The Housing Bubble Blog

A weekend topic starting with Bloomberg. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said a regulator’s plan to boost their capital would increase mortgage borrowing costs for the millions of Americans who rely on the companies to buy homes and asked that the proposal be dialed back. Fannie and Freddie said the...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The contours of the ruin caused in New York City are emerging. City unemployment rate climbed to nearly 20 percent in July with nearly a fifth of jobs wiped out, year-to-year. Many of the jobless have neither the money to pay rent, nor to pick up...

A report from CNBC. "Late Tuesday, the Trump administration announced a somewhat creative plan to stop most rental evictions through the end of the year. 'Without mortgage forbearance protections and protections from other property-level financial obligations such as property taxes, insurance...

A report from Toronto Storeys in Canada. "Back on the market for the second time this summer, this 409 Bloor Street East penthouse offers incredible views inside and outside. It’s no wonder this sweet suite is priced at $4.1 million. What is a wonder, however, is how this is the sixth time the glam...

A report from KOLD in Arizona. "John Carroll is an Tucson agent with Land Advisors Organization, and recently worked on a residential market study. Carroll said right now, there is not enough land for builders to keep up with current demand. 'In 2006, we had 154 active communities, so it created a...

A report from the Vancouver Sun in Canada. "Rental prices are softening in Vancouver and Toronto and housing prices are soon to follow as the number of new immigrants and foreign students falls sharply because of border restrictions aimed at combatting the spread of COVID-19. Average rents have...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "In the years leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, rental apartments were one of the hottest property types. Things are different now. Even stronger markets are seeing declines of about 5% in effective rent rates, which takes into account landlord...

A report from the New York Post. "Moving trucks were out in force on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Saturday — leaving Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa practically tripping over them. 'The mass evacuation of Upper West Siders from NYC is in full effect,' Sliwa, who lives on W. 87th Street,...

A report from Patterson Press on New Jersey. "Burned-out and abandoned, the Victorian house at the corner of Auburn and Fair streets symbolized Paterson’s drug scourge so much that three years ago someone sprayed-painted 'Crackadopia' across its side wall. Brian White, a novice real estate...

A weekend topic starting with the Associated Press. "Buy a home right now. Or if you own one already, refinance it. And if you have spare cash, buy some stocks. And if there's a bubble in prices, don't worry. It'll get fixed later. Simply put, that's the new message from the powerful Federal...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "After the coronavirus pandemic shut many businesses this spring, the three major credit-ratings firms placed about 2,400 bonds tied to pools of corporate loans on review for possible downgrades. The potential wave has turned out to be more of a dribble. Many...

A weekend topic starting with two articles in the Los Angeles Times. "Four months into the pandemic, never has the city seemed so upside down. Parking attendants wave flags to the empty streets. Storefronts, boarded-up from break-ins, merge with stalled construction sites. Homeless camps double as...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The coronavirus pandemic has weaved two opposing narratives in the U.S. housing market. On one hand, it has buoyed home prices amid extremely tight inventory and frenzied demand. On the other, it has pushed some homeowners to a financial brink,...

A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. "When he was offered a job in British Columbia, Todd Kemper figured a potential loss on the sale of his house might be the price he had to pay to leave the Alberta market. 'I looked into my crystal ball and thought Alberta’s a one-trick pony – it always...

A report from the Star Advertiser in Hawaii. "Munro Murdock, Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance (HILSTRA) president, said owners and operators across the isles are feeling the pain from delays in reopening Hawaii tourism through a pre-arrivals testing program. 'First it was Aug. 1, then Sept....

A report from Boston.com in Massachusetts. "International buyers, a key ingredient in new downtown condo projects, have pulled back in the past few years. The pullback is a departure from real estate anecdotes in recent years across the country of international buyers gobbling up condos well ahead...

A report from Realtor.com. "The nation's surging home prices don't seem to care about the recession the country is mired in. It has all led some to wonder: Are some markets getting too hot? Could we be entering the dreaded bubble territory once again? 'Some markets are overvalued,' says Javier...

A report from the Wall Street Journal on China. "Financial stress at an upmarket developer is rattling Chinese families who paid big deposits for unbuilt homes—showing the risks in presales, one of the sector’s favorite funding tools in China. Problems are emerging at Tahoe Group, which has slowed...

A report from the International Business Times. "The U.S. mortgage industry has been thrown into turmoil as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted millions of borrowers to fall behind on their payments. Holden Lewis, mortgage expert at NerdWallet, said he thinks the trajectory of mortgage...

A weekend topic starting with DS News. "The share of online REO auction properties with competing bidders rose in the wake of the pandemic-induced economic crisis — similar to the trend in the retail market — but buyer competition at online auction has been much less volatile than the retail market...