Monthly Archives: April 2007

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on April 22, 2007 by grim
Posted in General | 287 Comments

This is the time and place to post observations about your local areas, comments on news stories or the New Jersey housing market, open house reports, etc. If you have any questions you wanted to ask earlier in the week … Continue reading →

“Too much cheap money”

Posted on April 22, 2007 by grim
Posted in Risky Lending | 1 Comment

From the Times Trenton: More owners facing foreclosure Two years ago, when the housing market was booming, William Soodul figured he would reduce his costs with a “creative mortgage.” He took out a $226,500 adjustable-rate mortgage on his A-frame home … Continue reading →

“As the real estate market goes, so goes the homebuilding market. “

Posted on April 21, 2007 by grim
Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 4 Comments

From the Courier Post Online: Homebuilders see end to slump in ’08 As the real estate market goes, so goes the homebuilding market. Since the former is mired in the doldrums, the latter is mired as well, said Patrick J. … Continue reading →

Making the loans work

Posted on April 21, 2007 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | Comments Off

From MarketWatch: The dubious value-add of appraisers The solicitation that Texas real-estate appraiser Jim Amorin fielded came with a quid pro quo. If he’d appraise a mixed-use Austin subdivision for $25 million, the mortgage broker promised to steer 15 more … Continue reading →

Appraisers under pressure

Posted on April 20, 2007 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate | 1 Comment

From the Baltimore Sun: Appraisers seek curbs on lender pressure Have inflated appraisals helped fuel the current surge in foreclosures by credit-strapped borrowers? Are they at the core of many mortgage fraud schemes? The four largest trade groups representing appraisers … Continue reading →

Mortgage market slowdown prompts job cuts

Posted on April 20, 2007 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | Comments Off

From the NY Times: 2 Subprime Lenders Announce Job Cuts; Call Centers Closed General Electric’s subprime lending unit, WMC Mortgage, closed three centers yesterday and cut 771 jobs — about half of its remaining staff — while the Residential Capital … Continue reading →

West Windsor transit village planned

Posted on April 20, 2007 by grim
Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | Comments Off

From the Trenton Times: Transit village design unveiled The possible future of the township was revealed last night by Hillier Architecture in a redevelopment design that would envelop the Princeton Junction train station with retail, residential and office buildings while … Continue reading →

Hoping for a bottom

Posted on April 19, 2007 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 134 Comments

From Reuters: Housing market bottom hoped for, not expected Investors hope the next round of results from U.S. home builders, starting on Thursday, will show that the slump in the housing market is abating, but realistically they expect no sign … Continue reading →

Steep slide for MEW

Posted on April 19, 2007 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 2 Comments

From Bloomberg: Housing Bust Meets the Equity-Withdrawal Blues: Gene Sperling While the subprime and exotic mortgage fallout has been grabbing recent housing headlines, another potential story for 2007 may be in the wings: as Americans withdraw less equity from their … Continue reading →

Piggyback or PMI?

Posted on April 19, 2007 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble | 4 Comments

From the Wall Street Journal: When It Makes Sense to Pay PMI My sister Melissa and her husband Joe have finally pulled the trigger and made an offer to buy a house, after years of struggling to find something affordable … Continue reading →

NJ Unemployment up in March

Posted on April 18, 2007 by grim
Posted in Economics | 8 Comments

From the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development: New Jersey Employment Gained 4,900 Jobs in March Unemployment Rate at 4.3 Percent for the Month New Jersey’s payroll employment expanded in March fueled by job growth in the private sector. … Continue reading →

Unwinding of the bubble will take time

Posted on April 18, 2007 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 47 Comments

From Mark Kiesel at Pimco: Still Renting (This one is worth the click) One question my friends and colleagues have asked me repeatedly over the past six months is: Are you still renting? Yes! I sold my house over a … Continue reading →

Bailing out borrowers

Posted on April 18, 2007 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 67 Comments

From Reuters: Subprime summit to propose steps to help borrowers A Washington summit on Wednesday on how to help troubled subprime mortgage borrowers will end with seven principles to aid borrowers, according to a document prepared for the meeting. Mortgage … Continue reading →

Luxury home prices slide

Posted on April 18, 2007 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate | 1 Comment

From Bloomberg: Luxury Home Prices Fall in New York’s Long Island Luxury home prices slid in New York’s Long Island and Queens in the first quarter as more property came onto the market and took longer to sell, appraiser Miller … Continue reading →

School board and budget results

Posted on April 18, 2007 by grim
Posted in Politics, Property Taxes | 8 Comments

From the Record: Budgets in the black Tuesday’s school elections produced some surprising results, from squeakers on budget approvals and veteran board members being voted out of office to a power outage that held up counting. Rochelle Park showed that … Continue reading →