The Housing Bubble Blog

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

Waves That Could Get A Bit Choppy

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The housing market in Southwest Florida has been red-hot for the past three years. Now it’s about to get blistering. Because many buyers are older, affluent and paying cash, said Naples real estate agent Ryan Schwartz, 'no one is getting appraisals,...
Read more (84 comments)

A Menace To The Economic Welfare Of The People

A look at the housing bubble fight down-under. The West Australian. "Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Labor leader Bill Shorten is talking down asset values to the detriment of families. Treasury boss John Fraser sparked the debate on Monday, telling a Senate estimates hearing that Sydney and...
Read more (59 comments)

The Only Thing We Have To Watch For Is Greed

A report from the Colorado Springs Gazette. "The Colorado Springs-area housing market went through the roof last month. The median price for single-family homes that sold in May increased to $243,000, a 12.4 percent jump when compared with the same month last year, according to a Realtors...
Read more (58 comments)

Casual Observation Can Tell You It's A Bubble

A report from USA Today. "Uber-Richskis (rich Russians) is the new byword for opulent dwellers in some of the most exclusive London neighborhoods. A continent away in Vancouver, the number '8' — a symbol of good fortune in China — adorns windows of real-estate brokers. More than 3,000 miles to the...
Read more (42 comments)

It’s Like High-Stakes Poker

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "Looking to buy a house in Greater Boston? You better move fast. An already tight supply of homes for sale is even more dire in many municipalities this season, driving prices even higher, spurring new bidding wars, and frustrating would-be buyers....
Read more (84 comments)

From White To Merely Red Hot

A weekend topic on commodities and the housing bubble. The Williston Herald in North Dakota. "An onslaught of housing is set to hit the booming Williston housing market with more than 2,126 units coming online this year. Amid that crush, the principal investors behind Eagle Crest Apartments are...
Read more (96 comments)

A Recipe For Asset-Price Bubbles

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Is another housing price bubble looming? The question is being asked with increasing frequency and also with great anxiety. Many of those commenting on the question, however, don't understand what a price bubble is. It is not a marked rise in...
Read more (106 comments)

An Artificial Price Pressure

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "It has always taken some financial wherewithal to purchase a newly built home. But never like now. The Commerce Department reported that the pace of new home sales in April reached an annualized 517,000, adjusting for seasonal swings. Still, while April...
Read more (113 comments)

This Run-Up Has Been Historically Exceptional

A report from McClatchy DC. "Two new measures released Tuesday show home prices continued their upward climb earlier this year, even as sales remain lukewarm. U.S. house prices rose 1.3 percent from January through March, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. It marked...
Read more (109 comments)