The Housing Bubble Blog

Bloomberg reports on the housing bubble in the US. "Sales of new homes fell 10.5 percent in February, the biggest drop since 1995, and sales of existing homes slipped in five of the last six months, leaving a record 3 million unsold houses on the market. Sales will fall further this year and price...

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Rich Toscano has this at the voiceofsandiego.org. "The 'spring rally' has certainly been a fixture in recent years. And while 2005's springtime price increase was more subdued, it nonetheless put the rest of the year to shame. According to DataQuick, the median single family home price rose over 4...

More housing bubble reports from the UK. "House prices jumped 1.1 percent in March, taking the annual increase to its highest in almost a year. Nationwide said house prices were unlikely to keep growing at such a strong rate, as rising fuel bills and tax increases weighed on incomes and dampened...

The mortgage industry is fighting reform. "Excess restrictions on such nontraditional home loans as interest-only and payment-option mortgages risk stifling the market, industry groups said. The Mortgage Bankers Association and America's Community Bankers warned in separate letters that too many...

The Sun Sentinel reports on some worried real estate professionals. "The real estate industry would be 'brought to its knees' if homeowners aren't allowed to take a property tax break with them when they move, Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits said Wednesday. 'We're going to reach...

The Arizona Republic reports on the housing bubble in Phoenix. "Home builders are wheeling and dealing like county-fair carnies trying to win over nervous buyers. They're offering incentives like free cars or thousands of dollars to knock down closing fees or to put toward flooring, cabinets and...

A pair of reports provide an update on the housing bubbles in the northeast. "Home buyers in New Hampshire, the nation's most livable state, are getting a boost from growing inventories of homes for sale. Blame higher interest rates, escalating home prices and a media feeding frenzy for scaring off...

Another Las Vegas condo tower has halted operations. "The $3 billion Las Ramblas luxury condominium-hotel project backed by actor George Clooney is no longer taking reservations at its sales office on Convention Center Drive. 'The sales office is not closed,' Related Las Vegas President Marty...

The UCLA Anderson School had a report out on the California housing bubble today. "Christopher Thornberg, senior economist for the forecast and author of the California forecast, said, 'The only debate now is how hard a landing there will be and what will it mean for the general economy.' In his...

The Virginia realtors have their February numbers out. "Home sales in Virginia dropped for the sixth consecutive month in February, as home-price appreciation posted stronger than normal gains, the Virginia Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. Closed sales fell 9.5 percent in February to...

The Charlotte Observer is one of the few newspapers looking into appraisal fraud. "Members of the home mortgage industry took their turn Tuesday to explain to a special committee of the North Carolina House why so many state residents are losing homes to foreclosure. They said most foreclosures are...

A check in on the global housing bubble. "A decline in real estate prices was recorded in Croatia last year in almost all districts as the decline reached as much as 50% in the city of Split. Speaking about real estate overpricing, Dubravko Ranilovic, president of the Real Estate Association said...

General Motors may have problems selling it's mortgage division. "General Motors Corp. on Tuesday restated nearly four years of results for its GMAC finance unit, a subsidiary in which it's trying to sell a controlling stake to raise cash and boost its finances. The company also disclosed that its...

The Rocky Mountain News reports on the big changes in Denvers' housing market. "Rising interest rates, a glut of unsold homes on the market and falling home prices in some submarkets drove up Denver-area real estate foreclosures by more than 30 percent in the first quarter of this year compared...

Some housing bubble reports from Arizona. "The latest numbers show consumers have had it with high home prices. According to the Phoenix Housing Market Letter, permits for new homes fell more than 20 percent in February. 'The drop was considerably more than most observers had anticipated and the...

The press reacts to a homebuilders results today. "Is this the long-awaited demise of the new housing boom/bubble/occurrence? We've seem some pretty dicey new order numbers from the likes of KB Homes and Toll Brothers, and there's plenty of chatter about what incentives builders might be forced to...

A pair of reports on condos. "Prominent Florida economist Henry H. Fishkind said referred to the controversy about whether a housing bubble exists in Florida as a given. 'There's definitely some over-building,' Fishkind said. 'But it's concentrated in condominiums and in Miami and Fort...

"The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to raise its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 4-3/4 percent. In a related action, the Board of Governors approved a 25-basis-point increase in the discount rate to 5-3/4 percent.""The slowing of the growth of real GDP in the...

The Las Vegas Business Press has an update on that housing bubble. "As the home-loan delinquencies rise nationwide, Nevada's numbers remain surprisingly strong. However, the pending interest-rate hikes by the Fed, the day-to-day fluctuations in oil prices, and the Silver State's high percentage of...