Monthly Archives: February 2008

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on February 29, 2008 by grim
Posted in General | 295 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 →

New Jersey according to Wells Fargo

Posted on February 28, 2008 by grim
Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 26 Comments

From Wells Fargo: At Risk Markets Policy, List, and Message Changes At Risk Markets Policy Changes The following changes to the At Risk Markets policy will be effective for loans registered on or after Feb. 29, 2008: • Non-conforming − … Continue reading →

NJ 2007 job growth revised sharply downward

Posted on February 28, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 378 Comments

From the Times Trenton: Revised job figures reveal picture isn’t so pretty in Jersey New Jersey’s economy isn’t as healthy as state economic officials thought as recently as a few weeks ago. Last month, 9,500 jobs were lost, and revised … Continue reading →

No Taxpayer Dollars

Posted on February 28, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 4 Comments

From the WSJ: Paulson Dismisses Mortgage Rescue Plans Bernanke Keeps Door Open to Rate Cuts To Boost Economy By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS and GREG IP February 28, 2008; Page A1 The Bush administration is hardening its opposition to the chorus … Continue reading →

Much further to go…

Posted on February 27, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 366 Comments

From the Wall Street Journal: Decline in Home Prices Accelerates The decline in U.S. home prices accelerated in the fourth quarter, according to two leading barometers, compounding two of the biggest threats facing the nation’s economy: faltering consumer spending and … Continue reading →

“Wherever you look, things look bleak.”

Posted on February 26, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 23 Comments

From the Associated Press: Reports Reflect Bleak Housing Picture House prices may still have a long way to fall. Across much of the nation, home values are dropping — even those backed by solid mortgages — and banks are repossessing … Continue reading →

Existing Home Sales at 9 Year Low

Posted on February 26, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 353 Comments

From the AP: Existing Home Sales Decline Sales of existing homes fell for the sixth straight month in January, dropping to the slowest sales pace on record. Median home prices were also down and many analysts predicted further price declines … Continue reading →

A “challenged housing market that has yet to bottom out”

Posted on February 25, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 53 Comments

From the Otteau Group: HOME SALES POST WEAK JANUARY The pace of New Jersey home sales sank to a 4 year low in January raising serious questions about what’s ahead for the Spring housing market. Adding to the uncertainty are … Continue reading →

Recession calls grow louder

Posted on February 25, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 226 Comments

From Bloomberg: Recession in U.S. More Likely in 2008, Economists’ Survey Finds The proportion of economists who forecast a U.S. recession this year more than doubled in three months, to 45 percent, according to a survey by the National Association … Continue reading →

Playing the waiting game

Posted on February 25, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 8 Comments

From Bloomberg: Homebuyer Patience Triumphs in a Waiting Game: John F. Wasik With no bottom in sight for the U.S. housing market, buyers are in game-show mode. There are plenty of deals out there, yet you have to make some … Continue reading →

Live and learn

Posted on February 25, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, General, National Real Estate | Comments Off

From BusinessWeek: The Post-Bubble Curriculum Educators call them “teachable moments,” and whether the students are in third grade or grad school the idea is the same—to draw lessons from real-world events. The subprime mortgage meltdown and the ongoing shocks to … Continue reading →

Weekend Open Discussion – Part II

Posted on February 22, 2008 by grim
Posted in General | 304 Comments

Now Open, Part II! Prior weekend thread closed due to comment overflow.

Relisting = Cheating

Posted on February 22, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 13 Comments

From CNBC: Re-listing: I Think It’s Cheating–What Do You Think? There’s been a lot of talk in the blogosphere lately about the phenomenon of “re-listing”, and so it behooves me to weigh in. “Re-listing” is when an agent takes a … Continue reading →

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on February 22, 2008 by grim
Posted in General | 318 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 →

Relisting – “It’s Got to Stop”

Posted on February 20, 2008 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate | 441 Comments

The morning after: I find myself in a familiar position. My inbox is filled with a mix of hate mail from Realtors and love(?) mail from consumers. Realtors all seem to think this practice is perfectly acceptable, some go so … Continue reading →