The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Market Watch. "Wall Street’s foray back into lending to homeowners with spotty credit isn’t looking great during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s still early days, but delinquencies on residential mortgages bundled into private bond deals, or without government backing, have shot up to...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "About one million homeowners have fallen through the safety net Congress set up early in the coronavirus pandemic to protect borrowers from losing their homes, according to industry data. About 1.06 million borrowers are past due by at least 30 days...

A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. "In downtown Vancouver, the condo market has softened considerably, with prices coming down as more units come onto the market. Vancouver realtor Ian Watt is seeing many of those downtown condo owners unloading their investments. The people who were...

A report from the Daily Independent in Arizona. "'They were warned. They were warned. They were warned again. There is no satisfaction in being able to say, ‘I told you so,’ said Roland Murphy, an independent commercial real estate market analyst based in Phoenix. 'Those of us who followed and...

A report from Forbes. "A startling number of homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages aren’t sure if they’ll face eviction soon. Some 16% of Americans who responded to the latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey—that’s a whopping 1.34 million people out of 8.42 million respondents—said...

A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. "Starting Thursday, Toronto homeowners must register with the city if they want to fill their units for any period less than 28 days. The new registration process is one of a slew of rules that may potentially tamp down the short-term rental market in the...

A report from the Denver Channel in Colorado. "Daniel and Linda Sue Gonzalez are still moving into their home. The problem, according to the Gonzalez family, is the dozens of finishes and fixes that are still pending. They bought the house from Richmond American Homes before it was built. They say...

A report from ABC News on New York. "'Everyone's scared. A lot of major landlords are extremely nervous,' Chris Okada, a broker and investor in Manhattan, told ABC News. 'I mean, the Upper East Side is a ghost town. There are moving trucks everywhere … But we're hopeful.'" "For many, experts said...

A weekend topic starting with the Star Press in Indiana. "In its general form, Gresham’s Law tells us 'the bad crowds out the good.' Whether it’s in currency, politics or in the realm of ideas, this modest proposition warns us be diligent in promoting the good over the bad. This column is mindful...

A report from 6 Sq Ft in New York. "While some of Donald Trump’s family businesses have managed to profit from his presidency, his condo buildings in New York City continue to see significant price drops. From 2016 to 2020, overall closing sales prices at nine Trump-branded condos dropped by 25...

A weekend topic starting with the Brooklyn Rail. "Reaching out to and organizing these dispersed tenants is a daunting task, but a devoted core forms to coordinate the effort, and eventually begins to organize into neighborhoods and city blocks to manage the complexity. A third East Bay tenant...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The Chicago City Council enacted the COVID-19 Eviction Protection ordinance in June. After selling two single-family homes to financially maintain his remaining portfolio, Derrick Rowe, a landlord on the South Side, now owns five properties he...

A report from BU News Service on Massachusetts. "Some property owners leave vacant units rather than bear the costs of lost rent, maintenance, utilities and other bills they may never recoup. 'I’ve put [some units] out of touch for the truly, truly desperate while I was willing to take a risk...

A report from the Vancouver Sun in Canada. "Ian Watt, a Vancouver realtor who specializes in Yaletown condos, said people need to look beyond the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s headline numbers. 'This is the first time since May 2014 that we have seen over 1,000 active (condo) listings in...

A report from Mortgage News Daily. "Mortgage delinquencies spiked in June and the serious delinquency rate, loans 90 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, reached its highest level in more than five years. CoreLogic predicts that, barring additional government programs and support, serious...

Two reports from the Wall Street Journal. "The FTSE Nareit Equity Apartments index, which tracks the stock prices of publicly traded apartment landlords, is down more than 21% year to date. A big reason: Dramatic cuts in rents in coastal cities like San Francisco and New York City by landlords like...

A report from Our Windsor in Canada. "Toronto’s towering condo buildings have become almost as synonymous with the city as its red and white TTC streetcars. For the first time since a year over year dip following the financial downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, real estate experts say there is a...

A report from Seven Days in Vermont. "Signs of the times were impossible to miss along the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington. 'For lease' signs hung in windows once occupied by retailers. Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse, Half Lounge speakeasy, David's Tea, Sweet Thing,and Scuffer Tap & Table...

A report from the Star Tribune in Minnesota. "On a good month, the upper floor of Michael and Krista Browne’s Minneapolis duplex near the University of Minnesota could pull in $2,750 to $3,000 as an Airbnb rental. For the Brownes and many other vacation rental owners in the Twin Cities, there...

A weekend topic starting with the Wall Street Journal. "Protesters frustrated that marches on the streets haven’t resulted in more dramatic police reforms have found a new stage: the homes of big city mayors. In San Jose, Calif., a group of about 100 people spray-painted an obscenity on the front...