The Housing Bubble Blog

The Sacramento Bee has this update on area defaults. "A new survey released Tuesday confirms what steadily has become more obvious to local real estate experts: More homeowners in the four-county Sacramento region are drifting toward foreclosure. That means the area ranked higher than every other...

The Boston Globe has this follow up on yesterdays numbers. "Across Massachusetts, the average number of single-family homes for sale each month during the first quarter of 2006 rose by 16,467, to a record 55,338 homes, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said. Homes are piling up on the...

The new home sales numbers are out. "Sales of new homes rose unexpectedly in April to the fastest pace this year as the housing sector showed resilience in the face of rising mortgage rates. But the price of homes sold last month fell and the level of unsold homes rose to a record high." "The...

The Arizona Republic has this on the new home market. "There's no good news in metropolitan Phoenix's new-home market, unless you're a buyer. The latest numbers show that home builders pulled 21 percent fewer permits for new houses in April than the same month last year. Builders have not been...

The Warren Group has a jump on the April numbers for Massachusetts. "Sales of homes and condominiums plunged in April, the heart of the spring selling season. In Massachusetts, 4,142 single-family homes sold last month, a 16.5 percent drop from the same month last year.fewer homes than the 4,961...

The Sun Herald has this second half of a series on home sales. "When asked who is looking at homes in North Port, the answer is mixed. What is missing are the investors looking to get in and out quickly. 'The people looking to 'flip' houses are pretty much leaving the market,' (realtor) David...

The Honolulu Advertiser reports there is no shortage of housing on one island. "Carmen Leal was so frustrated in her search for a home to rent last summer that she remembers the experience with horror. But as Honolulu's rental market enters a much different summer this year, conditions are so...

The Fannie Mae review is out. "Employees at mortgage giant Fannie Mae manipulated accounting so that executives could collect millions in bonuses as senior management deceived investors and stonewalled regulators at a company whose prestigious image was phony, a federal agency charged Tuesday."...

A pair of reports on the Arizona housing bubble. "According to East Mesa real-estate agents E.T. and Lauri Saffon, Mesa is a hot housing market compared to the rest of the country. 'Homes are selling for just below asking price,' Mrs. Saffon said. 'The days of higher list price offers are gone....

Toll Brothers has the latest numbers out. "Toll Brothers Inc. lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year, a further sign of the slowing U.S. housing market. While the economy remains healthy, the new-home market is beset by a glut of units created by investor and builder speculation and...

Some housing bubble reports from coastal California. "The San Luis Obispo County housing market is cooling off, say economists and local Realtors. Sales of county new and resale homes and condos fell 28 percent in April compared with the same period last year, according to DataQuick." "Real estate...

One Fed president is talking about housing this afternoon. "Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher on Monday said U.S. inflation was running too high for comfort, but that the central bank had until the end of June to decide how that might impact interest rates. Fisher said that while...

The Star Tribune reports on the problems with condos. "As the pace of condo, loft and townhouse construction continues unabated, some buyers are discovering myriad problems with their 'carefree' homes." "Eager for a carefree lifestyle, Sandy Obermiller proudly moved into her new condominium in St....

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "The big 'mortgage news event' of the week has to be the Tuesday release of OFHEO's long-awaited report on Fannie Mae's $10.8 billion accounting scandal. According to NMN’s Brian Collins, Treasury secretary John Snow told traders that...

Ms. DiMartino at Dallas News has this on credit standards. "Lo and behold, housing is a concern on Wall Street. Even the stock market's cheerleaders have had to acquiesce. The fact is, any economist worth his salt has been concerned for 15 months. That's how long new-home inventories have been...

Some housing bubble updates from Florida. "According to Barbara Raney, North Port Building Department manager, in the fiscal year ending in September 2005 the department issued 4,114 permits for new residential housing. Raney said, 'On the average, there are 350 permits issued each month.'" "In...

A pair of reports on developers trying to catch the last of the housing bubble. "Imagine a grain elevator, once the biggest and fastest in the world, jutting 290 feet in the air. Now imagine that elevator sheathed in glass and metal and converted into about 230 condominiums. Hard to picture? Not...

The Las Vegas Sun reports on the housing bubble. "Home sellers better prepare for whiplash. Buyers are in the driver's seat these days, steering for bargains that haven't been offered in years. A record number of resale houses, 18,467 in April, are on the market, along with another 4,000 new homes....

A couple of readers suggested this article and topic. "Topic: Article on 50 yr mortgage. Buy a house when your 15, and it may or may not be paid off when you retire." "You, too, can own a home in California, with 600 easy monthly payments! Just get a 50-year mortgage! With any luck, you'll have...

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