Lumber: Scary-Crazy Inflation Now Gets Passed On. But These WTF Price Spikes Cannot Last by Wolf Richter • May 5, 2021 • 187 Comments Irrational behavior by buyers confidently betting on being able to pass on that irrationality to their customers. It works until it doesn’t.
It’s Not Over: Rents in San Francisco Down 30%, in Silicon Valley Down 19%, both at Multi-Year Lows. But Inland Rents Spike by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2021 • 54 Comments The US rental market has been thrown into turmoil. But in no major city have rents plunged from so high by so much so fast as in San Francisco.
It’s a Perfect Time to Sell a Home (to FOMO-Driven Buyers) by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2021 • 161 Comments The winner in these crazy bidding wars isn’t the buyer. It’s the seller. For buyers, it’s a Perfect Time to make a Terrible Deal (transcript).
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: “House-Price Inflation” out the Wazoo, Ignored by CPI. April Update by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2021 • 237 Comments Only exception: San Francisco Bay Area condo prices, down from year ago.
THE WOLF STREET REPORT: It’s a Perfect Time to Sell a Home (to FOMO-Addled Buyers) by Wolf Richter • Apr 25, 2021 • 241 Comments And for buyers, it’s a Perfect Time to make a Terrible Deal. The winner in these crazy bidding wars is the seller.
Cut Prices and They Will Come? New House Sales Jump After Massive Drop in Prices by Wolf Richter • Apr 23, 2021 • 194 Comments There is no shortage of spec homes.
Buyers’ Strike? Everyone Knows the Housing Market Has Gone Nuts: amid Wild Distortions, Prices Spike but Sales Plunge by Wolf Richter • Apr 22, 2021 • 290 Comments No housing market can handle the perversity of vacant homes being used as leveraged investment vehicles to generate capital gains by just sitting there.
More Signs of Cooling Demand: Mortgage Applications to Purchase a Home Drop Below 2019 for First Time in Pandemic Housing Craziness amid Higher Interest Rates by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2021 • 168 Comments And refinance mortgage applications plunged by over half from 2020 spike.
How the “Affordability Crisis” Migrated from High-Income Rental Markets, as Manhattan & San Francisco, to Lower Income Markets, as Detroit & Fresno by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2021 • 253 Comments The distortions caused by the shift to working from anywhere are hitting households that can least afford it.
The Explosive Surge of Mortgages for “Second Homes”: Housing Bubble Math by Wolf Richter • Apr 1, 2021 • 257 Comments No housing market can produce enough homes when homes are massively used as vacant investment speculations. This creates an artificial shortage.
