Housing Starts Slowing Down (washingtonpost.com)
The number of new houses built is flat this year, and is expected to decrease over the next year. Economists expect rates to rise slightly over the year, and to cool the housing market. Read more…

This article talks about loans from the mortgage broker’s perspective. This article focuses on a broker who concentrates on interest-only loans, and is making a bundle on the commissions. Many are turning to interest-only loans as they are the only way they can afford a loan in this inflated housing market, but there is a greater risk. (realestatejournal.com)
Read more…

Housing Markets Pricing Out Middle Class - Yahoo! News (yahoo.com)
In high-priced real estate markets throughout the US, many are finding it difficult to afford a place to buy. Someone with a median income in a place like California would be hard-pressed to buy a median-priced home (> $500K). Some buyers are turning to riskierloan products such as interest-only loans, ARMs, and 40-year mortgages. Read more…

Mortgage Bankers up 3-year real estate market forecast - Jul. 12, 2005 (cnn.com)
The Mortgage Brokers Association forecasts strong housing markets through 2007, but expects sales growth to slow. Hopefully that means the real estate bubble is not set to pop quite yet. Read more…

Homespun Expertise on the Internet (realestatejournal.com)
Here’s a nice roundup of the home renovation blogs that are out there. It should be pretty handy for the do-it-yourself house rehab set. Read more…

Housing Bubble — or Bunk? (businessweek.com)
BusinessWeek compiled comments from several prominent economists and asked them about their opinion about a possible real estate bubble. None of the comments are wildly optimistic about the real estate market, but only one fears a huge collapse of the market. Read more…

7-step approach to selling your house (yahoo.com)
Here’s a short article on bullet points to consider when selling your home. One of the most important is to “look through a buyer’s eyes.” Try to evaluate your house objectively as if you were shopping for a home. Read more…

Housing market tumble forecast / Economists see bubble bursting by late next year (sfgate.com)
Economists from UCLA are predicting that the real estate bubble will burst by next year. Some believe that a decline in housing prices will lead to a full economic recession. With large numbers of people taking on interest-only or ARM loans, higher rates will mean higher payments, which will dampen spending, and, in some cases, lead to foreclosure. Read more…

Lenders Retool Long-Term Mortgages (realestatejournal.com)
Lenders are coming out with new products to keep homeowners interested despite the risk of rising interest rates. One of the products that they are introducing are interest-only loans that are fixed for 10-15 years. Remember that interest-only products carry significant risk though. If the borrowers don’t have much equity in a home, and home prices decline a little, they might end up owing more on the home than they can sell it for. If they sell at that point, they will have to come up with extra cash. Read more…

Top 10 Places to Raise Kids (realestatejournal.com)
Wondering where the best place to raise your family? The WSJ reports on the 10 most family-friendly locations in the US. Obviously school quality is one of the top criteria, but the article also considers other factors, such as crime rate and number of other children in the area. Read more…

After the Stock Bubble: Housing Out of Balance (realestatejournal.com)
Here’s a very macro view of the real estate bubble from the WSJ. The article tracks the cause of the bubble to the bear stock market of 2001, and adds some troubling statistics about the trade deficit. Read more…

After the Stock Bubble: Housing Out of Balance (realestatejournal.com)
Here’s a very macro view of the real estate bubble from the WSJ. The article tracks the cause of the bubble to the bear stock market of 2001, and adds some troubling statistics about the trade deficit. Read more…

States Move to Limit Rising Property Taxes (realestatejournal.com)
Due to skyrocketing home values, many homeowners are faced with huge property tax bills. Some people have reported increasese in property taxes over 200%. Some citizens are starting petitions to limit the taxes for existing homeowners so that the payments are fixed according to the previous payment rather than the current market value of the home. Read more…

Remodeling Projects that Pay Off (realestatejournal.com)
If you’re thinking about remodeling your home, the WSJ has some tips on what will give you the most bang for the buck. It provides a list of the remodeling projects that are most likely to recoup your costs. The article also provides some tips on selecting a contractor. Read more…

Remaining Cool in a Hot Housing Market (realestatejournal.com)
Here are a few words of caution from the WSJ concerning investment in a hot housing market. Some economists say that buyers are not following the mantra of “buying low, selling high.” On the flip side, others caution against timing the market by selling now, hoping that prices will reduce, and then buy back into the same area. Read more…

Vacation homes: Not just for the rich and famous (yahoo.com)
This article from BankRate.com provides some tips on owning a vacation rental property. The article provides a simple formula to see if renting a property would be worth it. Read more…

Web tours a boon for burglars (sfgate.com)
The SF Chronicle reports that virtual tours on real estate web sites can help burglars case out prospective targets. The tours can reveal that a house contains expensive art or where jewelry is kept. This article is a follow-up to the one about open houses leading to burglaries. The idea of virtual tours as a tool for thieves might be alarmist conjecture though since there haven’t been many complaints that this is an actual trend. Still use common sense when selling your home, and try not to let the pictures or tours tell too much about your home. Read more…

Mortgage applications decrease last week-MBA (yahoo.com)
Mortgage applications fell 2.8 percent from the previous week due to both less purchasing and refinancing activity. Rates are still very low. I’ve got to wonder if these weekly stats are worth much, or if they’re just noise. The quarterly trends still show that the housing market is still hot. Read more…

It’s Not a Bubble Until It Bursts (latimes.com)
Here’s a lengthy real estate bubble watch article from the LA Times. It gives some good background on the state of the bubble… Read more…

Housing prices jumped another 12.5 percent (cnn.com)
CNN reports that the average U.S. home price rose 12.5 percent from the previous year. The fastest growing states were Nevada and California. Is this just inflating the bubble more before it bursts? Read more…