The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Bloomberg on Australia. "With Sydney's property market now falling 11.1 per cent in its sharpest downturn since the 1980s - a trend mirrored nationwide - the shift toward high-rise apartments risks a further leg down in a real-estate crash that's starting to threaten the economy."...

A report from the Journal Times in Wisconsin. "Anyone who tried to sell or buy a home last year knew the residential real estate market was white hot. 'Everything sold within hours or days,' said Jessica Smith, former president of the Racine Board of Realtors. But 2018’s torrid buying spree was an...

A weekend topic starting with Market Watch. "With major data providers reporting that mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, Wall Street and the pundits are more convinced than ever that the mortgage crisis is dead and buried. The enormous delinquency problem in the New York City metro area...

A report from CNBC. "The government shutdown hasn't completely stopped the flow of stunningly bad housing data. Sales of newly built homes fell 18 percent in December compared with December of 2017, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Sales were also down a steep 19 percent annually in...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "As the housing market has downshifted, more builders are offering sweeteners to close the deal. 'We are really working a little bit harder ... to get people in the door and to get people excited,' said Mark Mullin, a real estate agent selling...

A report from the South China Morning Post. "A buyer has walked away from the purchase of a luxury house on The Peak, losing a deposit of some HK$36.09 million (US$4.6 million) in the latest sign of trouble in Hong Kong’s property market. The unidentified buyer did not proceed with the transaction...

Two reports from the Real Deal on New York. "For Westchester’s residential real estate market, the fourth quarter wasn’t the season for giving. In the final three months of the year, the median sales price of luxury homes in Westchester slid 12.2 percent to $1.8 million from $2.05 million a year...

A report from the Real Deal on New York. "Inventory has been on an upward trajectory in Manhattan. In the fourth quarter, sales listings swelled 12 percent, according to Douglas Elliman — with co-op listings climbing 24 percent. But on the Upper East Side in particular, co-ops currently on the...

A report from CKRM in Canada. "Across Canada, the downtown in the oil and gas sector has hit many hard. The impact has certainly been felt in Saskatchewan, perhaps no more so than the city of Estevan. 'The housing prices have decreased about 20-25 percent now, as compared to 2014 before oil prices...

A report from Bloomberg. "The luxury real estate market in 2018 wasn’t great for many people. Sellers in cities as far apart as London, Los Angeles, and New York found themselves facing daunting macro- and microeconomic headwinds, while buyers, on the other hand, had to contend with overpriced...

A report from GlobeSt. on Florida. "Almost unheard of in South Florida, you may see a slowdown in multifamily this year. Edward W. Easton, chairman of The Easton Group, is among those seeing a slowdown with ongoing projects going ahead but limited new multifamily development. Why?" "He tells...

A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. "Home prices on the Eastside have now dropped on a year-over-year basis. In Seattle, the median house is nearly $100,000 cheaper than last spring. And across King County, the number of condos available for buyers has more than quadrupled in the past...

A report from the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "Homebuilding giant Lennar Corp. and its Clearwater-based mortgage subsidiary made loans to unqualified buyers and violated federal laws, a former employee alleges. In a lawsuit filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court, Wanda Burling says she repeatedly...

A report from the Orange County Register in California. "Real estate agents report some of their clients have decided to wait it out. Home prices are due to go back down, those buyers say. This doesn’t mean the sky is falling, said real estate consultant Pat Veling, president of Brea-based Real...

A press release from Boston Agent Magazine in Massachusetts. "The start of a new calendar year is welcomed with parties, well-wishing and an eye toward new beginnings. But in the business and finance world, most people rang in 2019 fixated on endings. The business cycle, the bull market, home...

A report from GlobeSt on Florida. "A Franklin Street broker who recently completed the sale of a 'workforce' housing complex here explains the several factors behind continuing investor demand. 'This includes a fear of oversupply in the Class A+ new constructions, a lack of construction in...

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Opal. It may be apt - after the huge New Year’s Eve rail-fail left people muttering 'Sydney is over' - that our transport card should name-share with the building that may come to symbolise Sydney's final fall from grace. There's been much talk...

A report from Macleans in Canada. "Kirk Marsh first noticed the mood start to turn in Vancouver’s housing market a year ago. As a real estate investor who buys homes and condos then fixes them up for resale, Marsh has an excellent vantage point on the market. 'Today, everything has stalled,' he...

A report from Market Place on New York. "Christa Chi sells Manhattan apartments and homes for a living. So when she listed her one-bedroom midtown apartment in August 2017, she expected buyers to jump. The place had rooftop access and a doorman, so she thought a price of $745,000 made sense....

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'Sellers celebrated in the first half of the year with a crazy blur of multiple offers and fast sales,' said Jill Schafer, head of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors market trends committee. 'It was buyers’ turn to celebrate when the housing...