The Housing Bubble Blog

Several readers suggested topics dealing with inventory. "For a topic, what about ways inventory might be deal with? I was thinking that when it is obvious the bubble has popped there might be a sudden push to expand green space/parks or mass transit. In the Nova/DC area where I live I can think of...

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Builder incentives? Homes not selling? Open house observations? Here is one some data from a reader: "OC #’s: Home sales to March 27: Prices +8.4%; Volume -25.1% Fresh DataQuick data strongly hints that March was the fifth straight month where...

Jonathan Lansner has his eye on Orange County property taxes. "In January, I told you that a decade has passed since this many of us missed paying a December installment of property taxes. Last week, John Moorlach's staff was kind enough to whip up an interim report for me. The fresh data show that...

An update on New Jersey. "The real-estate market has been slowing dramatically. In Morris County, sales during the first two months of the year were off 16 percent, and the inventory of unsold houses leaped 61 percent. That's in line with figures for the entire state: sales down 14 percent, along...

One reader wants to know if you'll use a realtor. "I would like others opinions on if they plan on using RE Agents in the future. I know I have grown to loathe them. I don’t want to support anyone who has been a cheerleader for this bubble." "Perhaps we can start a list of agents and appraisers who...

One reader wants to discuss the mortgage sector. "How about an update on the mortgage business. With emphasis on what is happening at the smaller shops." Kenneth Harney at the Washington Post wrote about a challenge facing the industry. "An important debate is raging inside the home mortgage...

The Reno Gazette Journal reports on the housing bubble in Nevada. "In Reno, the median price, where half the 132 homes sold went for more and half for less, for a single-family home was $384,500, down from $412,000 in January but a 6 percent rise since February 2005. In Sparks, the median price was...

Several readers discussed the concept of an echo boom for the housing bubble. "Will we see an 'echo boom' sometime later this year or next year? I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see a scenario with an echo boom (i.e. suckers rally) in 2007. Echo booms are not uncommon in bubble markets and are...

The New York Times reports on Connecticut. "Listings throughout Connecticut are cluttered with winter leftovers. The inventory of available houses is up almost everywhere, suggesting that sellers who want their properties to move quickly have to come to terms with a cooling market. Pricing a house...

Friday desk clearing time; first from Wall Street. "Dominion Homes, Inc. closed 315 homes during the three months ended March 31, 2006 compared to 478 homes closed for the same period a year ago. Home sales conditions continue to be difficult in all of our markets. The average sales price of homes...

The northern Virginia realtors have the March numbers out. Please note the files on the link are PDF's. The following are single family homes, inventory numbers are year over year: Arlington County Active listings up 274.4%, with the median down to $650,000 from the $669,154 high in 2005....

The housing bust is over in Las Vegas, local realtors report. "Any ground lost in January and February was quickly recovered in March, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported. The median price for 2,521 homes sold during the month was $314,950, up 1.9 percent from February and up 6.8...

More reports on the housing bubble in Washington. "Homes are coming onto the market and basically sitting there in many parts of Pierce and King counties, according to a new report released Thursday." "(Broker) Gideon Epistola said that while his listing board has been filling up, the sales board...

The Washington Post has this report on a lending crackdown. "As the real estate market slows, some mortgage lenders are trying to prop up profits by relaxing lending standards for certain types of loans, endangering borrowers and financial institutions, a top banking regulator said yesterday."...

The Rocky Mountain News has the latest on the Denver housing market. "Rising foreclosures are driving the supply of unsold homes in the Denver area to near-record levels, experts agreed on Thursday. There were 27,309 unsold previously owned homes on the market in March, nearly 18 percent more than...

Please post your weekend topic suggestions here! And don't forget we are updating our photo slideshow, so send your housing bubble photos to the address in the sidebar.

The Connection asks, 'Will Spring Grow More Buyers?' for northern Virginia. "Buyers have quickly realized this isn’t last year’s market. 'Buyers have been beat up for the past several years,' said David Howell, managing broker in McLean. Howell, who has tracked movements in the Northern Virginia...

A Federal Reserve president spoke today. "The United States faces a risk that Asian central banks which are still hungry for U.S. assets will one day reach their limit and reinvest at home, Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow said Thursday. For now, the U.S. economic outlook looks...

Two California newspapers react to the PMI report. "Orange County has a 58.9 percent chance of seeing home prices decline in the next two years, the second-highest rate among the nation's 50 biggest metropolitan areas. Only San Diego County had a higher 'risk index' rate." "San Diego's risk of...

Some reports on the Florida housing market. "Boca Raton — Frustrated by the snail's pace of Eden Condominium construction, city officials will not rule out requiring that the community be demolished if the apartment-to-condo conversion continues to drag on. The city 'is evaluating the merits' of...