The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from MarketWatch. "The housing market is starting to look a bit like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, at least when it comes to homeowners’ equity, according to data out Monday from research firm Black Knight Financial Services. For some homeowners, properties are again becoming ATMs — and in many...

The Republican Herald reports from Pennsylvania. "The process to foreclose vacant and abandoned properties would be speeded up to fight blight under legislation written by two senators from Northeast Pennsylvania. Sens. David Argall, R-29, and John Blake, D-22, Archbald, plan to introduce a bill...

The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "If you've been waiting to buy a house, you might have more negotiating power now than you've had in a while. As the traditional spring and summer buying season intensifies, some buyers are turning the tables and asking for closing costs and other concessions,...

A weekend topic on rents and the housing bubble starting with the Kansas City Star. "Trendy new apartment towers and historic building conversions in downtown Kansas City are in the limelight, but the metro area has experienced a quieter — and no less significant — boom in apartment complex...

A weekend topic on Australia, starting with the Sydney Morning Herald. "Sydney's housing affordability crisis is being artificially inflated by up to 90,000 properties standing empty in some of the city's most desirable suburbs, experts say. Vacant properties were among the 'perverse outcomes' of...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "While the percentage of Americans who own their own home has declined for more than a decade, according to a new report, Hispanic homeownership rates are soaring, especially in traditional Hispanic population centers like the Central Valley. And the...

A report from the Kansas City Business Journal. "On Wednesday morning, Katie Yeager, owner/broker of Your Future Address LLC in Overland Park, tried to show a couple three different area homes that had just hit the market. The prospective homebuyers weren't allowed to tour any of them, however,...

The Globe and Mail reports from Canada. "After riding the oil boom for more than a decade, Newfoundland and Labrador is facing a dire economy and a return to the days when it was the archetypal 'have-not' province. To accommodate the hundreds of additional labourers, engineers and executives moving...

The Los Angeles Times reports from California. "Packed open houses. Bidding wars. Rising prices. That's the landscape for much of the Southern California housing market as the spring selling season gets underway. 'Be ready to write the offer on the Realtor's car,' mortgage broker Jeff Lazerson...

The Tribune Live reports from Pennsylvania. "Lawrenceville has become something of a ground zero for house flipping in Pittsburgh, which was cited by real estate data tracker Realty Trac as among the most profitable markets for property investors. These arms-length sales are now more common in...

A Sunday topic on this Reuters column by Edward Chancellor. "This year marks the 300th anniversary of the start of an economic project in France which posterity knows as the Mississippi Bubble. The brainchild of an expatriate Scot, John Law, this scheme has been hailed as the most ambitious...

A Saturday topic starting with this Bloomberg editorial by Noah Smith. "According to mainstream theory, bubbles are not driven by speculative mania, greed, stupidity, herd behavior or any other sort of psychological or irrational phenomenon. Inflating asset values are the normal, healthy...

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It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "While the nation is experiencing a housing shortage, local Realtors have a different take on the subject, especially when it comes to South Florida's real estate. WPBF 25 News 9 a.m. anchor Stephanie Berzinski spoke to Realtor, Elizabeth Hoadley of...

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The Orange County Register reports from California. "Orange County home prices continued to rise through February but at a slower pace than in recent years, new housing figures show. CoreLogic reported that last month’s median home price – or price at the midpoint of all sales – was $610,000, down...

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The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "Home sales tumbled again in Southwest Florida last month, but prices continued to climb. For the fourth time in five months, sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums declined over the year in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties, according...

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The Globe and Mail reports from Canada. "Dozens of Vancouver-area real estate firms are failing to comply with federal anti-money-laundering laws that require them to identify who their clients are and where their money comes from, The Globe and Mail has learned. The Financial Transactions and...