Housing Bust

It's hard to describe the current trends in the housing market as a "boom," though homebuying costs are surely rising.

April 15, 2021 - Axios

Alana Semuels writes about the state of the zombie subdivisions scattered around the western United States—a derelict reminder of the high water mark of the last master planned community building boom.

November 17, 2014 - The Atlantic

Nathalie Baptiste examines the case of Prince George’s County in Maryland near Washington D.C. as a study in how the housing and real estate markets has unjustly attacked the wealth of Black Americans.

October 14, 2014 - The American Prospect

The same minority groups hit hardest by the housing bust are benefiting least during recovery.

March 17, 2014 - MetroTrends Blog

Across the Intermountain West, paper plats and half-completed subdivisions are straining budgets and threatening the quality of life. A new report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy identifies treatment and prevention measures.

January 23, 2014 - At Lincoln House

In desirable cities across America, home prices are well on their way back to pre-bust levels. But in areas like Chicago's southern suburbs, prices are down more than 40 percent from recent highs, and approaching were they were twenty years ago.

October 29, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

If the small city of Otsego, located 30 miles from Minneapolis, is a guide, sprawl may be poised to make a comeback as the housing market roars back to life. But larger indicators point to a withdrawal from sprawl.

September 16, 2013 - The New York Times

The long-awaited recovery of America's housing market, after six years of decline, seems to be gaining traction, with the latest data indicating increasing prices in hard-hit cities like Miami, Atlanta, and Detroit.

August 29, 2012 - The New York Times

Those of us whose professional lives are inextricably linked to the real estate development economy in one way or another have had plenty of time in the last year to twiddle our thumbs and attempt to figure out what the heck happened. This much we know — there was a housing bubble some places, it burst, and the economy collapsed. Have you ever slipped and fell – one those unexpected spectacular aerial feats where your feet fly out from underneath you, you look down your legs and see your toes at eye level pointing to the sky, and you say to yourself “this is really going to hurt when I land”? That’s what this year has been like for many, some of whom are still waiting to hit hard because they had projects in the pipeline and they are grinding their way through “inventory” of unfinished work. Plus, we started from a high plateau. Wall Street types call the unexpected but apparent life in the market during the first part of a recession “dead cat bounce” which Forbes defines as “a temporary recovery from a prolonged decline or bear market, after which the market continues to fall.” Even a dead cat dropped from a very high place will bounce a little when it hits the ground…

November 30, 2009 - Dwight Merriam

This piece from Forbes looks at which cities will recover fastest from the recession -- and which ones won't.

July 26, 2009 - Forbes

This slideshow from The New York Times Magazine takes a look at the abandoned and stalled buildings form around the country that epitomize the bust of the building market.

July 7, 2009 - The New York Times Magazine

Phoenix is undergoing another housing boom, with buyers clamoring to buy up properties with significantly discounted prices.

May 18, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

Military towns are seeing home sales go up despite decreasing home values elsewhere across the country, thanks in part to a steady wartime economy.

November 12, 2008 - Chicago Tribune