The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from KQED in California. "The Jasper is a high-rise, luxury apartment building in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood near The Embarcadero. A one-bedroom apartment here costs more than $4,000 a month — at least, for now. Like many other high-end apartment complexes in San Francisco,...

A report from Nine News in Australia. "Airbnb bookings have been decimated in popular Australian locations, threatening to send overleveraged investors who made a lucrative living from the platform into financial peril. The seismic shock that hit Airbnb will reverberate through the wider Australian...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "With interest rates falling to the lowest level on record, this should be a banner time for households in search of a new mortgage. It isn’t. Mortgage availability has tightened sharply as lenders impose tougher income, credit-score and down-payment...

A report from Post Media on Canada. "April can be one of the better months of spring, but April 2020 will be most remembered as the month of the fall. To put it mildly, the month was not a good one for resale housing markets across Canada, says the Canadian Real Estate Association. 'I still believe...

A report from the Sacramento Bee in California. "As concerns of another economic downturn in the style of the housing market crash of 2007 or even the Great Depression nearly 90 years prior continue to swirl in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, speculation is endless and fears are mounting....

A weekend topic starting with the Texas Tribune. "When Kathy Whitmire ran for Houston mayor in 1981, helicopters were among the top sources of municipal strife. Residents of the Memorial neighborhood were irate over the daily noise of west Houston businesspeople who opted to fly over the gridlocked...

A report from the Times Colonist in Canada. "Rental properties vacated by students who have returned to their home town or native country; property owners who, faced with a shortage of international tourists this summer, put short-term vacation rental suites on the long-term market. Monthly rent...

A report from ABC 10 in California. "There was a dip in the market, because of the unknown. But things are changing. The number of pending sales and listings in the Sacramento region is actually increasing, according to appraiser Ryan Lundquist. If you’re interested in selling, especially during...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Corporate travel was the be-all for Mint House Inc., a provider of short-term upscale apartment rentals. As the pandemic hit in March, Will Lucas, the chief executive of the New York-based startup, watched with horror as revenue evaporated. 'We saw...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) has been posting fliers on the streets 'urging residents not to pay rent and to demand a rent strike,' one concerned property manager told The Epoch Times. On March 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that financial...

A report from ThinkPol in Canada. "Metro Vancouver detached home prices are in free fall in May as economic turbulence caused by COVID-19 related lock down measures continue to rock the region’s housing market. The OpenHousing House Price Index for detached properties – calculated using the...

A report from AFN News Services. "There’s good news and bad news for homebuyers and sellers in the pandemic’s wake, according to Realtor.com. 'While many cash-strapped buyers have eagerly anticipated prices falling, triggering a real estate bonanza similar to the Great Recession, that’s not likely...

A report from the Union Tribune in California. "San Diego home sales had their biggest annual drop since the Great Recession in April as the effect of COVID-19 hit the housing market. There were 2,499 home sales in April, down 30 percent from the same time last year, according to CoreLogic data...

A report from Reuters. "U.S. homebuilding dropped by the most on record in April and permits for future construction tumbled. The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday added to dismal data this month showing a staggering loss of 20.5 million jobs. Housing starts tumbled 30.2% to a...

A report from ABC News in Australia. "House prices are tipped to fall by 11 per cent over the next three years as the COVID-related economic downturn bites, and for one group of Australian homeowners, it could not come at a worse time. There are an estimated 730,000 investors, many of whom are...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "In April and May, 354 apartment and office properties started missing payments on $7.1 billion in mortgages, according to Trepp LLC, which only includes loans packaged into mortgage bonds. That is up from around $4.2 billion in February and March. That...

A report from the Huffington Post on Canada. "Advertised rental rates are on a downward slide in many cities. Some of the priciest cities saw some of the steepest drops. One-bedroom units in Toronto fell 4 per cent in April from March, while two-bedroom units fell 7.7 per cent. In Vancouver,...

A report from CNBC on New York. "New leases for Manhattan apartments plunged by 71% in April, and vacancies soared as the rental market froze amid the coronavirus pandemic and more residents left the city, according to a new report. The vacancy rate climbed to its highest level in 14 years. 'People...

A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. "Canadian home sales tanked and price dipped in April over the previous month, marking the weakest activity since 1984. Last month, 16,612 homes were sold on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 57 per cent from 38,493 in March, according to the Canadian...

A report from the Star Advertiser in Hawaii. "Munro Murdock, founder of Love Hawaii Realty and Love Hawaii Villas, was living the dream up until a few months ago, helping owner clients generate millions of dollars in vacation rental revenue. The company, which has dozens of vacation rental...