The Housing Bubble Blog

The Las Vegas realtors have the May numbers out. "The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors recently released housing statistics for May 2006. The total number of local homes sold in May (was) down 17 percent from 2005. For condos and townhomes, 605 units were sold, which is down 19 percent...

The homebuilders association has a report out. "Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped this month to the lowest in more than 11 years. The National Association of Home Builders index of builder confidence declined to 42, the lowest since April 1995, from 46 in May, the Washington-based...

The Arizona Republic looks at the housing bubble 'ripple effect.' "Metropolitan Phoenix's housing slowdown is bad news for more than home-building companies and the investors who hold their stock. The region's economy is unusually dependent on housing, so a lot of livelihoods rely on it." "The...

The Free New Mexican has this rare report from Santa Fe. "Santa Fe homes are overpriced all right, but the excess is nowhere near places such as Naples, Fla., or Salinas, Calif., according to a study. In fact, Santa Fe’s overvaluation is slightly lower than Farmington’s." "Santa Fe real-estate...

The Orlando Sentinel has this update from Florida. "Home buyers and home sellers are in a virtual stalemate in Central Florida, with housing prices holding at lofty 2005 levels while more properties are hitting the market and lingering longer. Many sellers are clinging to unrealistic price...

The Ventura County Star has this report from California. "Homeowners have short memories. 2005 and 2004 were two of the strongest years on record in Ventura County, which is skewing people's perspective about a much tamer market this year. Some home sellers might have a difficult time adjusting...

Two readers suggested exotic loans as a topic. "Many of us have talked about the creative loan issue. Some study results. (I was surprised to see this in the San Diego Union Tribune, the biggest RE shill paper in the country IMO). Some highlights: 'Nearly 54 percent of payment-option users in the...

Several readers discussed future Fed rate decisions. "Topic: Bernanke and the June Fed meeting. I think the results of the next meeting are huge in terms of the psychological effect. What signal does it send to Wall St. and all the whiners who don’t want their bubble taken away. What if he doesn’t...

What are you seeing in your housing market? homebuilder incentives? Motivated sellers in the classifieds? Here are some from the topics thread. "More personal stories of capitulation? My brother (bought a 508k POS in bad area in ‘04) AND a work colleague (bought 3bdr in La Jolla in ‘04) just this...

This was the most popular topic suggested this week. "If buying a house is not advisable, then where would you park your savings?" The first reply. "HSBCDirect at 4.65%, EmigrantDirect at 4.65%, Citibank at 4.75%. Splitting among these 3 you can FDIC insure 300k, 600k if you open them up as joint...

Post off-topic ideas and links here! This thread will be forwarded through the weekend.

The Arizona Republic asks 'how low will it go?' "Greed drove metropolitan Phoenix's home prices and sales to new records in 2005. Fear is driving the market this year. Home buyers are worried about paying too much and are waiting to purchase. Concerned about dropping home values, some owners are...

The Review Journal has this slightly mixed- up report on the housing bubble in Las Vegas. "The opportunity to become a homeowner in Las Vegas has widened greatly, observers say, as investors bail out of a cooling market, leaving inventory at a record high and forcing sellers to lower prices by as...

The LA Times has this update from California. "Without question, the market has changed. Bidding wars are fewer and farther between. Word-of-mouth sales before a sign goes up are less frequent. And deals struck in the first minutes of open houses are all but history, agents say." "For four long...

A couple of readers suggest regional price comparisons for a topic. "Why would $325K get you a crack shack in grimy SoCal, while the same money will get you this in North Dakota?" A reply, "You see in that ad where it says 'WINDY'?? That may give you a clue….. On a serious note, your point is well...

The Herald Tribune has this update from Florida. "North Port may be the fault line for the downturn in the Southwest Florida housing market. The adrenaline of a real-estate gold rush has given way in a matter of months to a buyer's market." "Local builders blame investors for the downturn, saying...

It's desk clearing time for this blogger. From Florida, "The latest sign that the air is leaking out of the bubble: Condos are being marketed by guys standing at busy intersections holding sandwich boards touting properties for sale. Aren’t sandwich boards supposed to be for furniture liquidation...

A pair of reports from California. "Sonoma County has the greatest supply of homes for sale in a decade, with a profusion of front lawn for-sale signs that illustrates the housing market slowdown. The sales total for May was the lowest in five years, helping push inventories to 2,008 homes compared...

Some housing bubble reports from Arizona. "The 43 building projects under way in Tempe outnumber the city's 40 square miles. It's a building boom coming primarily in the shape of condominiums. Valley-wide, developers may be overly optimistic about how many people want to live in new high-rise and...

The Gazzette.Net reports on spec home sales in Maryland. "The buyers of the custom-built home in the Village of Martin’s Additions will receive an added bonus for their roughly $2 million purchase, a fully loaded Acura SUV, with a three-year lease paid in full. For Chevy Chase builder Noel Fisher,...