The Housing Bubble Blog

A pair of reports on homebuilders. "Lennar, the builder of U.S. Homes houses, is scaling back operations in the Northern Colorado market. 'We've heard we're not the only national builder that is consolidating,' said Laurel Followell, who, along with her co-workers, will be looking for a job." "It's...

Some housing bubble reports from Florida. "Today's tough housing market is pitting neighbor against neighbor in the selling wars. Ken and Wilaiwan Koch have had their home on the market for five weeks and already lowered the price $10,000. Their neighbors to the right have dropped their price from...

The Press Democrat reports on one housing market in California. "Across Sonoma County, homes are staying on the market five and six weeks and supplies have more than doubled over the past year. More buyers have stepped back from high prices and rising interest rates. 'A lot of sellers are being...

Some reports on the questionable condo craze. "As the condo market cools, year-over-year sales of existing condos and co-ops were down 2% in March, some developers are trying a new tactic to entice buyers. Taking a cue from the boom in hotel condos, where developers combine residential units with...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Motivated sellers? Open houses? Builder incentives? "This weekend only, you can take advantage of ultra savings on hundreds of inventory homes in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey / New York!" "Arora Hills in Clarksburg, Montgomery Co....

Readers are looking for new ways to describe the housing bubble. "WE NEED NEW CLICHES!" "I recently suggested: ….death spiral. Betamax replied with: I like the term 'cascade failure,' but death spiral works too. I did my best Steve Martin with: Alternative: Heterodyned Hell Hole? Technical: Event...

Some reports on construction employment in California. "Construction hiring in San Diego bucked a statewide trend that saw a loss of 8,300 construction jobs in April from one month earlier. That comes on the heels of a loss of 9,400 construction jobs in March." "'I suspect we're going to lose a...

In Business Las Vegas reports on the housing bubble. "With the number of single-family houses listed for sale reaching an all-time high, the way real estate agents conduct their business will have to change, those in the industry said. In April 2006, the number of single-family houses listed for...

It's Friday desk clearing time. "Centex has quietly backed away from its "Westward Ho" joint-venture development project on the Las Vegas Strip, TheStreet.com has learned. C.J. Julin, VP of marketing with the division of the homebuilder that specializes in second homes and resorts says he could not...

Dataquick has some more Bay Area numbers out. "Home sales in the Bay Area continued to slow as price increases dipped into the single digits for the first time in more than two years. A total of 9,745 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down...

The Washington Post reports on the former Fed chief. "Confirming what home buyers suspected and real estate sales figures have indicated for months, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that the U.S. housing market was showing clear signs of cooling off." "Former Fed chairman...

Some reports on the Florida housing bubble. "Thanks to the influx of big, national homebuilders, short-term market inventory is filled to overflowing. At current move-in rates, Indian River County has a 14.5-month supply of new housing in the pipeline, a figure that Metrostudy calls 'alarmingly...

The Arizona Republic reports on the housing bubble job scene. "Home builders are laying off construction superintendents, subdivision sales agents, finance specialists and other employees, a telling sign that metropolitan Phoenix's new-home market has taken a radical turn from last year's selling...

Please post weekend topic suggestions here! Also, don't forget to email your housing bubble photos to: photos@thehousingbubbleblog.com

Some more housing bubble news from California. "A total of 47,250 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That's down 13.3 percent from 54,500 for March and down 22.4 percent from a revised 60,900 for April 2005." The Sacramento Bee. "Through a long winter of rain and...

Dataquick has some Bay Area numbers out. "Bay Area home sales in April dropped to their lowest level in five years as prices slowly reached a new peak. A total of 8,358 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 14.2 percent from 9,745 for March,...

Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "The housing market, after flying high for five years, has lost altitude and appears headed for a safe landing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. 'It seems pretty clear now that the U.S. housing market is cooling,'...

Thw Wall Street Journal has this report on loan delinquencies. "Soaring housing prices and aggressive mortgage lending have saddled home buyers with ever greater levels of debt, and early signs are now emerging that more people are unable to keep up with their monthly mortgage payments. Analysts...

A reader posted this report on the Reno area. "Fewer and fewer homes are being sold in Reno-Sparks, according to the latest sales data. In April, 358 single-family existing homes were sold in the Reno metropolitan area, a 36 percent decrease from the same month in 2005. Even in the historically...

A Boston Herald columnist writes on the housing bubble. "As reported here recently, the number of unsold condos sitting on the Boston market has doubled in the past year. Who knows when this is going to end? Is it a lull, or the slow deflating of a wild property bubble? Count me in the bubble...