The pending count finally reversed course and gained 6% this week, after dropping for the last five weeks.  Just in time to be greeted by this ZH post on the three stages of a housing bubble – hat tip to Doug for sending in:

Stage One usually ends with price spikes in the hottest markets so extreme that they generate headlines. Like these:

• San Diego home prices spike
• Home Prices Spike Near Murrieta, SoCal Median Hits Record Level
• Orlando Home Prices Spike 10 Percent Annually in April
• Another month, another record for Denver home prices

Phase Two of a typical US housing bubble begins when sellers read these headlines and note that prices are now above what they could have gotten in the last bubble. With the memory of how badly they’d wished they’d sold at the peak, they realize that they’ve been given a second chance to cash out, move to a cheaper, less-frenetic place, and coast on their real estate riches. So they call a realtor and list their house. As do a bunch of their neighbors. Supply, out of the blue, jumps.

That may be what’s happening now:

The most competitive, tightest housing market in decades may finally be loosening its grip, and that could put pressure on overheated home prices. The supply of homes for sale in the second quarter of 2018, the all-important spring market, rose at three times the rate of the same period in 2017, according to Trulia, a real estate listing and research company.

The inventory jump was the largest quarterly improvement in three years and could be signaling a slight thaw in today’s housing market. But it is just a start.

“This seasonal inventory jump wasn’t enough to offset the historical year-over-year downward trend that has continued over 14 consecutive quarters,” according to Alexandra Lee, a housing data analyst for Trulia’s economics research team.

The supply of homes for sale is still down 5.3 percent compared with a year ago. Still, all real estate is local, and some markets are seeing greater relief. Thirty of the nation’s 100 largest cities, including New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, now have more supply than a year ago.

Of course, the increase is a double-edged sword. Supplies are increasing because sales are slowing, and sales are slowing because prices are so high. In New York City, the median household must spend 65 percent of its income to buy a home, according to Trulia. In Los Angeles, it takes 59 percent.

“Among these unaffordable metros, San Diego posted the largest inventory growth—22 percent year-over-year,” wrote Lee. “Compare that with the same quarter last year, when that Southern California metro registered a 28 percent inventory decrease.”

Mortgage applications to purchase a newly built home plummeted nearly 9 percent in June compared with June 2017, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This suggests lower new home sales going forward, despite higher price.

CNBC link

Stage Two’s deluge of supply sets the table for US housing bubble Stage Three by soaking up the remaining demand and changing the tenor of the market. Deals get done at the asking price instead of way above, then at a little below, then a lot below. Instead of being snapped up the day they’re listed, houses begin to languish on the market for weeks, then months. Would-be sellers, who have already mentally cashed their monster peak-bubble-price checks, start to panic. They cut their asking prices preemptively, trying to get ahead of the decline, which causes “comps” to plunge, forcing subsequent sellers to cut even further.

Sales volumes contract, mortgage bankers and realtors get laid off. Then the last year’s (in retrospect) really crappy mortgages start defaulting, the mortgage-backed bonds that contain their paper plunge in price, et voila, we’re back in 2008.

How far away is the climax of Stage Three? It’s too soon to tell, with just one quarter of trend-reversal data on-hand. But if you’re thinking of selling (or if you own a lot of bank stocks or are thinking of shorting such stocks), now might be a good time to start paying attention and taking the appropriate steps.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-16/us-housing-bubble-enters-stage-two-suddenly-motivated-sellers

The UNDER-$1,000,000 Market:

Date	NSDCC Active Listings	Avg. LP/sf	Avg. DOM	# of Pendings
Jan 1	36	$477/sf	51	58
Jan 8	35	$479/sf	42	56
Jan 15	39	$469/sf	37	53
Jan 22	37	$453/sf	42	62
Jan 29	38	$459/sf	35	64
Feb 5	41	$463/sf	26	69
Feb 12	39	$461/sf	20	73
Feb 19	42	$456/sf	20	72
Feb 26	53	$451/sf	20	81
Mar 5	47	$457/sf	24	79
Mar 12	60	$434/sf	19	87
Mar 19	67	$478/sf	21	81
Mar 26	61	$477/sf	23	86
Apr 2	50	$464/sf	24	95
Apr 9	56	$471/sf	23	93
Apr 16	61	$464/sf	24	93
Apr 23	59	$459/sf	25	96
Apr 30	61	$466/sf	27	95
May 7	67	$472/sf	20	89
May 14	66	$480/sf	21	95
May 21	81	$474/sf	21	85
May 28	83	$438/sf	24	91
Jun 4	80	$442/sf	27	97
Jun 11	81	$427/sf	27	91
Jun 18	88	$442/sf	29	78
Jun 25	93	$442/sf	31	77
Jul 2	96	$443/sf	30	76
Jul 9	98	$447/sf	33	65
Jul 16	98	$445/sf	34	78

The $1,000,000 – $1,500,000 Market:

