housing

Bubble Watch: Chinese Property Edition

Hamilton Nolan · 10/22/13 02:22PM

The global economy is like a boiling pot of water— full of bubbles. Or you might say it's like a glass of soda—full of bubbles. Starting small, inflating, and finally bursting—bubbles. Where will he next economic bubble"pop up," ha? Perhaps in a land far, far away.

Do You Own the Rights to the Land Under Your House? Maybe Not

Hamilton Nolan · 10/09/13 02:01PM

Generally speaking, when someone purchases a house, they assume that they have also purchased the rights to the land that sits directly beneath that house. Not so fast, suburbanites! You may have already signed away your right to not have fracking underneath your back yard.

This Megabank Lawyer Pays Lower Rent Than You For No Good Reason

John Cook · 09/17/13 03:17PM

There's a brief and enraging—to New York City's renting class, at least—aside in Constance Rosenblum's Sunday New York Times Real Estate piece about committed couples who live apart. In describing Michael Kenny and Ingrid Doyle's two-apartment love affair, Rosenblum mentions that Kenny, a 62-year-old "lawyer with Citigroup," has for years held on to his "rent-stabilized two-bedroom in a rehabilitated tenement on West 116th Street in South Harlem...for which he pays under $2,000 a month." Let me put that in context.

New Houses Are Bigger Than Ever

Hamilton Nolan · 08/27/13 10:29AM

After the American real estate boom came crashing down five years ago, we were momentarily chastened. We moved out of the new condo, and into a cardboard box. When we finally built new homes, they were reasonably small. Well. Fuck that.

Hottest New Place to Live: Mom's Couch

Hamilton Nolan · 07/23/13 01:41PM

Real estate prices are skyrocketing! The housing bubble is already re-inflating itself! Great news for property owners. Bad news for the increasing number of people who are living on your couch.

Way Too Many Americans Spend Most of Their Income on Rent

Hamilton Nolan · 06/27/13 10:47AM

Throughout America, the housing market has recovered so well from its collapse five years ago that we're already talking about the next collapse. This has been great news for current homeowners. But for poor people who would prefer not to be homeless, times are only getting harder.

The Next Housing Bubble Is About To Pop All Over You

Ken Layne · 05/28/13 03:47PM

Flippers. Record home prices. Stock markets at record highs. Record low-interest rates. Just add some sad tales about young couples making $250,000 per year in Silicon Valley who still can't afford a million-dollar bungalow and you've got 2007 all over again.

Apartment Hunting and 'Kitchen Privileges'

Mallory Ortberg · 02/09/13 01:30PM

If you live in a city of a certain size and do not own a home, chances are that you have had to spend a not-insubstantial portion of your life scanning Craigslist and other ad services looking for a place to rent. If you are not a particularly wealthy person, chances are that you have come across a great many listings in your price range that employ the crushing phrase "kitchen privileges."

So You're Living Back Home With the 'Rents

Hamilton Nolan · 11/10/11 01:42PM

Happy college graduation, and welcome back home! It happens. These days, more than ever: "5.9 million Americans between 25 and 34 years of age-nearly a quarter of whom have bachelor's degrees-live with their parents, a significant increase from 4.7 million before the recession," according to the WSJ.

The McMansion Is Dead

Hamilton Nolan · 11/02/11 10:58AM

This heartless recession has stolen from America our most treasured national totems. Huge SUVs? Too gas-guzzling. Sprawling suburbs far removed from the "diverse" cities? Reduced to slums. And now, the recession is coming for our very homes.