The Housing Bubble Blog

Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.

Creating This New, Smaller Tsunami

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Housing experts insist that getting more millennials to buy homes in 2016 will go a long way in determining the future of the Valley's housing market. 'If we really want to see a healthy real estate market in Phoenix, these millennials are going to...
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From High Cotton, Coming Back To Reality

The Union Tribune reports from California. "San Diego County home prices were up 0.7 percent in November, below the national average, said the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. In the last 12 months, San Diego County home prices increased 6 percent, passing the national average of 5.3 percent. But...
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Speculation And Hesitation

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Wall Street wants to bring back the 'low-doc' loan. These mortgages, which are given to borrowers that can’t fully document their income, helped fuel a tidal wave of defaults during the housing crisis and subsequently fell out of favor. Now, big money...
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Fears About Growth Driven By Illegal Money

All Africa reports from Kenya. "The shocking admission last week by the real estate industry that the housing sector has finally been hit by a glut has raised fears about whether one of the country's four key drivers of economic growth is driven by demand as previously thought, or through illegal...
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Froth, Overpaying, Fear And More Price Reductions

The Kern Golden Empire reports on California. "The numbers are in for the 2015 Bakersfield housing market and Thursday the forecast for 2016 was released. Local appraiser Gary Crabtree says uncertainty over oil prices makes for a difficult forecast. Oil layoffs mean shattered budgets at home,...
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The Statistics To Confirm, Or Alter, What You Know

A weekend topic on a piece written by Bill McIntosh - a full-time realtor in Nevada for 20 years. It's in The Spectrum. "Michael Lewis wrote 'The Big Short,' a best-selling book about the recent housing and credit bubble, that has since been developed into a movie. Near the beginning of the film, a...
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Set Up To Delete The Home Part Of Housing

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "With 15 years in the local market, Keller Williams Realtor Bruce Lynn can remember a day when people bought nice homes in North Texas for under $140,000. 'You can’t find a $140,000 house anymore,' he said. Actually, you can. They’re just not as...
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Where Trees Don’t Grow To Heaven

A report from the Real Deal on New York. "Chinese investors only really started piling into New York’s commercial real estate market two years ago, and The Real Deal proclaimed 2015 the 'year of the Chinese investor.' But now, a growing number of developers argue the party may already be over. 'We...
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A Sign More Downward Pressure Could Be Coming

A report from Bloomberg. "The six-bedroom mansion in the shadow of Southern California’s Sierra Madre Mountains has lime trees and a swimming pool, tennis courts and a sauna -- the kind of place that would have sold quickly just a year ago, according to real estate agent Kanney Zhang. Not now....
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