The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Fox 5 Vegas in Nevada. "Potential home buyers in the Las Vegas Valley said 'no' to real estate for the month of November. New data by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors shows 10,000 single family homes were on the market and by the end of the month, 7,000 homes had zero...

A weekend topic starting with the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "If you own a house in the Tampa Bay area, chances are you’ve received at least one 'Dear Homeowner' letter offering to buy it for cash, 'as is' and with no closing costs or commissions. And if it’s a somewhat tired-looking house worth...

A report from the Press Democrat in California. "The slowdown in Sonoma County’s residential real estate market sharpened in November, when sales and prices declined while the number of homes available for buyers jumped significantly." "In November, the county’s median housing price fell to...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "It was just last spring that home buyers in most of the nation were digging ever deeper into their pockets. And now, suddenly, they’re not. In Seattle, more than half of homes a year ago saw bidding wars, while less than a quarter are seeing them...

A report from Crain's New York Business. "Manhattan rents fell by 1.9% last month compared to the year before when accounting for concessions by landlords, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Rents are correcting themselves after prices rose beyond what the market would bear, prices are...

Two reports from ABC News in Australia. "Property prices have fallen in Australia many times before - often in response to rising interest rates.This time is different - the cash rate is at a record low but house prices are dropping faster than they have since the global financial crisis - they may...

A report from CNBC. "Mortgage applications to purchase a newly built home dropped 11 percent in November, compared to a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This drop is surprising, given the sharp drop in mortgage rates in November, and therefore underscores the fundamental...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "The national housing slowdown is spreading to markets like Las Vegas and Phoenix. Angela Hutchins, a Las Vegas realtor, said price cuts of up to tens of thousands of dollars are now common. 'Any property that we’re pulling up right now, it’s reduction,...

A report from Global News on Canada. "An over-abundance of houses for sale in the Edmonton area could mean slower sales and lower prices until well into next year, an economist tells Global News. Prices have dropped, too, with single-family homes selling for an average of $421,715 in...

A report from TC Palm in Florida. "The latest data on new home sales nationwide are not encouraging. The Commerce Department reported that new home sales declined 8.9 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, and sales have been falling at an annual rate since March. " "Indian River County...

A report from KVAL in Oregon. "Rent prices in Eugene have gone down the past two months, according to a San Francisco real estate research firm. The Lane County Rental Owners Association has seen this trend as well. The president of the association says the reason for the drop is simply supply and...

A report from the San Francisco Business Journal in California. "The pace of change sweeping across the Bay Area housing market spurred one brokerage to issue a 'special report' this month on the Bay Area housing market. 'Dramatic changes abound,' said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst with...

A report from The Olympian in Washington. "The Thurston County housing market cooled in November — just as it did in October — as some buyers stayed on the sidelines because of seasonal factors or slightly higher mortgage interest rates, according to recently released data by the Northwest Multiple...

A report from My Northwest on Washington. "You may have heard that the big chill has suddenly hit the Seattle housing market. According to the Case-Shiller home-price index, Seattle home prices are falling faster than the rest of the country. The Emerald City was leading only a few months ago."...

A report from the Dallas Morning News in Texas. "North Texas home sales fell by 8 percent in November. It was the biggest year-over-year sales decline in more than seven years. Ted Wilson, principal with Dallas housing analyst Residential Strategies Inc. blames the shift in the Dallas-Fort Worth...

An editorial by Robert J. Shiller in the New York Times. "We are, once again, experiencing one of the greatest housing booms in U.S. history. How long this will last and where it is heading next are impossible to know now. But it is time to take notice: My data shows that this is the United States’...

A report from ABC News in Australia. "The tide is turning on Australia’s $7.6-trillion property market. Home prices in more than four out of five council areas have reached their peak and are sliding towards an unknown nadir, according to CoreLogic. As the slump moves into its second year with...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Small-time investors who flooded into real estate in the past decade to take advantage of low borrowing costs and rising home values are starting to cut back." "The number of new home loans issued with terms of three years or less, typically used by investors...

A report from Domain News in Australia. "Sydneysiders who snapped up off-the-plan apartments at the peak of the property boom are now short-changed, with banks valuing their properties well below the agreed price."  "Buyers unable to borrow the required amount to settle on their apartment are...

A weekend topic starting with Kiplinger. "Debt pricing looms as the largest multifamily market mover in the coming year. Inexpensive debt capital and plenty of equity seeking placement in the multifamily market have supported rising property values in recent years. But when the cost of borrowing...