The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Summit Daily in Colorado. "People in the short-term rental business are still looking toward the future with anxiety and trepidation as the county’s ban on short-term lodging looms over their financial stability. Patty Whetham owns Breckenridge Rental, a short-term rental hosting...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Guy Therien saw a house on a five-acre property outside of Sherwood last year that he says was beyond his wildest dreams. The Parrett Mountain estate was for sale, but he couldn’t afford it. This year, he owns the place. It’s not that his finances...

A report from WGBH. "Existing home sales fell nearly 9% in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, as millions of Americans lost their jobs to the coronavirus pandemic and millions more hunkered down to avoid getting sick. April's numbers will be released next week — and are...

A report from Mortgage Professional America. "A survey by Apartment List, an online listing marketplace found that renters and homeowners that were able to make a full payment on their rent or mortgage in the first week of May was around 69%, which is down from 76% in April. In fact, 22% of rent...

A report from Toronto Storeys in Canada. "Zoocasa used data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) to compare how median prices changed between February and April 2020 for 35 neighbourhoods. For the City of Toronto as a whole, the median condo apartment price declined $65,000 (-10%)...

A report from the Center Square on Florida. "Florida home sales have declined between 30 percent to 40 percent statewide since mid-March, with new listings for single-family homes down 3.6 percent and condo-townhouse properties down 10.4 percent compared with a year ago, Florida Realtors said. 'The...

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "The accommodation apocalypse that hit short-stay Airbnb apartment owners and operators in Sydney and Melbourne is leading to an oversupply of long-term rentals, sharply driving down rents. The sudden halt to international and local travel in...

A report from the American Statesman in Texas. "Last month, Central Texas housing market expert Charles Heimsath anticipated that sales could plummet by 30% over the next three months, in what typically are among the busiest months for residential real estate. 'It is just too difficult to show...

A report from Yahoo Money. "With the jobless rate spiking into the double digits, more Americans may look to unlock the wealth tied up in their homes to get through the crisis. Problem is, banks won't give up the key. Lenders are increasingly turning away homeowners looking for equity lines of...

A report from Capital and Main. "On a normal day, Marcella Nolan would be flashing her smile in the aisles of a Restaurant Depot, giving away samples and drumming up sales for the food brokers who hire her as an independent contractor. In 1999, she left behind her life as a carnival operator in...

A report from Toronto Storeys in Canada. "Toronto’s real estate market took another hit in April, with the average rent for both 1 and 2-bedroom apartments down on a year-over-year basis, according to new data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. This coincides with rental transactions for...

A report from WFTV in Florida. "It sounds simple and safe. Homeowners who lost jobs can skip mortgage payments now, then repay at the end of the loan. But some federal lawmakers, who helped pass the CARES Act that allows forbearance, say it can be a costly trap. Some lenders could demand full...

A report from The Merced County Times in California. "CEO Josh Stech, described Sundae, which is funded by Silicon Valley venture capitalists and has offices in San Francisco, Manhattan Beach and San Diego, as a business which specializes in a niche in the real estate market. 'The category is homes...

A report from Bisnow on New York. "Developers in New York City with pricey luxury apartments to sell were facing an uphill battle in 2020, faced with a supply glut and waning demand. The hill has only gotten steeper the last two months. Buying activity has dropped by around 70% since mid-March,...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Ann Winn called her mortgage company to see about pausing payments in late March, soon after she had to shut down the salon she owns in a suburb of Austin, Texas. What followed, she said, were hours of tense calls and emails with Freedom Mortgage Corp. The...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "It was already going to be a challenging spring in Manhattan, where prices are down about 20 percent from the peak in 2016 amid a glut of luxury condos. In a small survey of 43 offers entered after the stay-at-home order in Manhattan, Queens and...

A report from Toronto Storeys in Canada. "According to Toronto real estate agent Doug Vukasovic, when looking at both the condo and freehold markets on a weekly basis, Vukasovic says that in four out of the last five weeks, prices have come down. Vukasovic says prices in the freehold segment...

A report from Q 13 Fox in Washington. "The month of May in Seattle is traditionally a busy travel period. The summer peaks are when Airbnb hosts were accustomed to raking it in. 'We were all booked up,' said Scott Weaver. 'April and May was full of people. We were ready to go and then along came...

A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. "'Spring 2020 is going to be a perfect time to sell your house!' That’s the advice public-school employees Kristine Nelson and her husband, Will, received when they decided late last year to sell their Vashon Island home. They planned to list it in the...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Airbnb Inc. said it is slashing 1,900 jobs, or a quarter of its workforce, and cutting investments in noncore operations. Chief Executive Brian Chesky told employees about the cuts in a memo Tuesday, adding that the company’s revenue forecast for this year is...