The Housing Bubble Blog

The Boca Raton News has this update on Florida. "Sales of existing single-family homes noticeably declined in January in Boca Raton and other parts of Palm Beach County—the sharpest drop since February 1997. According to the Florida Association of Realtors, only 586 homes were sold in the Boca-West...

The Sydney Morning Herald has an editorial on Australias housing bubble. "Evidence is mounting that the slump in the housing market has ended, with house prices rising, auction clearance rates increasing and rental vacancy rates falling. Is that what you're starting to think? It's certainly what...

Maria Zate at the News Press has a look at Santa Barbara's home prices. "The median home price on the South Coast reached a record $1.25 million in 2005, with appreciation topping 24 percent. But as many sellers learned, home values didn't rise equally across all neighborhoods. For those trying to...

Back to Arizona, this time in the East Valley. "(Realtor) Trent Powell is stuck among a for sale sign, an unrealistic seller and a leery buyer. In the lucrative game of home sales, he is checkmated in East Valley real estate. What a difference six months makes." "While the market clearly cooled...

A few readers wanted to discuss the real estate profession. "Topic: Nobility of the Realtor Profession." Another replied, "Amen brother. Disintermediation. The internet drives disintermediation. Just ask your neighborhood travel agent or read the Economist. Disintermediation will be a b**ch for...

This Bakersfield site has an editorial. "What are we going to talk about? We're back to the weather, children and Oscar picks. I'm talking about real estate. It's in the tank. It's not just quiet, it's cratered." "This has been fun, hasn't it? Just think, you were rich. For three years the sky was...

Real estate analysts who predicted a boom in condos are now hiding behind 'construction costs.' "The glossy brochures promised rooftop gardens and posh European spas. The Las Vegas Strip and billions of dollars of hedonism just past your uniformed doorman. Such is the stuff of high-rise living in...

Post your market observations here! Any kind of personal insight or media report or website is wanted. Some readers are doing so by zip code. "What is your favorite zip code to follow?" "92648 downtown huntington beach, lots of speculators and new homes that are dark at night. Inventory is up...

A flurry of reports on Florida's housing bubble. " The number of home and condo sales declined steeply across South Florida in January compared with January 2005. The number of existing homes sold in January was the fewest in one month since February 1997 in Palm Beach County. In Broward, the...

The Wall Street Journal reports on home deals 'falling through.' "With the housing market cooling, a number of people are backing out of their agreements to buy new homes, spawning some opportunities for bargain hunters. Typically, new-home buyers must sign a contract and cough up a hefty deposit....

The Arizona Republic reports on the housing bubble in the Phoenix area. "Metropolitan Phoenix's housing market started 2005 with a bang but ended it amid concerns of a price bubble. Home values soared and houses sold within days in most neighborhoods during the first six months of the year. But...

The New York Times reports on the buyer/seller face-off. "Along much of the East and West Coasts, home buyers and home sellers are engaged in a stare-down. Many buyers, having heard that the real estate market is a bubble in danger of popping, are refusing to offer the asking price on a house,...

The Herald Tribune reports on Floridas bursting housing bubble. "Is the real estate market really 'normal,' as a Realtor was quoted as saying in the newspaper the other day? A look at the sales and listings statistics leads me to believe that a market that was unusually tight a year ago is now...

Friday desk clearing time. "Greater Vancouver's high-flying real estate market saw a 4.1-per-cent decline in sales volume in February compared with the same month a year ago, the first year-over-year decline since last March. Condominium sales showed the biggest drop, falling 8.7 per cent to 1,212...

The Union Tribune reports on San Diego's housing bubble. "California's population growth last year continued to slow as more people exited the state than moved here, fueled in part by the steady rise in already high housing prices. San Diego County posted its slowest rate of population growth in a...

A Fed official was speaking today. "'The outlook for real activity faces a number of significant risks, including the possibility that house prices and construction could retrench sharply and that energy prices could rise significantly further,' Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson said on...

A pair of reports looks at the rent or buy question. "John, a chiropractor in Los Altos, California, has just committed the financial equivalent of heresy. To the surprise of many of his friends, he has defied the cult of home ownership, selling his historic five-bedroom house in favour of...

The Star Bulletin has this report on Oahu's housing bubble. "Oahu's residential real estate market is still posting strong year-over-year gains, but from month to month the market is falling, leaving buyers and sellers to interpret the mixed signals." "While the median price paid for a...

The Virginia Pilot has this report on that housing bubble. "Years of hefty returns and attractive offers made real estate in South Hampton Roads a seller's market, but the latest market data show the pendulum swinging back toward buyers. Properties are staying on the market longer, and more buyers...

The News Limited reports on the so-called soft landing in Sydney, Australia. "Sydneysiders are voting with their wallets, bowing out of the NSW property market at an unprecedented rate as new home approvals fall to their lowest level in almost 20 years. With fears of a softening state economy and...