The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from the Palm Beach Post in Florida. "Condo units in older buildings are not selling. Special assessments, levied to undertake the repairs, have been as high as $200,000 per unit owner. Repair bills can run as much as $15 million. Along the Treasure Coast, a group of condo associations has...

A report from Realtor.com. "As more homes hit the market, sellers are being forced to make price reductions to compete. 'The percentage of homes with price reductions increased from 17.7% in September of last year to 18.6% this year,' says Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin. 'Home price...

A report from Realtor.com. "Many popular hot spots during COVID-19 are now experiencing an exodus of residents. Among the cities that residents are now looking to leave include Austin, TX, West Palm Beach, FL, and San Diego, according to home services company Thumbtack. Real estate investor Grant...

A report from CNBC. "Just because the Federal Reserve is nearing its inflation goal doesn't mean the problem is solved. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in his annual policy speech at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming summit this August, joked about 'the good ship Transitory' and all the passengers it had in the...

A report from Real Estate News. "With the pandemic real estate boom well in the rearview mirror, Central Texas homebuyers and sellers are adapting to life in a more balanced market. The most recent Austin-area housing report from Unlock MLS depicts a market unlike many others across the country:...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The Austin housing market has seen a drastic change in the last five years. It is now balancing itself out after homes were selling at an unsustainable rate just a few years ago. Homeowner Mark Mata has lived in his home with his family for eight...

A report from the Herald Tribune in Florida. "Scores of Manasota Key homes and businesses were severely damaged after Hurricane Helene landed on Sept. 26. Then last Wednesday came Milton’s much higher storm surge. A yellow Adirondack chair flew through the air from a local business and landed...

A report from the Toronto Sun. "The issues that Arizona voters are grappling with will sound familiar to any Canadian: The cost of living, a housing crisis, immigration, and the general state of the economy. 'The economy sucks right now,' Kenney says on Saturday night in one of the craft breweries...

A report from WWAY in North Carolina. "After Tropical Storm Debby two months ago, Jeff Wells and Jana Passe discovered water leaking from the roof into their condo at Topsail Dunes Villas on New River Inlet Road. The HOA told the couple the roof was patched, but water continued to leak into their...

A report from the Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. "About half of home listings in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties in August were what Redfin called 'extra stale,' meaning the properties hadn’t found a buyer after 60 days. Likewise, about half of homes for sale in August nationwide were...

A report from Realtor.com. "'The market feels frozen in Colorado Springs,' says Andrew Fortune, a real estate agent who says buyers and sellers are still adapting to the new post-pandemic normal. 'Many real estate agents have moved on to other careers, as we have over 5,000 registered users in our...

A report from the Washingtonian. "'Since about the third week of September 2023, the market is what the market is and we’re just here for the ride,' says Brett West, an agent with McEnearney Associates. 'Houses that were expected to sell fast sometimes sit on the market for ten days or two weeks,...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'I've already called the Realtor,' said Cindy Phillips. 'It's the fear of the storm. Are we going to have a home after? What are we going to do if we don't? We're getting too old to be in Florida.' Three hurricanes is too much. I can't do it...

A report from Mansion Global. "In a reversal, mortgage rates in the U.S. ticked back upwards this week after hitting a two-year low in September. Lower mortgage rates might have broken the stalemate between buyers and sellers, as buyers deterred by higher mortgage rates and sellers locked into...

A report from Realtor.com. "As Hurricane Milton forms in the Gulf of Mexico, damage estimates are rolling in from tropical cyclone Helene—and the news is grim for homeowners. In Asheville, NC, and surrounding communities, French Broad River hit flood heights of more than 24 feet, shattering the...

A report from the Indianapolis Star. "If projections hold true, 2024 could turn out to be only the second year since the Great Recession of 2008 that builders started more than 9,000 new single-family homes in central Indiana. Homebuilders struggle to keep down costs and build houses affordable to...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Anthony Holmes was part of the great Florida migration. In 2021, he moved from Virginia to a gated suburban community in Tampa. Now that he has had to leave, Holmes is another victim of a glutted housing market where buyers are increasingly hard to find. He...

A report from Business Insider. "Boomtowns like Austin are seeing home prices drop, while fewer people are moving to the state. Samuel Cobb, an East Texas resident who's looking to move out of the state, said the cost of living had 'blown up' since the pandemic. He and his wife hardly save...

A report from the New York Times. "Ten years ago, Howard and Sheila Konetz bought themselves a Florida dream: an 1,820-square-foot condo in a leafy gated community north of Miami. The $478,500 purchase would usher them into blissful semiretirement, they thought. With enough cash in the bank, the...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'After every flood, we lose a few neighbors' said Trina Winter. Those losses mean changes for her community in Tampa’s Sunset Park neighborhood. 'Everybody is scrambling, in fact, to try to get their homes sold, because there is going to be so much...