The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from the Idaho Press. "Brett Hughes, owner of Boise Premier Real Estate said in 2010 less than three homes in the million-dollar price range were sold in Ada County. That is partially because many of these homes that are now valued at $1 million or more, are double, and in some cases,...

A weekend topic starting with KPIX in California. "Though homes across the Bay Area continue to sell for record prices, some real estate experts say the market is beginning to level off. 'I think we're seeing a little bit of leveling right now in the market. There's a little more inventory, there...

A weekend topic starting with the Financial Post. "The key question is not why inflation has broken out: the monetary expansion since winter 2020 made that inevitable. The key question is why inflation didn’t take off after the monetary expansion in the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis. That it...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Lotte Vonk knew that when her second child arrives in a few months, space in her suburban Chicago townhome would get tighter. They listed their home for $315,000 last week and have already had more than 20 viewings, but no viable offers. 'Everything...

A report from Market Place. "'Mortgage payments are going to be higher. They’re up more than 40% now from what they were last year for the median-priced home,' said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. Demand is starting to fall, Fairweather said. 'We are seeing more homes having price...

A report from Fox Business. "'We are starting to see more and more potential buyers walk away and say they just can’t afford to pay these prices,' National Association of Home Builders Chairman Jerry Konter, a builder and developer from Savannah, Ga told Varney on Tuesday. 'We’ve had escalator...

A report from Go Banking Rates. "'For buyers, it will be a welcome relief because it has been hell over the last few years,' said Bill Gassett, a realtor based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. 'For sellers, they will have missed out on one of the best economic housing booms of our lifetime.' Trey...

A report from KCRA in California. "Buyers and sellers across the Sacramento region are bracing themselves as interest rates peak after years of relief. 'The housing market has been completely bananas for the beginning of the year, unreal price growth and really over the past month or so we’ve seen...

A weekend topic starting with the Los Angeles Times in California. "You’d be forgiven for passing this utterly unimpressive 1,800-square-foot house without a second look, but for decades it was everything to a large family headed by two immigrants who bought it fresh off the boat from Norway (and...

A weekend topic starting with Go Local Prov. "In Rhode Island, GoLocal reported that in March that Santander Bank was expected to lay off nearly 200 employees. The layoffs by Santander are taking place across the globe. 'What’s behind banking giant’s job cuts?' reported mortgage industry...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The average sale price of a single-family house in Mesa has increased 55% in two years and while home prices likely will continue to rise, mortgage rates and an apparent cooling in demand may spell trouble ahead for sellers, a leading Valley housing...

A report from Candy's Dirt in Texas. "'We’re seeing the results of buyer exhaustion. These poor guys and gals are no longer willing to be one of 40 offers and pay so far beyond an already inflated asking price,' said Travis Lee-Moore with Coldwell Banker in Fort Worth. 'The sellers got greedy for a...

A report from Bloomberg. "Zillow’s market cap approached $US50 billion, making CEO Rich Barton’s stake worth more than $US1 billion. In late August 2021, he boasted to investors that customers’ biggest complaint with Zillow Offers was it was too good to be true. In September, the company issued...

A report from Business Insider. "The top themes of the homebuilder survey were a slowdown in entry-level housing demand due to 'payment shock,' investors pulling back, and a ripple effect of rising rates moving up market, according to Rick Palacios Jr, director of research and John Burns Real...

A report from Hawaii News Now. "The Honolulu Board of Realtors says the median price of a single-family home on Oahu fell slightly to $1,105,000 for April. The number of homes pending sale also fell — a sign rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are starting to have an impact. 'Whatever they could...

A report from the Daily Local News in Pennsylvania. "'What am telling my buyers is that (demand for houses) may never cool off in this area,' said Steve Laret who heads up the Steve Laret Team with Vanguard Realty Alliance in West Chester. 'I know that’s a bold statement. But for every home we...

A report from the Peninsula Clarion in Alaska. "The market in Seward has adapted to the competition, said Nicole Lawrence, the owner of Seward Properties. Another way buyers are trying to be competitive, Lawrence said, is by waiving the appraisal gap. That way of skirting the appraisal process,...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Already recent housing-market data has shown the massive effect the surge in rates has had on home buyers. 'The pandemic boom in home sales is over, and activity is back at pre-pandemic levels,' wrote Mizuho Securities U.S. economist Alex Pelle and...

A report from Yahoo Money. "Eighteen percent of homeowners in the U. S. plan on selling their homes within the next twelve months, according to Realtor.com’s 2022 Home Sellers report. This is more than twice the 8% of homeowners that typically said they planned to sell at the start of the Spring...

A report from KIRO 7 in Washington. "Homebuyers have faced a hot housing market for years, but things may finally be cooling off, and buyers could see more leverage in the market. 'It’s awesome news for homebuyers who have been waiting for this break,' said Adriano Tori, CEO of Seattle-based...