Monthly Archives: April 2006

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 them up, let’s have them. … Continue reading →

From the Daily Record: Poll: Homeowners can’t afford new home in own town Donna Mackey bought her four-bedroom house in Butler 20 years ago for about $120,000. She estimates it’s worth about $325,000 now, but that sum couldn’t get her … Continue reading →

Welcome to another edition of Price Reduced! For all the newcomers to this blog, Price Reduced! takes a look at a handful of significant price reductions across Northern NJ. The purpose of this exercise is to serve as proof that … Continue reading →

Something a bit on the positive side to start the weekend. From the NY Times: Is It a Miracle, or Just Reality? THE Turner family, who left town on a much-needed vacation a week ago, is about to get a … Continue reading →

I just want to thank Record/Herald journalist Prashant Gopal for being one of the few North Jersey journalists to cover the real estate market in a fair and balanced manner. Hats off to Mr. Gopal for his effort. From the … Continue reading →

From the Record/Herald, by Prashant Gopal: Build with caution It’s a time of transition for New Jersey home builders. The real estate market appears to be cooling from the peak levels of 2004 and 2005, as cautious buyers are less … Continue reading →

From Inman: Cendant may consider other options if spin-off plans fizzle Company expects real estate business to be flat in ’06 If Cendant Corp. plans for spinning off its massive real estate franchise and company-owned brokerage business as a separate … Continue reading →

From the AP: Jobless claims rise by most in 6 weeks The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since early March, the government reported Thursday. The Labor Department said that 315,000 newly … Continue reading →

From the Wall Street Journal (courtesy of the Post Gazette): Housing strength shifts to new markets A look at inventories of unsold homes, prices and employment trends points to generally positive signs in Houston, Dallas and Atlanta — cities that … Continue reading →

From the AP & Bankrate: Weekly Home Mortgage Rates Average mortgage rates for single-family homes in the 10 largest metropolitan areas as of Apr. 26 as compiled by bankrate.com. The rates are for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages for 80 percent of … Continue reading →

GSMLS Single Family Homes, Condo, Coop (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, Warren Counties) 4/19 – 15,126 4/26 – 15,648 (3.5% Weekly Increase) NJMLS Single Family Homes, Condo, Coop (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic Counties) 4/19 – 7,429 4/26 … Continue reading →

From CNN Money: New home sales soar With rising mortgage rates driving up the cost of financing home purchases, most economists have been looking for the real estate market to cool off in 2006 after several years of record sales. … Continue reading →

Census released the New Residential Sales data for March 2006. The report can be found here: NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MARCH 2006 Sales of new one-family houses in March 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,213,000, according … Continue reading →

From Reuters: U.S. mortgage applications decrease last week-MBA U.S. mortgage applications fell for a third consecutive week, with demand for home purchase loans falling to its lowest since November 2003 despite a drop in interest rates, an industry trade group … Continue reading →

From RealtyTimes: Foreclosure Numbers at New Highs: Are Toxic Loans To Blame? You have to wonder: Are we seeing more foreclosures than last year as toxic mortgages mature? These are “nontraditional loans,” a sterile description for mortgages with ridiculously low … Continue reading →