ML-Implode News - Housing Bubble In Full Bloom, Zany Price Increases, And Now A SuddenÂ Slowdown

The prices of 2006 are suddenly no longer the peak of the housing bubble, but a goal to get back to... In [Redfin's] report at the end of August, home prices in San Francisco soared 27.3% from a year ago; in Riverside, CA, 29.6%; in Sacramento, CA, 38.8%; and in Las Vegas a cool 39.1%. Price increases that make the last bubble appear boring! So in San Francisco, the median list price, according to Redfin, is $832,000. The median sales price is 7.5% higher.
With the same amount down [as last year, a SF buyer] would have financed $639,000. The payment would have been $2,736 a month [as compared to $4,281 a month. now]. In the course of a year, for exactly the same unit, the mortgage payment jumped 55%.

...

Homebuilders have pushed to the max. But after raising prices for well over a year, they're suddenly feeling the heat -- suddenly being in August. Builders are normally able to raise prices in August, on average by 2% from July, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. But in its survey of 273 builders, covering about 16% of the new-home sales across the country, 47% of the builders raised prices in August, 48% kept them flat, and 5% lowered them.

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Housing Bubble In Full Bloom, Zany Price Increases, And Now A SuddenÂ Slowdown