Monthly Archives: February 2008

Middletown delays reval

Posted on February 14, 2008 by grim
Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 1 Comment

From the Asbury Park Press: Town misses deadline for revaluation MIDDLETOWN — A revaluation of tax assessments for properties in Monmouth County’s largest municipality will have to wait until next year. County officials are now probing why Middletown did not … Continue reading →

Bailouts of little help to borrowers

Posted on February 13, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 376 Comments

From the Wall Street Journal: Earlier Subprime Rescue Falters December Plan Has Done Little to Help Borrowers In Dire Circumstances By RUTH SIMON and TOM MCGINTY February 13, 2008; Page A3 As the Bush administration announced a fresh plan to … Continue reading →

Metro foreclosures up 78% in 2007

Posted on February 13, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 1 Comment

From Reuters: Urban home foreclosures surge in ’07: RealtyTrac Home foreclosure filings surged in the largest metropolitan areas in the United States during 2007, with cities in California, Ohio, Florida and Michigan reporting among the highest rates in the country, … Continue reading →

Psychology changing?

Posted on February 12, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 385 Comments

From UPI: Fear looms over housing slump The number of Americans who believe their houses will decline in value this year has almost doubled from April 2007, a Gallup Poll released Monday said. At the same time, the report says, … Continue reading →

Revelation: It’s not just subprime

Posted on February 12, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 1 Comment

From the New York Times: Mortgage Crisis Spreads Past Subprime Loans The credit crisis is no longer just a subprime mortgage problem. As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling … Continue reading →

Project Lifeline

Posted on February 12, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 6 Comments

From the Wall Street Journal: Lenders Step Up Effort to Avert Foreclosures By DAMIAN PALETTA and JAMES R. HAGERTY February 12, 2008; Page A3 Prodded by the Bush administration, six major mortgage lenders are due to announce today a stepped-up … Continue reading →

Subprime not the problem?

Posted on February 11, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 323 Comments

From the Washington Post: Don’t Blame Subprimes I am sick of everyone blaming the breakdown in the credit and housing markets on subprime loans. Subprime loans were certainly part of the problem, but they are a symptom of a deeper … Continue reading →

Credit crunch not contained

Posted on February 11, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics | 1 Comment

From the Wall Street Journal: New Hitches In Markets May Widen Credit Woes By LIZ RAPPAPORT, CARRICK MOLLENKAMP and KAREN RICHARDSON February 11, 2008; Page A1 A widening array of financial-market problems threatens to trigger a new phase in the … Continue reading →

Weekend Open Discussion – Part II

Posted on February 8, 2008 by grim
Posted in General | 251 Comments

————————————————————– Save the Date! We’ll be meeting up on Saturday, February 9th in Morristown NJ. 6pm Sharp! Grasshopper off the Green 41-43 Morris Street, Morristown NJ ————————————————————–

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on February 8, 2008 by grim
Posted in General | 383 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 →

Denial

Posted on February 8, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 4 Comments

From CNN/Money: What slump? Homeowners in denial Despite numerous reports showing home values in historic decline, more than three out of four homeowners believe their own home has not lost value in the past year, according to an online survey. … Continue reading →

Walk Away

Posted on February 8, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 1 Comment

From the Wall Street Journal: The Rise of the Mortgage ‘Walkers’ By NICOLE GELINAS February 8, 2008 Fitch Ratings, while telling investors last Friday to expect additional “widespread and significant downgrades” on $139 billion worth of subprime loans, has cited … Continue reading →

December Pending Home Sales

Posted on February 7, 2008 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 427 Comments

From MarketWatch: Pending home sales fall 1.5% in December Sales contracts on previously owned U.S. homes fell 1.5% in December, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, in a sign that home sales will continue to decline. The pending home … Continue reading →

Relisting experiences wanted

Posted on February 6, 2008 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate | 36 Comments

I talked to ABC News Nightline about a story on re-listing. They’re looking to speak with people ASAP in the Northern NJ and NYC Metro area who have had an experience buying a home relatively “new to the market”, which … Continue reading →

North Jersey January Residential Sales

Posted on February 6, 2008 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 237 Comments

Preliminary January sales and inventory data for Northern New Jersey is in. Please note that this data is subject to revision. The first graph plots the unadjusted sales data (closed sales) for the counties listed. Please note the lower bound … Continue reading →