The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from the Daily Telegraph in Australia. "Sydney home auctions have turned into a bonanza of giveaways as real estate agents offer free coffee, arts and crafts bags for kids and even champagne in the hope of attracting bigger crowds to their sales. Auctioneer Damien Cooley said champagne...

A report from the Washington Post. "The long drought of low inventory appears to be continuing to take its oll on the Washington area’s housing market. The number of sales decreased in February for the seventh consecutive month. The housing market has been very soft in the D.C. area for the last...

A report from Bloomberg. "The real estate frenzies in West Coast cities have become the stuff of lore: buyers jostling at open houses, homes getting offers sight unseen, bids coming in hundreds of thousands of dollars over asking. That’s all over now." "Just ask Kelly Randall, an Amazon employee...

A report from the Star Weekly on Australia. "House prices in Sunbury and Macedon Ranges are feeling the effects of a wide-ranging downturn in the Victorian real estate market. Real estate agent Greg Czapnik said he had noted property prices in Sunbury had dropped more than $40,000 in the past five...

A report from Realtor.com. "Spring is here—and it’s not just the mercury that’s heating up. This is the unofficial kickoff to the home-buying season, when buyers come out of hibernation and start hitting the open houses in earnest. And this year’s spring market is extra significant, since it will...

A report from CBC News in Canada. "According to the latest sales figures, the downward trend in Vancouver's real estate market is firmly in place. The average price for a house on the west side is $2.9 million compared to over $4 million just a year ago. Values on the east side have dropped on...

A report from News 3 LV in Nevada. "It was only a matter of time before the blistering hot real estate market in Southern Nevada cooled down a little. The slower sales mean home sellers won’t see multiple offers piling up within hours of their home going on the market. 'If you’re competing against...

A report from the Gananoque Reporter in Canada. "Sales on Calgary’s MLS system in February were down 10 percent from February 2018, while the city-wide benchmark price declined five percent, year over year, to $414,400. If people don’t need to sell at this time, then don’t says Corinne Lyall of...

A weekend topic starting with Vermont Public Radio. "What are the causes of Vermont’s tight housing market — and why aren’t things getting better? Peter says he and his wife want to live somewhere on the I-89 corridor: Norwich, Montpelier, Waterbury. In terms of price, they can go up into the...

A report from the Buffalo News in New York. "The Monarch 716 student-housing complex that was seized by the lender in a foreclosure last year will be going on the block next month to satisfy the $44 million debt that remains on the property. It opened in September 2017 but quickly became a source...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Stacey Woods, a Realtor in Palo Alto, said she was introduced to the St. Joseph statue and its legend by a colleague three years ago. Last week, Stacey was back at the SILVAR office needing St. Joseph’s help with another home. There is nothing wrong...

A report from Bloomberg on Australia. "As real-estate agent Adam Wong works through Australia’s worst property downturn in decades, he’s also found himself at the mercy of China’s slowing economy. In Wong’s core market of Chatswood, a suburb north of Sydney’s harbor bridge where a third of...

A report from USA Today. "If you're hunting for a house this spring, say goodbye to frenzied bidding wars. And if you're selling, get ready for good, old-fashioned negotiations. 'Sellers in the areas where we saw the highest appreciation, they can’t expect to see that now,' says Jennifer Johnsen...

A report from the Red Hook Star Revue in New York. "'I think in the rental market the prices have definitely come down – I would say 20% from what the rents were historically in Red Hook, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens,' explained broker Victoria Alexander. “That’s been really great for tenants...

A report from the Daily Telegraph in Australia. "Sydney’s supply of properties for sale has hit a decade high this summer as weakening buyer demand creates a growing backlog of unsold housing. Buyer’s agent Peter Kelaher said a long listing period tended to 'turn off' buyers. 'It may have been...

A report from the Denver Post in Colorado. "For the first time in seven years, median home prices in metro Denver declined year-over-year, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. 'Buyers are getting more power and sellers are not loving it. But there is...

A report from the Washington Post. "Bidding wars, which terrify buyers and spark joy for sellers, have practically disappeared in many of the formerly most competitive markets, according to a new report by Redfin. Nationwide, just 13 percent of offers written by Redfin agents on behalf of their...

A report from the Globe and Mail on Canada. "Vancouver housing prices continue to decline, throwing cold water on the speculative buying activity of recent years. 'Vancouver was overdue for a reality check, and thanks to the perfect storm, it’s here. It’s going down fast and people are so stubborn...

A report from the Citizen Times in North Carolina. "A celebrated entrepreneur has had his real estate license stripped after keeping 'at least' tens of thousands of dollars owed to Airbnb owners whose properties he managed, state regulators said. Shawn Johnson ran a business based on managing local...

A report from the Berkshire Eagle in Massachusetts. "Even as local real estate values strengthened in 2018, one leading indicator of distress glowed red. The number of scheduled foreclosure auctions in the Berkshires increased last year over 2017, as borrowers' troubles continued to put home...