The Housing Bubble Blog

The Red-Alerts Of A Distressed Market

Sun, 24 Sep 2017 15:05:42 +0000

A report from Barron’s on Florida. “To grasp the buying opportunities emerging in Miami’s condo market, it pays to study the prices obtained this year for two remarkably similar apartments next door to each other on the main drag of Brickell, the residential high-rise district in downtown Miami where the sky is filled with cranes [...]

An Era When Some Were Making Small Fortunes

Sat, 23 Sep 2017 14:33:09 +0000

A weekend topic starting with Vulture. “HGTV was the third-most-popular network on cable television in 2016, a 24/7 testament to the powers of Target chic, the open-plan kitchen, and social conservatism. It unspools with the same bland cheerfulness as Leave It to Beaver, and its heart is in the same place. Many viewers — in [...]

The Period Of Joyous, Abundant Business Is Over

Fri, 22 Sep 2017 15:30:38 +0000

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “That chill in the air? It’s called fall…as in falling number of houses sold. ‘With pricing on the rise you might think that’s a little bit of a concern but we’ve got int rates that are unheard of and it’s been that way for some time so [...]

When You Can’t Fill Units, The Price Has To Drop

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 16:07:24 +0000

A report from City Lab. “If renters paid just what they could afford in rent, the average household would have $6,200 a year more in their pocket to spend on groceries, childcare, medical care, and education—things one in five households have been skimping on to make rent. Collectively, that would amount to $124 billion that [...]

At The Same Time, There’s A Shortage And Overabundance

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 16:03:36 +0000

A report from Mortgage Orb. “There’s been a lot of speculation in the mortgage industry lately about how hurricanes Harvey and Irma might effect delinquencies and defaults in Texas and Florida – not to mention mortgage originations and home sales. A high percentage of the homes in the area were already underwater in terms of [...]

It Was Gruesome Watching People Not Make Much Money

Tue, 19 Sep 2017 16:01:33 +0000

A report from the Washington Post. “London: They are not hard to spot, if you know where to look, especially at night - the floors of swanky, new apartments, most of the windows dark, almost all the time. The zombie flats. Owned, but empty. There’s enough empty property here to be given a name in [...]

Becoming Collector Items

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 15:28:43 +0000

A report from the Boulder Daily Camera in Colorado. “More than 1,000 apartments and rooms for rent are sitting empty in Boulder right now, either too expensive or too old or just too inconveniently located for someone to claim. Renters have never had more choices, as reflected in the 7.9 percent vacancy rate — a [...]

Something More Troubling Than Stucco

Sun, 17 Sep 2017 14:14:59 +0000

A weekend topic starting with Jacobin Magazine. “Richard Florida, one of the most influential thinkers about cities in postwar America, wants you to know that he got almost everything about cities wrong. If you live in an urban center in North America, the United Kingdom, or Australia, you are living in Richard Florida’s world. Fifteen [...]

The ‘If’ That Has Entered The Room

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 15:43:03 +0000

A report from Southern California Public Radio. “With downtown Los Angeles seeing a vacancy rate that’s three times higher than the rest of the city, landlords are ratcheting up the competition for tenants. Nina Hu and her husband ended up going with a one-bedroom loft at G-12 Apartments, which opened this spring in the South [...]

The Attractive Easy Returns Are Under Threat

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 14:54:30 +0000

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “About that house in Sunnyvale — you know, the one that just sold for $782,000 over its listing price? In Cupertino, 10 houses sold for $200,000 or more above the asking price. One sold for — get this — $507,000 over the listing price. The young couple [...]

Blinded By A State Of Euphoria

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 16:30:48 +0000

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “I have a ‘liar loan’ – a mortgage based on less than absolutely factual information. I’ve pretty much always had liar loans. And I recently obtained a ‘liar credit card.’ So what? Given readers’ (and therefore the media’s) love of stories that combine housing and doomsday [...]

The Question Of The Market Over-Building

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 15:13:28 +0000

A report from the Deseret News in Utah. “For the eighth straight year, vacancy rates for rental apartments in the Salt Lake metro area have declined — down to the lowest rates ever. ‘This low vacancy is fueling a record-breaking level of construction of new apartment buildings,’ said Kip Paul, executive director of investment sales [...]

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