Monthly Archives: January 2007

Can we afford to lower taxes on low-income residents?

Posted on January 17, 2007 by grim

From the Home News Tribune: Income tax adjustment needed for poor families New Jersey is by almost every measure one of the most expensive states in the nation in which to live. That dynamic is especially crippling for the Garden … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | Comments Off on Can we afford to lower taxes on low-income residents?

Too early to sound the all-clear on housing

Posted on January 16, 2007 by grim

From the Financial Times: Data point to uncertainty in US housing Policymakers and bond market investors alike appear more confident about the resilience of the broad US economy in 2007, with its still-thriving service sector, strong jobs market and improving … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 141 Comments

2007 Housing Wire Real Estate Blogging Winners

Posted on January 16, 2007 by grim

Congratulations go out to the winners of the first annual Housing Wire Real Estate Blogging Awards! I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to vote for this site. While we didn’t win, we did take a very … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 34 Comments

Has housing “permanently become a risk-charged, high-flying investment”

Posted on January 15, 2007 by grim

The following comment was posted by NJREReport regular, Clotpoll, late last night during the Weekend Open Discussion. I think it deserves a deeper look and didn’t want it to go unnoticed, so I’m going to make it the topic du … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 150 Comments

Lack of affordability impacting NJ competitiveness

Posted on January 15, 2007 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer: Crushing effect of property taxes Imagine New Jersey as Michigan. Jobs vanishing. Wages languishing. Newspapers wailing (“The Michigan economy appears to be in dire straits,” Detroit Free Press). All because of property taxes. Well, this last … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 3 Comments

No more easy money

Posted on January 15, 2007 by grim

From the Asbury Park Press: Fallout It’s not easy being a real estate agent anymore. In the heady days of the market in 2004 and 2005, houses were selling like hot cakes as prices rocketed up. That’s no longer the … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate | 6 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on January 14, 2007 by grim

This is the time and place to post 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 471 Comments

NJ “average condo prices have dropped at least 5 percent from their peaks”

Posted on January 14, 2007 by grim

From the Record: In this down market, it pays to ask for less When Luv Tulsidas and Bijal Desai put their Hackensack condo on the market last spring, they priced it at the top of the range suggested by their … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate | 12 Comments

Understanding Toxic Loans

Posted on January 14, 2007 by grim

From the Washington Post: Mortgage-Trapped At 64, and looking toward his retirement next year, Willie Lee Howard agreed to refinance his duplex in Northeast Washington, thinking that a fixed-rate loan would help stabilize his finances. What Howard got instead was … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 3 Comments

$9.25 Minimum Wage in NJ?

Posted on January 14, 2007 by grim

From the Home News Tribune: Wage hike raises hope Perth Amboy resident Brooke Pantelup says the hourly wage she makes at Old Navy isn’t enough to cover her expenses — and she lives with her parents. Pantelup, 25, makes about … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | 1 Comment

Penn. passes Nontraditional Mortgage Guidance

Posted on January 13, 2007 by grim

From the Pocono Record: Guidelines put mortgage lenders, brokers on notice guidelines Pennsylvania’s 3,000 mortgage lenders and brokers are being put on formal notice of new state Banking Department guidelines for “acceptable” conduct. Acting Banking Secretary Victoria A. Reider outlined … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 2 Comments

How can we cut taxes?

Posted on January 13, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg via the APP: Gov: State faces $2B shortfall Gov. Corzine said a plan to give homeowners a 20 percent reduction in their property-tax bills would lead to an increase in the state’s budget deficit and force cuts in … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Property Taxes | 7 Comments

Could it happen?

Posted on January 12, 2007 by grim

From Globe and Mail (Canada): U.S. housing bubble has the potential to blow up real good I don’t subscribe to the theory that because of a couple of benign recent U.S. housing statistics, there’s going to be the fabled “soft … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, General, Housing Bubble | Comments Off on Could it happen?

“Agents are pulling houses off the market and then presenting them as new offerings”

Posted on January 12, 2007 by grim

From BusinessWeek: New Listing! (Sort Of) Real estate agent Ross Simone wasn’t attracting any potential buyers for a house in Mechanicsville, Md., that had sat on the market for months, so last November he took action. He pulled the house … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate | 14 Comments

Corzine hits the road

Posted on January 12, 2007 by grim

From the Times Trenton: Corzine rolls out tax roadshow Just two days after outlining the state’s harsh fiscal realities during his State of the State address, Gov. Jon Corzine took his vision for property tax reform on the road. Corzine … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Property Taxes | 12 Comments