The Housing Bubble Blog

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

How Quickly Real Estate Can Change

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Talk to the experts in Palm Beach or Naples or Fort Myers or even Punta Gorda, and you get variations on a theme. The theme is this: Home prices will continue to rise in 2016, wherever you are. It’s a seller’s market now, but in Florida a market for...
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Signs Of A Slowdown Abound

A report from Globest. "2016 promises to be another year of above-average rent growth in apartments, just not at the accelerated pace the sector has experienced for the past couple of years. Yardi Matrix is predicting 'solid' increases for the year, 'without the froth of 2015.' Yardi’s forecast of...
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So Hot That You Don’t Expect It To Continue Forever

The Detroit Free Press reports from Michigan. "One of last year's big surprises for real estate agent Caitlin Phillips came after a client made a cash offer for $700,000 for a 1920s house in Ann Arbor Hills and they were outbid. She and the client were quickly back on the prowl for new listings and...
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Australia’s Long-Term Bet On China

The Sunshine Coast Daily reports from Australia. "Opening up more land for urban development can only be justified if the State Government identifies a reversal in the declining interstate migration rate, an increase in wages and the return of a strong stock market. That's the view of Local...
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People Believed It Would Be To Their Benefit

A weekend topic on the movie, The Big Short. From Intercept, "The Big Short is a movie that normal people will actually enjoy and understand, and that will make them as angry as they should be about what’s been done to us. After you’ve seen it, please come back here and read the rest of this. As...
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Central Bank Policies Are Wholly Responsible

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The narrative in the mainstream media and from popular think tank organizations over the last several months is that San Francisco is dramatically 'underproducing' housing and that this is the reason for The City’s growing unaffordability. Here are...
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The Volume Of Price Corrections Is Impressive

A report from Bloomberg. "U.S. apartment vacancies rose in the fourth quarter as a construction surge in pricier urban locations overshadowed rising demand for older properties in the suburbs, Reis Inc. said. Vacancies rose from the previous three months for a second straight quarter -- the first...
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Stable And Cheap Is Not An Incentive

BNN reports from Canada. "The man dubbed Toronto’s 'Condo King' says Ottawa’s efforts to cool red-hot housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver will amount to no more than a symbolic gesture. 'A lot of people are making noise about trying to slow down real estate in Toronto and Vancouver. You’re not...
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The Carnival Came To An Ugly End

The Calgary Herald reports from Canada. "Calgary’s resale housing market lost close to $3.5 billion in MLS sales in 2015, according to data released Monday by the Calgary Real Estate Board. CREB’s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said the ratio of sales to inventory will ultimately impact house...
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