city at the peak of the boom, back when speculators traded condos like stocks and the value of some units doubled in as little as a year. It turned out, she paid too much: $24,000." "That...

Business Week looks at the homebuilder numbers. "It looked like there was finally a bit of good news in the housing sector, when the government announced a rebound in home construction for May. But dig into the data, and the picture for housing is only getting worse." "Permits for construction; a...

The Boston Globe reports on the latest Census figures. "Boston lost 30,107 residents in the first half of this decade, a precipitous drop that ranked the city among the biggest population losers of any major municipality in the country, according to US Census Bureau estimates to be released today."...

The LA Times looks at the new UCLA report. "The UCLA Anderson Forecast said in its latest quarterly outlook to be released today that home prices probably would not fall much from current levels. 'Absent a recession, the price of a home five years from now is not likely to be substantially lower...

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A housing bubble report from northeast Florida. "The first quarter revealed a frightening indicator for Jacksonville's real estate investors. Sales volume was off more than 33 percent, according to DataQuick. Realtors say listings are increasing, but it does mean fewer people are buying." "'It's...

Dataquick has some new numbers out. "Home sales in Southern California slowed for the sixth month in a row, making last month the slowest May since 1999. Homes are appreciating in value at their slowest pace in almost six years. A total of 27,286 new and resale homes were sold in Los Angeles,...

A roundup of foreclosure reports. "Massachusetts homeowners are falling into mortgage foreclosure at the fastest clip in 10 years, new figures show. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported yesterday that during the first quarter, roughly one Bay State homeowner in 294 entered foreclosure, the...

The Orlando Sentinel reports on the areas May numbers. "Condominiums have finally joined single-family homes in the Orlando area's sales slowdown and are contributing to the year-over-year decline in existing-home deals overall, according to a report released Monday." "The number of condos resold...

The Chicago Tribune reports on efforts of homebuilders to move the inventory. " For new-home buyers, it's time to be wooed: Up to seven months before first payments are due. A mortgage-rate program promising to save 'up to $83,000 over 30 years.' Up to $10,000 in free upgrades. $20,000 off the...

The new home starts numbers are out for May. "Construction of new homes and apartments, after posting three straight months of declines, increased in May, helped by dry weather. The Commerce Department reported that builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.957 million...

A trio of reports on the condo bubble. "It’s sink or swim time for many condo developers throughout South Florida. Big, grand condo plans are hard to keep when the market appears to be positively FLEEING from real estate." "Some projects are probably dead in the water. Reports are some West Palm...