The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from the Sun Sentinel in Florida. "A townhome development in the process of being approved to be built in Pembroke Pines is causing concern among some residents who want traffic fixed above all else. 'Developable land is especially scarce in Broward because about half of the county, or...

A report from the Wall Street Journal on California. "The property Jordan Mazer bought in December is the classic Venice beach house in more ways than one. Another thing that makes his property emblematic of the neighborhood: He paid $213,000 less than the buyer in 2018, and $450,000 less than the...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "A West Village townhouse that was once home to film star Will Smith is on the market for $12.5 million. That’s quite a hit, considering the buyer paid $13.82 million for the stately manse at 13 Leroy St. in 2008." "The nation’s largest homebuilders...

A report from the Los Angeles Times in California. "LeBron James is ready to sell his Brentwood home at a loss. The Lakers star has listed a traditional-style estate in Brentwood Park at $20.5 million — about half a million shy of what he paid for it in 2015." From Page Six on California. "Armie...

A report from the Herald Tribune in Florida. "A new 5,335-square-foot Casey Key home with a private beach will be auctioned, without reserve, this month. The luxury house on Casey Key was built last year and has never been occupied, according to Heritage Auctions, which is handling the March 23...

A report from Bloomberg on New York. "Manhattan’s priciest apartment contracts last week had one thing in common: The sellers lost money. Owners who bought at the peak of Manhattan’s luxury condo frenzy just a few years ago are seeing their asset values erode amid a glut of unsold units. Overseas...

A report from the Orange County Register in California. "The talk of 'risk' isn’t a subject frequently heard among housing analysts and industry insiders. It’s also a good time to be in the transactions business with the quick pace of dealmaking. (Note: Many of these upbeat 'experts' are paid by...

A report from Market Watch. "Like floodwater, mortgage bond losses flow from the bottom up. But with today’s compressed bond yields and an uncertain backdrop for commercial properties, Daniel McNamara, principal at a hedge fund that’s been in the spotlight for its success shorting debt tied to...

A weekend topic starting with two reports from the Globe and Mail. "Berkeley Loh, 29, and Tom Holmes, 35, have been together a few years and living in their 800-square-foot Olympic Village rental, but they always had a plan to buy. They’d seen friends and family members buying properties, and they...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'Twelve years ago, [the housing boom] led to a bad outcome with a foreclosure crisis. But that was due to funny mortgages that went to everyone without income documentation,' said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of...

A report from CBC News. "While he did not describe what kind of actions he would take to stimulate jobs without overstimulating housing, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the bank would keep a close eye on the housing market and think about how to contain a housing bubble that could lead to...

A report from Reuters. "Investors fueling an initial public offering bonanza are snubbing many U.S. mortgage providers’ stock market debuts over concerns that the sector might have reached its peak. 'Investors don’t like buying into a company at the start of a down cycle, and mortgage originations...

A report from the New York Post. "The best deals are to be found in Northwest Queens, where rent prices are down 17%, matching discounts in Manhattan — but in Queens, apartments were cheaper to begin with. Landlords are offering the equivalent of 3.4 months free rent, up 88.9% compared to last year...

A report from the Tribeca Tribune in New York. "The Downtown Alliance has put numbers to what we see around us: the pandemic’s heavy commercial toll on Lower Manhattan. The Alliance provides data behind a year of reversals to Downtown vitality, from Murray Street to the Battery. (Much of Tribeca is...

A report from the Real Deal on Florida. "John Rosatt sold his waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Isles for $7 million, nearly five years after putting it on the market. He bought the home in 2015 for $12 million and listed it for $11.95 million the next year. He even hosted a live...

A report from Bloomberg. "The Federal Reserve warned of significant risks of business bankruptcies and steep drops in commercial real estate prices in a report published on Friday. 'Business leverage now stands near historical highs,' the central bank said in its semi-annual Monetary Policy Report...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Four years ago, Alexandra West bought a house in Sacramento, California, for just under $300,000. She agreed to a five-month lease, starting at the end of January 2020. 'She owes well north of $20,000 in back rent,' West said. 'There’s been a...

A report from Real Estate Weekly. "Ninety percent of workers from New York’s financial heart are still operating from home. Nearly half of Lower Manhattan’s population has left, and three hotels and over 160 retail business have closed for good, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York....

A report from KHON. "An anonymous landlord in Hawaii that spoke with KHON2 says that his tenants have not lost employment since the pandemic started, but have avoided paying $25,000 in rent and utilities while leaning on the eviction moratorium to remain in the house. For now, the landlord is stuck...

A report from the Wall Street Journal on New York. "Manhattan’s pulverized condominium market is opening the door for investors willing to buy individual apartments wholesale. Developers under financial strain are the most likely to entertain bulk deals, but in a choppy market where many apartments...