The Housing Bubble Blog

The Baltimore Sun reports on the realtor bubble in that city. "Lured by the opportunity to get their piece of escalating housing prices and record sales volumes, newcomers have flooded into the real estate business in the past five years. But as the market loses some sizzle, so do classes to...

The Boston Globe has the latest on the bursting condo bubble. "With a wave of new condominium units now available in Greater Boston, real estate developers are offering incentives to boost sales and move hard-to-market units. Developers are often willing to pay closing costs, forgive monthly...

A television station in Florida reports on price reductions. "The days of sitting on property for a few months and selling it for a big profit may be over. Some of Southwest Florida's biggest names in real estate are about to announce the effect of more than 16,000 homes on the market in our area."...

The Columbus Dispatch reports on lawsuits in Ohio. "Add two class-action lawsuits to the challenges facing Dominion Homes. In a coincidental one-two punch, homeowners in three subdivisions filed lawsuits yesterday against the Dublin-based builder. The lawsuits, filed in different courts, could...

Jonathan Lansner at the Orange County Register takes a blip versus bust look at recent price trends. Let's see how his bearish side looks. "You've probably heard the news about Orange County's housing stumble. In January, the median sales price for all types of residences, new and old, fell under...

The FOMC minutes came out today. "Federal Reserve policy makers, in Chairman Alan Greenspan's last interest-rate meeting, said more rate increases may be needed because inflation has been 'somewhat higher' than acceptable, minutes of the session showed. 'In the view of some members, the possibility...

The Daily Star has some housing bubble news for Tucson. "After a year of Tucsonans rushing to sell their homes to take advantage of soaring profits, it's now a buyers' market. More Tucson-area homes were on the market last month than at any time in the past nine years, new numbers show. There were...

Bankrate.com fields a question from a disenchanted homeowner. "Q: Four months ago, I signed a six-month listing contract to sell my house with a big local real estate office. I think it was a mistake. They've only gone through the motions, and didn't bring a single offer, showing my home just twice...

Realty Times reports on the Silicon Valley housing bubble. "Silicon Valley's housing market is rearing its volatile head again. Consumers are bailing out in numbers reminiscent of the area's last major housing market downturn, but is it a buyer's market?" "Buyers are negotiating down list prices,...

The Arizona Republic reports on the flippers in Phoenix. "The housing market may have cooled but not the enthusiasm for investing in Phoenix area real estate. About 1,000 investors and would-be investors spent the weekend at Phoenix Civic Plaza learning how to find cheap properties and then 'fix...

The Orlando Sentinel follows up on the latest inventory numbers. "The Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported Monday that the record 12,015 existing homes for sale in January in the core Orlando market was nearly four times the number available a year earlier. And most of those homes hit the...

Barron's has an article on Toll Bros. today. "With Wall Street fearful about a bursting of the housing bubble, home-building stocks have been crunched, and none as hard as Toll Brothers, the country's top producer of luxury homes. In just seven months, Toll has gone from being the Street's favorite...

News from the lending front. "Brascan Adjustable Rate Trust I today announced a change in the monthly distribution of the Fund. The reason for the change in the monthly distribution is the flattening of the U.S. yield curve which has narrowed the spread between BART's cost of funds and the return...

The Press Telegram has this report on Long Beach. "One million dollars for a home in Long Beach nowadays doesn't sound far-fetched following a five-year market expansion with repeated double-digit percentage increases in housing prices. In fact, the run-up in home prices has forced a change in the...

A pair of reports provide an update on the Florida housing bubble. "T-Rex Capital is throwing a party Thursday at its new Eighty Points West luxury condominiums on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. It's all to show brokers how much they're appreciated. But T-Rex also has another motive. The company...

The Union Tribune reports on the 'paradise in progress.' "This is life in downtown San Diego, where the official city tree might as well be the construction crane. Never before have so many buildings gone up at virtually the same time. Many people who live in the East Village, once a low-rent...

One more topic from readers over the weekend. "Will the condo crash be worse than the SFH crash? Can you really separate the two?" Another asked, "What pressures do developers have to keep building in the face of a glutted market?" To which one replied, "I had dinner a week ago with a 75 year old...

The Business Journal reports on the Greater Triad area in North Carolina. "With the growth of new home sales in the Triad starting to slow, national builders are unveiling large-scale promotions and deep discounts hoping to lure buyers to their developments. During a special 12-hour sale last month...

The Daily News makes a comparison with the last housing bubble. "This year's San Fernando Valley residential real estate market might have started with a pop, unlike last year's, which began with sort of a bang. The 851 single-family home sales in January 2005 ranks as the fourth-highest number...

The Miami Herald reports that some homeowners are oblivious to the housing bubble. "This Miami-Dade neighborhood, like so many across South Florida, is a crucial piece of the giant wealth and job machine that is the real estate economy. Take Devon Rifkin, who moved his family to High Pines three...