The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Bisnow on California. "Indicative of the city’s booming landscape, the Los Angeles Planning Commission is considering two high-rise mixed-use developments in downtown LA. There are 25 residential developments under construction and more than 75 mixed-use and/or residential projects...

A report from The Business News Network in Canada. "A video of rapper Pitbull jumping and dancing on stage, surrounded by six dancers, isn’t an image one would typically associate with the property market. But that’s the first item showcased on the website of the Real Estate Wealth Expo, which will...

A weekend topic starting with The Street. "In the aftermath of the Great Recession, no-money-down mortgages got a bad rap, blamed for being part of a toxic brew of bad lending that crashed the real estate market. But in a bid to reach credit-worthy buyers struggling to save up thousands to secure a...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "U.S. new-home construction cooled by more than expected in February on a reversal in the volatile multifamily category, while building remained on pace to contribute to economic growth this quarter, government figures showed. The report indicated a...

A report from KDKA on Pennsylvania. "High-end, luxury apartments in Pittsburgh, which typically command top dollar prices, are now going for a fraction of the cost. It’s been a building boom that’s changed the face of neighborhoods. Now, that boom is petering with oversupply – too many units for...

A report from the Orlando Sentinel in Florida. "Increased numbers of homeowners in Orlando — and most of Florida — fell behind on mortgage payments late last year, bucking national trends, according to CoreLogic. Metro Orlando’s rate of homeowners falling at least a month behind tripled in December...

An opinion piece by Alex Pollock in The Hill. "After the peak of the housing bubble in 2006, U.S. home prices fell for six years, until 2012. Are these memories getting a little hazy? The Federal Reserve, through forcing years of negative real short-term interest rates, suppressing long-term rates,...

A report from the Alabama Newscenter. "The multifamily market is hot. Rents continue to rise, occupancies remain strong and the development pipeline seems to be all but slowing down. In Huntsville, nine of the 13 multifamily developments in the pipeline — planned, prospective or under construction...

A weeked topic starting with two reports from the Greenfield Recorder in Masschusetts. "Standing at the intersection of bad luck and what a seniors advocated says is a public policy failure, an elderly man who has been called a 'Robin Hood of builders' will face foreclosure Tuesday and an...

A report from the Coloradoan. "With 1,100 market-rate units coming online and more than 2,000 in the pipeline, some experts wonder if Fort Collins is in danger of a bubble, where oversupply pushes up vacancy rates, depresses rents and leaves hundreds of units wanting for tenants. It's making some...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Increasing danger lurks in the mortgage market, and economists say it could put the financial system at 'even greater risk' when the next recession strikes or too many borrowers fall behind on their mortgage payments. A growing segment of the...

A report from the Toronto Star in Canada. "Re-sale home prices in the Toronto region dropped 12.4 per cent, or about $110,000, year over year in February. The average price fell to $767,818, from $875,983 for all housing categories, including detached, semi-detached, town homes and condos. The...

A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. "Seattle’s record construction boom may have peaked: Development activity across the central part of the city is declining at the fastest rate in at least 12 years. At the end of this past year, there were 57 active projects underway in the area that...

A report from the Tahoe Daily Tribune. "The Incline Village real estate market is off to a very healthy start in 2018. As properties in good locations hit the market we are witnessing a tremendous amount of showing activity and more multiple offer situations. Since the economy in California...

A report from Global News in Canada. "The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that home buyers weren’t very active in February as sales dipped below the long-term average. It says last there were 2,207 sales in February, a 9 per cent dip compared to last year, and more than 14 per cent...

A report from Mansion Global on New York. "The opening months of 2018 have had varying effects on Manhattan’s real estate markets. Manhattan’s luxury condo market—defined as properties priced at above $2,000 per square foot—saw 62 contracts signed in February, a slight boost from the six-month low...

A weekend topic starting with DSN News. "GSE reform has been a hot-button topic ever since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came under government conservatorship during the financial crisis, but it’s one of those talking points that often seems heavy on the talk and light on the corresponding action....

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Southern California real estate sales in December 2017 were up just under a percent from November and down nearly 4% from December of the previous year to a total in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernadino and Orange counties...

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Cracks are showing in the Sydney property market, with prices now falling for the first time over a 12-month period since the boom began. The harbour city recorded a 0.5 per cent drop in housing prices in the year to February, CoreLogic data...

A report from Governing.com. "When it comes to housing, New York, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Washington, D.C., all have something in common. Prices are actually starting to come down. Many of the nation’s hottest real estate markets, construction booms have brought a recent reduction in average...