The Housing Bubble Blog

The Reno Gazette Journal has this report from Nevada. "For the first time since the housing boom began, Reno, Sparks and the North Valleys showed year-to-year declines in the median price, according to the latest sales data. And the resale value for existing homes in Reno showed a second...

The Wall Street Journal reports on the 'McMansion glut.' "The golden age of McMansions may be coming to an end. These oversized homes fueled much of the housing boom. But thanks to rising energy and mortgage costs, shrinking families and a growing number of retirement-age baby boomers set on...

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A pair of reports on housing speculators. "Even as the market for single-family homes cools in much of the country, individual real-estate investors are seeking out profits by snapping up rental properties far from their home markets. Rather than sticking with their home markets, as they tended to...

Some homebuilder news. "KB Home, one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, today reported financial results for its second quarter ended May 31, 2006." "'We are now operating in a more difficult market environment,' KB CEO Bruce Karatz said. 'The country's current-year home sales will...

Some housing bubble reports from California. "Orange County's skyward trend in new housing is getting another boost with the construction of two condominium towers in Santa Ana. Orange County condo tower development has so far been successful in part 'because they have attracted some speculative...

MarketWatch has some news from Washington. "A senior Treasury official warned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shouldn't expect government assistance if they get into financial trouble. In a speech to a real estate group, Treasury Undersecretary Emil Henry said past government bailouts don't mean...

The Boston Globe looks at 'conflicting' data on rents versus buying. "Gregg Croteau wanted his own place, but as he started looking at property in Lowell, he was so stunned by sky-high asking prices that he decided to keep renting and wait for a bargain. Selling prices, he reasoned, had to come...

The St. Petersburg Times has this housing bubble report from Florida. "For the first time this year, a chill in May's housing market sent Pasco's year-to-date building permit growth into retreat, compared with that of the same period last year. As demand cools and speculative investors burn off,...

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The Sacramento Bee reports the conversion bust has arrived in California. "A national housing trend called 'repartments' has hit the Sacramento area, leaving people like Violet Vernon wondering if she'll ever be able to sell her home. The 1,100-square-foot Folsom condominium she bought in January...

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports on the fall-out from failed condo projects. "Broker Beverly Lacey will show high-rise luxury condos to clients if that's what they want to see, but she feels obligated to warn them of the challenges and pitfalls exposed by Las Vegas projects that have fallen by...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Zacks Equity Research, Chicago, has made H&R Block its 'Bear of the Day,' a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. Block is the parent of Option One Mortgage Corp., and recently reported earnings of...

The Union Tribune follows up on the Dataquick numbers. "San Diego County housing prices took their biggest-ever spring stumble last month as the median sales price fell to $490,000, down $15,000 from the previous month. The median price was just $2,000 higher than it had been a year earlier and was...

A pair of reports from the north-eastern US. Connecticut, "Facing tougher competition, Greater Hartford homeowners hoping to sell their property may have to consider lowering their asking prices as the number of homes on the market increased for the ninth month in a row." "The Greater Hartford...

Some housing bubble reports from Florida. "The housing standoff between buyers and sellers in South Florida will continue for another six months, and then prices in some areas will fall, a well-respected economist predicted Tuesday. In some cases prices may fall by 10 percent to 15 percent, said...

US News and World Report has this on the nations housing markets. "Contrary to popular belief, the housing market hasn't cooled off that much. In fact, residential real estate prices continue to soar in a number of key metropolitan areas, according to a new study released this week." "That's a good...

The Union Tribune reports from San Diego. "San Diego County's home prices took their biggest tumble for any spring on record last month, DataQuick reported Tuesday. The median price of all homes sold in May was $490,000, down $15,000 from April, although it was still slightly higher than a year...

Several readers sent in this article for discussion. "All over the U.S. there are stories of a rise in real estate foreclosures. Many people who took those exotic mortgages are struggling to make their payments, and some aren't making it. Also, a glut of new property supply, especially...

The Star Tribune reports on the May numbers released yesterday. "Sellers continued to swamp the Twin Cities-area housing market in May, leaving a huge pool of inventory for increasingly choosy home buyers. New listings of 11,419 homes in the 13-county metro area were a record high for the 10th...