The Housing Bubble Blog

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The housing market in New Bern remains tight, but things are slowly cooling down, according to Scott Allenspach, a realtor with Keller Williams. 'We're starting to see a trend where buyers are starting to get a little bit more,' he said. 'Prices are...

A report from the San Antonio Report in Texas. "Almost two years after announcing that Frost Bank would offer home loans again, that new department is 90 people strong and has just begun rolling out three mortgage products in San Antonio. Notably, that includes what the bank calls its 'Progress'...

A report from ABC News. "Sky-high mortgage rates have helped slam the brakes on the housing market, recent data shows. The home resale market, meanwhile, slowed in July to its lowest rate since 2010, National Association of Realtors data showed on Tuesday. Contrasting the current market with the...

A report from Yahoo Finance. "Thirty-year mortgage rates cross over 7 percent as elevated rates and affordability woes squeeze homebuyers out of the market. 'Right now the mortgage rates are touching that cyclical high level, I don't think it will break higher,' says National Association of...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Sheila Smith was set to get a mortgage for about $750,000 to buy an investment property in Sedona, Ariz., earlier this year. The lender, a regional bank, offered a starting interest rate of about 5%, well below the going rate. Then, the bank said it was no...

A report from the Journal Star in Illinois. "While the Peoria housing market is definitely still competitive, it’s not as bad as it was just last year, said Peoria real estate agent Nick Schauble. 'The market has really cooled off. It’s not a buyer's market or a seller's market – it really is a...

A weekend topic starting with The College Fix. "The 'Solidarity Journalism Initiative' at University of Texas at Austin teaches students to 'convey outrage' and and abandon neutrality with the funding of top tech companies and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The initiative, which is part of...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The Collier County construction company, Metro Home Builders Inc. filed for bankruptcy and has now stranded families in the middle of the building process. Chris and Silvia Ceron are one of the families caught in the middle of a build. 'They were...

A report from Alabama.com. "Average home sale prices declined slightly in Baldwin County in the month of July, after more than two years of skyrocketing home values. 'We’re heading into a buyer’s market,' Rachel Romash-Reese, president of Baldwin Realtors, said. 'If [buyers] want to negotiate and...

A report from the Naples Daily News in Florida. "As anticipated, Metro Home Builders of Naples has filed for bankruptcy. Owner Alberto Hernandez plans to sell off the company's assets to pay off its debts. Effectively, he's already gone out of business, with the builder's offices closed, model home...

A report from Bloomberg. "Owners of San Francisco’s office towers, shopping centers, hotels and homes are flooding the county with appeals to slash their property assessments — and tax payments — as real estate prices sink in the beleaguered city. A recognition by assessors that property values...

A report from the Idaho Statesman. "Borrowers struggling with a low credit score, history of bankruptcy or limited savings who may not be eligible for a conventional loan are taking advantage of Federal Housing Administration loans instead, said Jared Olsen, a mortgage loan officer with Zions Bank...

A weekend topic starting with Truthout. "National media outlets have trained their sights on Portland, Oregon, releasing hit piece after piece. The New York Times published no fewer than three articles about the state’s drug decriminalization in a single week. The mischaracterizations begin before...

A weekend topic starting with the Coeur d'Alene Press in Idaho. "Some would say there are three categories of unintended consequences. The unexpected benefit, which is a positive, but unplanned, outcome. The unexpected drawback, in which we create a problem that is apart from the problem we wish to...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "In the last 10 years, the average home price has doubled in the KC metro area, from roughly $140,000 to more than $350,000. It took six weeks, and $60,000 more than they initially budgeted - but Sarah Hogan and Joey Tangeman bought a home in Olathe....

A report from Community Impact in Texas. "Even as Southwest Austin remains among the most desirable and pricier areas of the metro to buy or rent, local data points to the housing market settling down after a recent burst of activity. After seeing record-setting home pricing and sales activity that...

A report from the News Tribune in Washington. "Median closed sale price for existing homes in Pierce County in July was $541,000, down from June’s $545,000 and $575,000 in July 2022, according to the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service report. A Kitsap County broker cited in Monday’s report...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Some of the biggest names in commercial real-estate lending have all but turned off the spigot. Blackstone Mortgage Trust and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, two of the biggest mortgage real-estate investment trusts, have halted loans to any new borrowers....

A report from Bay City News Service in California. "Bay Area cities have experienced some of the biggest drops in home prices across the country, including Dublin at the top of the list, according to a new study evaluating typical home values from May 2022 to May 2023. Dublin's year-over-year home...

A report from the Arizona Republic. "During the second quarter, about 30 Phoenix-area ZIP codes saw home prices fall. In the first quarter, about 75 Phoenix-area ZIP codes posted declines in median home prices, compared with roughly 100 during 2022’s last quarter. Areas where prices fell also span...