The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Bankrate. "The coronavirus pandemic has blindsided the U.S. housing market, transforming the spring selling season that’s traditionally the annual peak of sales into a deep valley. 'This industry is just doing a very slow crawl,' says Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist at the...

An opinion piece from Christopher Whalen, Chairman, Whalen Global Advisors LLC at National Mortgage News. "Last week was difficult for members of the mortgage industry, especially for those members of the residential lending community who've been working in the world of mortgage finance for more...

A report from the Times of London. "Sean Rakidzich was 'spitting fire.' The 34-year-old from Houston had built a small empire via Airbnb, managing 103 properties in Texas and Pennsylvania. Then the coronavirus walloped his business, as it did everyone else’s in the travel industry. But when...

A report from the San Francisco Chronicle in California. "Historically, the spring selling season in San Francisco is the most active of the year, with new listings, sales and market prices all climbing steadily out of the mid-winter slowdown. But today, the coronavirus has changed all that,...

A few reports from Domain News in Australia. "If you were counting on a pre-approval to secure your new property, looking to refinance, or shopping for a home loan, things have changed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 'Generally where a customer is in a severely affected industry such as...

A report from the Toronto Sun in Canada. "In a scenario that is no doubt being replicated in major urban centres across Canada, sales of homes in Toronto dipped 68% in the first week of April while condo sales were down a whopping 80%, according to statistics released by Toronto realtor Doug...

Two reports from Housing Wire. "One thing that is clear, however, is that the mortgage lending landscape is vastly different in early April than it was in early March. Certain segments of the business – namely government, non-QM, and jumbo loans – have dried up substantially as lenders pull back...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Some banks are offering borrowers a break, but it’s not really a break, Octavio Espinoza says. Espinoza: 'They can hold the payment up to 90 days, but at the end of the 90 days, you have to pay it all at once. What kind of help is that?' After we...

A report from the Huffington Post on Canada. "The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the steam entirely out of Toronto’s housing market, with home sales falling by 76 per cent in the week ending April 5, new data shows. In terms of home sales, 'it is certainly the biggest drop we have ever seen in...

A report from the Oregonian. "'I’m still writing offers,' says real estate agent Adam Elliott. 'Motivated sellers are dropping prices and if you’re 100 percent sure you’re not losing your job, now is the right time to buy. Agents all over Oregon are quickly getting clients into escrow because there...

A report from Bisnow. "The commercial real estate market is in limbo, with developers waiting to see if opportunities for low-interest rate refinancing and acquisitions bubble to the surface. But, the timeline for finding these opportunities in the post-COVID-19 landscape remains murky at best,...

A report from the Daily Mail on New York. "A luxury New York skyscraper with apartments priced at as much as $59 million could be left empty as the coronavirus lockdown halts the construction industry. It is feared the slowdown could see buyers pull out of agreed deals that are yet to be closed....

A report from CNBC. "A broad coalition of mortgage and finance industry leaders on Saturday sent a plea to federal regulators, asking for desperately needed cash to keep the mortgage system running during the coronavirus pandemic, as requests from borrowers for the federal mortgage forbearance...

A report from The Real Deal on Florida. "With hundreds of Floridians losing their jobs on a daily basis and the economy on crutches, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended evictions and foreclosures for a period of 45 days. But experts say it is far from enough. 'It is nice that the governor is...

A report from Macleans in Canada. "An unprecedented one million Canadians applied for unemployment insurance in just one week in March. Officials are bracing for four million applicants. We have moved with alarming speed past the question of whether Canada will endure a recession, and must instead...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "In an analysis of revenue from Airbnb bookings, AirDNA, a Denver-based analyst of the short-term rental industry, found that on the days that would have seen bookings for the Boston Marathon, revenue in Boston was down over 78%. In Palm Springs, the Coachella...

A report from Think Pol on Canada. "'No.' That’s the Government of Canada’s one-word response to Airbnb’s request to bail out hosts who are struggling to survive amid cancellations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Airbnb’s request was met with widespread anger and derision. 'The predators at...

A report from Bisnow. "The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the commercial real estate market in ways both large and small. Shares of real estate investment trusts have fallen 34% between February and March 16, which implies a 24% decline in real estate asset values, an analysis by Green Street...

A report from Bloomberg. "The market for mortgage-backed securities was in free fall, with fear running rampant and banks seizing collateral. That was last Saturday. In the week since, three top investors in the sector have engaged restructuring advisers, two others sold $7 billion of debt at a...

A report from CNBC. "CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday delivered a dire message about the financial future. 'Home buying had been a real engine of the old economy. I’m betting these numbers collapse,' Cramer said. 'The whole housing cohort’s a house of pain until we get this virus contained.'" From Yahoo...