The Housing Bubble Blog

The LA Times reports Californians are still looking for housing bubble gold. "Californians, unable to afford the already mightily appreciated residential property market here, are taking their investment dollars elsewhere. Small investors are heading for the plains of Texas, the coasts of the...

The Palm Beach Post has two housing bubble reports this morning. "Easy money has led to hard times. More than $106 million in home loans collapsed in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties in the first quarter of this year alone. In terms of real people, that translates to about 2,100 families...

The Barrons article seems to be the housing bubble talk of the day. "The vacation home in Naples, Fla., hasn't been drawing much interest from buyers, so a seller recently threw in that most modern of amenities: the $1 million price cut. That's brought the asking price down a full 25%. 'If you want...

Several readers see an Enron like situation in the real estate business. "As most know, yesterday former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were convicted of fraud. Regular readers of this blog know about reports of illegal activity in the world of Real Estate, such as appraisal and lender...

The Herald Tribune has this update on the Florida housing bubble. "Like many other sellers, Tara Fizer has come to realize what every real estate agent in Southwest Florida now knows: After three glory years, capped by a period in which homes were being bid on like an eBay auction, the residential...

All across the US, people are editorializing on the housing bubble. "I'm buying a home in Buckeye. I see an awful lot written about the real estate 'bubble' bursting, but I've yet to see evidence of this happening in Phoenix. In the overall Phoenix market, inventory is up more than 10 times...

Desk clearing time for this holiday weekend. "'The price has been lowered on this unit,' acknowledged Justin Tamblyn, a sales agent at 62-unit GreenCity Lofts. Only 11 of the 62 lofts have closed escrow since they went on sale in late 2005, he said. 'I've seen the market slow recently,' said LaToya...

A housing bubble report from the Milwakee Sentinel. "Home foreclosures nationwide have surged this year, amid evidence that many well-to-do buyers borrowed beyond their means. What's startling isn't just the higher numbers, but who they represent, the affluent, not just the down and out." "'These...

Forbes takes a look at the returns on housing. "Evidence abounds that the national housing craze is nearly over. You can prosper in such a world. As a first step, figure out how much investment reward a property is generating compared to other properties, and also versus other types of investments....

A pair of reports from Canada serve as reminders of how housing bubbles are built. "Pinder Bains is a 30-year-old cashier taking courses towards becoming an accountant, but she has other ideas for making a living. That's why, on Vancouver's sunniest Saturday of the year, she is cooped up with...

The Florida Press reacts to the home sales numbers. "Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums plummeted in Broward County last month. With more than triple the number of homes for sale compared with last year at this time, buyers have become selective and unwilling to make full-price...

What's on your mind this weekend? Post a topic suggestion here and check back over the next two days! And don't forget to send your housing bubble photos to: photos@thehousingbubbleblog.com

The California realtors have the April numbers out. "Existing home sales decreased 21.4 percent compared with the same period a year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported today. C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in April 2006 was 5.6 months,...

The Massachusetts realtors have the April numbers out. "Housing demand continued to ease across the Bay State last month as rising mortgage rates, higher energy prices, and a steady increase in the inventory on unsold homes led to a slower sales pace for single-family homes and condominiums in...

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. "Ryland Group Inc. became the second home builder this week to lower its 2006 profit forecast, and analysts tracking the sector expect more negative pre-announcements as the housing market cools. The Calabasas, Calif., company late Wednesday...

The Florida realtors have the April numbers out. "Housing sales plummeted last month compared to the previous April, according to numbers today from the Florida Association of Realtors." "A total of 16,392 existing single-family homes sold statewide last month, a decrease of 31 percent from the...

The realtors association has the April numbers out. "Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.76 million units in April from a downwardly revised level of 6.90 million in March, and were...

The press reacts to the latest housing data. "The market for new housing showed a mild uptick last month, the government said Wednesday, but most analysts said they aren't buying any signs of improvement. Their main concern: The inventory of new homes sitting on the market rose to a record high."...

The Tucson Citizen takes us back to Arizona. "Greed is out and fear is in when it comes to Tucson's housing market. The psychology of the market has changed significantly from a year ago, when speculators and investors, primarily from California, descended on Arizona like locusts." "The formerly...

The South Florida Business Journal reports on affordable housing in the state. "Amid worries about a lack of affordable housing for workers in South Florida, there is no shortage of residences listed for sale for less than $200,000. That prompted us to see just what's on the market at those price...