The Housing Bubble Blog

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

The People Responsible For The Housing Bubble

For a weekend topic, a comparison in the ongoing discussion of the housing bubble. A blogger sent me this: The Research Project, Week Twenty Nine, New Hampshire Reality Check. "For years I wondered why hundreds of people didn’t go to jail when the housing bubble burst, plunging the economy into a...
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A Price Point Even The Middle Class Can Afford

Bloomberg reports from New York. "Tumultuous stock and commodity markets are roiling investors around the globe. For Hong Kong developer Neo Que Yau, that presents an opportunity on Manhattan’s 59th Street. 'The world economy is fairly weak in general, and I think there’s a lot of room for the New...
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Self-Delusion Is Common During Bubbles

The Province reports from Canada. "In a recent six-month period about 70 per cent of all detached homes sold on Vancouver’s west side were purchased by Mainland China buyers, an academic case study shows. Even more stunning, the study shows that of all self-declared occupations among owners — on...
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The Purchase Is The Easy Part

A report from Bloomberg on China. "The ranks of China’s wealthy continue to surge. As their economy shows signs of weakness at home, they’re sending money overseas at unprecedented levels to seek safer investments — often in violation of currency controls meant to keep money inside China. This...
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A Bubble Of Its Own Making

A report from the Colorado Springs Gazette. "Colorado Springs-based Griffis/Blessing Inc. has paid $20.3 million for the 108-unit Pines at Broadmoor Bluffs apartments on the city's southwest side - a record high per-unit price. Griffis/Blessing's per unit price of nearly $188,000 eclipsed a...
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There’s Expensive, And Then There’s Normal

A weekend topic to update something we've discussed before, starting with this exchange from the past week. "The easy credit echo price bubble participants have been speculators. When it rolls over, it will be spectacular." A reply, "Not the case at all. The first bubble, circa 2005, was all built...
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The Market Also Depends On Ability To Pay

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "There were 4,603 new housing permits issued in Connecticut last year, the highest level since 2008. Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist for DataCore Partners in New Haven said one of the factors holding back the new housing market in the state...
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Sellers Were Getting Overconfident On Pricing

The Denver Post reports from Colorado. "It has been a long, hard slog, but Colorado's economy finally has reached unemployment rates last seen during the dot-com and housing booms. But for a variety of reasons, full employment this time around just doesn't seem to feel quite so full. Rising real...
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