Date	NSDCC Active Listings	Avg. LP/sf	Avg. DOM	# of Pendings
Jan 1	91	$532/sf	72	68
Jan 8	99	$551/sf	64	64
Jan 15	96	$535/sf	61	75
Jan 22	107	$515/sf	63	82
Jan 29	108	$512/sf	57	91
Feb 5	110	$518/sf	49	100
Feb 12	117	$487/sf	46	106
Feb 19	107	$500/sf	45	114
Feb 26	112	$485/sf	46	117
Mar 5	111	$496/sf	45	115
Mar 12	126	$475/sf	43	109
Mar 19	125	$487/sf	47	129
Mar 26	133	$484/sf	47	124
Apr 2	139	$495/sf	47	121
Apr 9	148	$485/sf	51	119
Apr 16	145	$474/sf	45	114
Apr 23	162	$470/sf	43	117
Apr 30	162	$486/sf	42	121
May 7	180	$495/sf	40	117
May 14	182	$491/sf	41	127
May 21	184	$475/sf	40	135
May 28	188	$473/sf	40	139
Jun 4	189	$469/sf	43	148
Jun 11	199	$469/sf	45	142
Jun 18	193	$465/sf	44	143
Jun 25	211	$476/sf	39	141
Jul 2	206	$483/sf	41	142
Jul 9	201	$483/sf	45	146
Jul 16	200	$502/sf	44	145

The $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 Market:

Date	NSDCC Active Listings	Avg. LP/sf	Avg. DOM	# of Pendings
Jan 1	84	$612/sf	86	40
Jan 8	98	$612/sf	73	42
Jan 15	98	$607/sf	73	42
Jan 22	111	$589/sf	63	42
Jan 29	120	$577/sf	61	45
Feb 5	114	$586/sf	56	51
Feb 12	118	$566/sf	52	57
Feb 19	121	$596/sf	53	64
Feb 26	122	$596/sf	53	64
Mar 5	125	$593/sf	56	70
Mar 12	131	$602/sf	53	67
Mar 19	120	$598/sf	58	74
Mar 26	121	$596/sf	57	75
Apr 2	128	$593/sf	55	70
Apr 9	140	$612/sf	54	66
Apr 16	146	$617/sf	50	67
Apr 23	149	$616/sf	53	78
Apr 30	152	$605/sf	60	81
May 7	157	$618/sf	63	85
May 14	158	$614/sf	63	87
May 21	154	$637/sf	54	82
May 28	146	$633/sf	58	80
Jun 4	149	$614/sf	54	76
Jun 11	158	$615/sf	50	83
Jun 18	164	$606/sf	53	77
Jun 25	160	$606/sf	56	73
Jul 2	160	$607/sf	56	69
Jul 9	160	$590/sf	63	65
Jul 16	160	$591/sf	63	66

The $2,000,000+ Market:

Date	NSDCC Active Listings	Avg. LP/sf	Avg. DOM	# of Pendings
Jan 1	341	$1,021/sf	127	56
Jan 8	356	$1,007/sf	123	49
Jan 15	370	$991/sf	115	48
Jan 22	375	$992/sf	110	47
Jan 29	384	$1,005/sf	109	56
Feb 5	387	$1,005/sf	111	56
Feb 12	379	$1,004/sf	107	63
Feb 19	399	$990/sf	104	69
Feb 26	400	$990/sf	101	75
Mar 5	398	$1,022/sf	97	79
Mar 12	406	$1,017/sf	99	89
Mar 19	430	$1,020/sf	97	79
Mar 26	455	$0/sf	92	71
Apr 2	453	$0/sf	94	67
Apr 9	462	$0/sf	94	66
Apr 16	473	$0/sf	95	66
Apr 23	482	$0/sf	95	70
Apr 30	476	$0/sf	94	74
May 7	486	$0/sf	92	72
May 14	493	$0/sf	91	84
May 21	510	$0/sf	92	79
May 28	504	$0/sf	95	90
Jun 4	488	$0/sf	94	102
Jun 11	502	$0/sf	95	99
Jun 18	524	$0/sf	93	91
Jun 25	525	$0/sf	92	78
Jul 2	516	$0/sf	94	78
Jul 9	519	$0/sf	96	73
Jul 16	521	$0/sf	98	80

Weekly NSDCC New Listings and New Pendings

Week	New Listings	New Pendings	Total Pendings
Jan 1, 2018	18	15
Jan 8	89	31
Jan 15	87	43
Jan 22	87	43
Jan 29	81	48	244
Feb 5	77	53	262
Feb 12	74	53	280
Feb 19	89	55	295
Feb 26	87	57	318
Mar 5	84	62	328
Mar 12	107	61	339
Mar 19	88	59	350
Mar 26	99	55	347
Apr 2	87	66	346
Apr 9	106	58	336
Apr 16	98	54	331
Apr 23	108	67	353
Apr 30	98	70	362
May 7	138	68	355
May 14	99	78	386
May 21	115	63	369
May 28	92	84	387
Jun 4	91	77	410
Jun 11	100	56	401
Jun 18	103	54	376
Jun 25	105	54	358
Jul 2	83	78	361
Jul 9	74	50	342
Jul 16	109	83	361