The Housing Bubble Blog

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "So-called iBuyers purchased a total of 70,402 homes in 2021, more than doubling the number purchased in 2019, according to Zillow. The shopping spree led to Zillow’s implosion and a lot of red ink on Opendoor’s books. Zillow notably lost so much...

A report from Mortgage Professional America. "Santander Bank LLC, a Spain-based global banking group with more than 145 million customers in the US, will have laid off more than 50 employees by the first week of April, according to a state regulatory filing. The move comes as Santander has opted to...

A report from the Seattle Business Journal in Washington. "Rising mortgage rates are expected to put a damper on double-digit home price increases in the next 12 months, especially in the Bremerton-Silverdale area, which was singled out as having one of the most overpriced markets in the country in...

A report from the Mercury News in California. "Investors bought up just 4% of the homes sold in the San Jose metro area, and 6% in San Francisco and the East Bay last year – about the same level as 2015, according to Redfin. 'Investors want high returns,' said Redfin chief economist Daryl...

A report from Investor Place. "Opendoor Technologies just released its Q4 financials, including its full-year 2021 results. It is likely to stay down as long as the company keeps digging itself into a hole. The $5.8b billion in home purchases was covered by the debt raised – not by any profits....

A weekend topic starting with the Vancouver Sun in Canada. "'The real-estate development business is very much about market timing,' said Arny Wise, who spent his career planning and developing scores of housing projects in Toronto and Vancouver. 'They want to time it so their development goes to...

A weekend topic starting with the Idaho Press. "The typical price for Idaho starter homes has increased almost 80% since 2019, from around $171,000 to $306,000 as of January 2022. The problem: Homes are where jobs sleep at night, as the Federal Reserve puts it. And without affordable starter homes,...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Here are some examples, followed by a breakdown by neighborhood, of recent price cuts on homes, condos, apartments and other Eastside properties. How Low Will They Go? $109k chop on Glassell Park 3-bedroom; $20k slice on Eagle Rock bungalow; $100k...

A report from Market Watch. "Researchers pointed to Miami as an example for their argument. During the market’s peak in late 2006, buyers there paid nearly $340,000 on average to purchase a home. Only now are many of those buyers able to sell their home for a profit, they said based on their...

A report from the Review Journal on Nevada. "The last time Las Vegas had a major housing bubble, things didn’t end well. Here’s hoping it ends differently this time. It’s not fun to think about, but there are many signs that current Las Vegas housing prices aren’t sustainable. Last year, prices...

A report from The Daily News in Washington. "What goes up, must come down — except for the housing market, experts say. Longtime loan officer and Longview native Jon Trussell oversaw the opening of a national mortgage lender branch in October, nearing the expected end of the low mortgage interest...

A report from The Daily Ardmoreite. "The quick sales and higher costs have led broker Marcus Cunningham to notice an interesting new quirk in the market. That is the number of people who back out of purchasing after getting an offer accepted. 'Typically when someone puts in an offer and it gets...

A report from the Oregonian. "The Regional Multiple Listing Service’s January 2022 market action reports show that median sale prices, while still high, have dropped from 2021 peaks everywhere in the region except Clark County in southwest Washington. The average asking prices in the Portland area...

A weekend topic starting with the Globe and Mail in Canada. "'When you can borrow money for 1.5 per cent a year and invest it in an asset rising 20 per cent a year, you have to be an idiot not to sign up for that deal,' says John Pasalis, a real estate researcher and owner of Realosophy Realty...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Glenn Kelman -- Redfin's Chief Executive Officer: 'Our fourth quarter net income, a loss of $27 million, was better than we projected in our last earnings call. Based on anecdotes from the Redfin employees making offers, the price range of...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "During the fourth quarter, Zillow lost an average of about $25,000 on every home it sold, before interest expense. On Feb. 10, Zillow Group said it lost $881 million on its algorithmic-driven home-flipping business last year. It was the first earnings report...

A report from the Indianapolis Star. "IndyStar sat down with Jim Litten, who has 50 years of real estate experience. 'We’re seeing tremendous price escalation. Prices last year went up about 16% in our market. I don’t see that moderating a bit. I can remember five years ago, what we’re experiencing...

A report from Mortgage News Daily. "Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life outta nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops. (Where did you think that was going?) There are always riddles and surprises out there, but one is not originators helping...

A report from the New York Times. "For Claudia Ruffle, living in a co-housing community was a lifelong dream. So she was among the early supporters of what was envisioned as Connecticut’s first co-housing community. Ms. Ruffle and a friend contracted to purchase one of the attached housing units...

A report from the Pioneer Press in Minnesota. "Bob Walser has rented out a Randolph Avenue duplex for four years, with the goal of someday selling it for retirement income. He’s worried that a 3 percent cap on rents will take a large bite out of that income. 'Who wants to buy a guaranteed loser?'...