The Housing Bubble Blog

Some homebuilder news is out. "The Florida home builder said preliminary home-building revenue for the first quarter was flat from the year-ago period and warned it expects to post a loss for the first quarter." "Standard Pacific Corp., an Irvine-based homebuilder reported record earnings during...

A pair of reports provide a rare look at the New Jersey situation. "When interest rates fell in April, sales surged ahead at a record pace through August, when the industry hit a wall, said Jeffrey G. Otteau, president of an appraising and consultant company from East Brunswick. Otteau attributed...

Some housing bubble updates from California. "Oroville realtors say house sales dropped during the first quarter of the year. Gordon Andoe, broker and appraiser, gathered statistics from a data base for the area including Thermalito, Las Plumas, Oroville, Kelly Ridge, Palermo and the east...

The Sun Sentinel reports on the reaction to one economists speech yesterday. "Florida's housing market probably won't improve in 2006, but the long-term outlook remains promising, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. 'Is this a bad year? Yes,' David Lereah...

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The New York realtors have their march numbers out. "Sales of existing single-family homes in New York gained strength in March compared to the previous month. The March 2006 sales total fell 3.4 percent from the March 2005 sales total of 7,007." "While sales were up, the preliminary data showed a...

Wall Street is becoming skeptical about the housing bubble. "Centex shares headed for the cellar, dropping 9% in midday trading, after the Dallas-based home builder missed quarterly earnings estimates, lowered guidance and announced it was walking away from land deals in some markets. The warning...

Some reports on a changing mindset from the NAR's chief economist. "David Lereah said he was still looking for a gradual slowdown in housing that would result in a drop of around 6 percent in home sales this year and a slowing in price gains to around 6 percent, compared with the double-digit gains...

The realtors association reported existing home inventor was up 39% this week. The Dallas News has more detail. "The inventory data were even more revealing in Tuesday's existing-homes report. At 2.7 million, single-family home inventories are up 33 percent since last year. Drilling down even...

One realtor has this in a letter to the editor. "I've noticed the nightly news running this same story for what seems like an eternity: 'Real Estate: Will the bubble burst soon?' It's a self-fulfilling prophecy that many media outlets have latched on to." "But one only has to look at the countless...

The Palm Beach Post reports on another failed condo project. "When a Las Vegas lender plunked down money from retirees, investors and even a medical research firm's pension fund to finance construction of a West Palm Beach high-rise condo, everyone gambled that red-hot Florida real estate was a...

The housing bubble story of the day has to be how the media initially fumbled the new home numbers. Business Week, "Let me get this straight: Mortgage and interest rates are on the rise. Household finances are also being pinched by record gasoline prices. Yet somehow, Americans have all of a sudden...

The California press is also digesting the latest numbers. "Home-buying activity across California perked up in March but sales lagged behind the record pace of a year ago and price appreciation continued softening. Inventory is still expected to outpace the levels of the past two years." "Realtor...

The Chicago Tribune has this report on home sales. "Apparently unfazed by reports of the imminent demise of the housing market, Illinois consumers bought homes in record numbers last month. Chicago-area sales, however, were generally flat. Rising inventories of unsold homes, the nation has 39...

The Florida press is reporting on that states housing bubble. "A deluge of homes for sale is hampering South Florida's housing market, causing sales to slow considerably and prices to retreat from last fall's record high. With November's $391,100 peak a distant memory in Broward County, some...

The Census Bureau has new home sales numbers out. "Sales of new one-family houses in March 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,213,000. This is 13.8 percent above the revised February rate of 1,066,000, but is 7.2 percent below the March 2005 estimate of 1,307,000. The median sales...

The Massachusetts press reacts to the March housing numbers. "Were single family home sales up or down in Massachusetts last month? That depends on who is tracking sales. According to figures released yesterday by The Warren Group of Boston, sales of detached single-family homes in Massachusetts...

The Californian realtors also have March numbers out. "The median price of an existing home in California increased 13 percent in March and sales decreased 15.1 percent compared with the same period a year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported today. Existing, single-family detached...

The Massachusetts realtors have their March numbers out. "Across Massachusetts, sales of detached single-family homes increased 2 percent on an annualized basis, from 3,373 homes sold in March 2005 to 3,440 this past March, while condominium sales improved 2.4 percent over the past year, from 1,691...

The Florida realtors have their March numbers out. "Slowly rising mortgage rates and higher levels of for-sale inventory influenced Florida's housing sector in March as the state's market continued to adjust." "Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 18,881 last month compared to...