Monthly Archives: January 2006

Bloomberg Budgets For Housing Market Crash

Bloomberg presented his preliminary budget earlier today. While there certainly was coverage in the local and nationwide press, one small bit seems to have been overlooked. Thanks to the readers that brought this piece of information to our attention. It … Continue reading

Posted in General | 44 Comments

A Quarter Point For The Road

With a wave of his hand and a quarter point increase, Greenspan leaves the helm of the fed. I’m not going to bother with the linguistic puzzle games everyone else is playing. Fed Ups Key Rate As Greenspan Retires Fed … Continue reading

Posted in General | 14 Comments

Warren Boroson – Profile Of A Real Estate Cheerleader (Continued)

Readers will immediately recognize the name of real estate shill, Warren Boroson.. If not, please read this older post: Warren Boroson Background Warren blessed us with another real estate gem this past week: Morris’ housing market ‘vibrant;’ prices up 13.5% … Continue reading

Posted in General | 21 Comments

Negative Savings Rate Continues

Nine months of zero to negative savings certainly makes a trend. U.S. Dec. Personal Spending Rises 0.9%; Incomes Increase 0.4% U.S. personal spending increased more than expected in December as incomes grew, a government report showed, suggesting a pickup in … Continue reading

Posted in General | 27 Comments

A Disconcerting Trend – Real Estate Statistics

I came across this piece on Ben’s blog this morning. I’m positing it here because I feel it is rather significant. If you’ve studied any economics you know the theory behind a perfectly competitive markets. If you don’t, the model … Continue reading

Posted in General | 55 Comments

Sunday Morning In New Jersey

A simple idea becomes huge Highlands task It started as a relatively simple premise. The state’s Highlands Act was designed to save green spaces, protect North Jersey’s water supply and natural habitats, and stop construction crews from developing the remaining … Continue reading

Posted in General | 8 Comments

Income Gap Widens In New Jersey

Rich man, poor man: Report shows gap growing in NJ The income gap between New Jersey’s richest and poorest residents widened dramatically over the last two decades, according to a report that also shows the top 5 percent in the … Continue reading

Posted in General | 29 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Open Discussion for this weekend. Observations about your local areas, comments on news stories or the New Jersey housing bubble, Open House reports, etc. If you have any questions you wanted to ask earlier in the week but never posted … Continue reading

Posted in General | 29 Comments

The Housing Bubble Week In Review

Ameriquest Agrees to $325M Settlement The investigation found that salespeople at Ameriquest had concealed interest-rate and loan costs during the loan process, pressured appraisers to inflate the values of borrowers’ homes, and engaged in other high-pressure tactics to close deals, … Continue reading

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December New Home Sales

From Reuters: Dec new home sales climb; record sales in 2005 Sales of new U.S. homes expectedly rose 2.9 percent in December as mortgage rates dipped, but home prices fell for a third month and the number of houses on … Continue reading

Posted in General | 47 Comments

Corzine and Taxes – Perfect Together

New Jersey voters fell hook, line, and sinker for Corzine’s promises of lower property taxes. Are more taxes in N.J.’s future? Budget fixes: spending cuts, tax increases Corzine urged to hike taxes Aides to Governor Corzine are recommending a range … Continue reading

Posted in General | 24 Comments

Housing costs are major burden for Long Islanders

Poll: Housing costs are major burden for Long Islanders A majority of Long Island residents say they have trouble making monthly rent or mortgage payments and may move to an area with lower housing costs and property taxes, according to … Continue reading

Posted in General | 36 Comments

NAR Predictions Worthless

From the NY Times Walk-thru blog: How Good are the Realtors’ Predictions? Hats off to writer Damon Darlin for taking the time to compile the NAR estimates released over the past few years. Here is some of the article: What … Continue reading

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Northern NJ Weekly Residential Inventory Update

Northern New Jersey Residential Inventory (SFH, Condo, Coop) GSMLS Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties 1/18 – 11696 1/25 – 11931 (2% Increase, 8.3% since January 1st) NJMLS Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Passaic Counties 1/18 … Continue reading

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Existing Home Sales Fall 5.7% In December

From Bloomberg: U.S. December Existing Home Sales Fell 5.7% to 6.60 Mln Rate Sales of previously owned homes fell in December for a third straight month, evidence that housing demand was starting to falter at the end of a record … Continue reading

Posted in General | 10 Comments