The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from the News Daily in Georgia. "Several weeks back, I asked in this space, 'What is the plan?' An extended eviction and foreclosure moratorium, put in place by the CDC during this lengthy pandemic will expire on July 31. The scope of pending rental evictions and foreclosures for...

A report from KJZZ in Arizona. "Phoenix construction activity is getting close to levels seen in 2006, just before the housing crash and Great Recession. 'At the conclusion of fiscal year 20-21, planning will have issued approximately 47,000 total construction permits and will have completed...

What is your mid-year housing bubble prediction? From six months ago: "I was sitting here contemplating what this new year is going to bring, and the biggest question that I have is where in the heck a frugal, cautious person like myself could ever get a return on cash. Treasuries look absolutely...

A report from the Santa Fe New Mexican. "'So, what do you make of this housing bubble?' I am occasionally asked. In 2007, I obtained a 'no doc' loan. Then came the crash of October 2008. Almost overnight, the value of the home dropped $150,000 less than what I paid the year before, meaning a...

A weekend topic starting with two reports from the Los Angeles Times. "Outreach workers on Friday wrapped up the first — and easiest — phase of the Venice Beach cleanup, persuading dozens of homeless people camped on the boardwalk to move into shelters. Several camp dwellers near the Santa Monica...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The epic housing shortage that began before the pandemic and then was exacerbated by it may finally be starting to ease up. More supply is suddenly coming on the market. In June, new listings increased 5.5% year over year and 10.9% compared with...

A report from the Cody Enterprise in Wyoming. "Jackson realtor Latham Jenkins said although there may be more demand and profitability available for agents and sellers than ever before, the winning bidder is the sole applicant left feeling happy after an over-priced purchase. 'Then you have 10...

A report from KTVB in Idaho. "Jeff Wills, president of the Boise Regional Realtors board, said that he's heard of plenty of comparisons between Boise and other cities in the West. 'I mean, I can't tell you how many times I hear people say, 'Oh, you know, this is Denver ten years ago; this is Salt...

A report from DS News. "An estimated two million homeowners remain in forbearance plans. By stage, 10.7% of total loans in forbearance were in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 83.1% were in a forbearance extension, and the remaining 6.2% were forbearance re-entries. 'An unchecked wave of...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "In an interview, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan mentioned mortgage purchases, which he believes contributed to rising home prices, 'these purchases have unintended consequences and side effects.' In an interview with CNBC on June 18, James Bullard,...

A weekend topic starting with Curbed New York. "Since it took off about a decade ago, the co-living industry has gone to great lengths to sell an image of communal bliss. If you were a minor player with a master lease on a few properties, charging a premium for bundling in olive oil, internet,...

A weekend topic starting with Kyodo News. "Skyrocketing property prices in South Korea are leaving ordinary people struggling to find affordable housing, especially in the capital Seoul and surrounding areas. A survey showed that the price has come close to doubling during the four years since...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Stagnant prices in Southwest Austin may be in line with the predictions of some local real estate experts that the market is cooling off. In a survey of more than 500 real estate agents in the Austin area, 61% said they believed the market was...

A report from 9 News in Colorado. "In many of the nation’s top housing markets, including Colorado, roughly one in five houses sold is now bought by someone who never moves in. 'The fear is that the larger, corporate investors are buying up huge quantities of homes and taking them off the market...

A report from Mansion Global. "Prices have soared as demand significantly outclips supply. But amid all the excitement, more contracts are also falling through, and many prospective buyers are placing offers sight-unseen, only to back out later. 'There is a much higher fallout rate because people...

A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. "Rohana Rezel is on a mission to shine light on Vancouver’s hidden real-estate market. Mr. Rezel, a senior software architect, is also one of a small group of citizen researchers who’ve taken on the task of unearthing the numbers and names behind the...

A report from the Real Deal on Florida. "Ken Griffin has left Faena House. The CEO of Chicago-based Citadel sold his remaining penthouse at the ultra-luxury Miami Beach condo building, a three-bedroom, 4,243-square-foot unit, for $11.2 million. Griffin paid $60 million for two penthouses in the...

A weekend topic starting with China Worker. "The following is a document discussed at the 2015 congress of the ISA’s China, Hong Kong and Taiwan section. This appeared in our book Building the Socialist Alternative (published by chinaworker.info November 2015, 94 pages, available here) but has...

A weekend topic starting with NBC DFW. "Invitation Homes CEO Dallas Tanner told CNBC he believes the U.S. housing market is 'extremely healthy' right now. 'I would expect that home prices stay relatively stable, if not continue to grow in value for the homeowners in the country,' Tanner said,...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Contrasted with the relatively healthy real estate market of May 2019, single-family sales were down 9.7 percent in Massachusetts last month. 'You have to go all the way back to 2015 to find May sales that low — that really stood out to me,' said...