Monthly Archives: January 2010

Things looking up in 2010? Or just not getting any worse?

Posted on January 31, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 144 Comments

From the Daily Record: FORECAST 2010: Is real estate turning the corner? Real estate professionals around Morris County agree: If the next 11 months are anything like the last few months, 2010 could be a pretty good year. Overall, 2009 … Continue reading →

Party Like It’s 1945, FHA Drops The Hammer, Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on January 30, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 190 Comments

From the Star Ledger: N.J. home sales may be adversely affected by FHA guidelines Measures intended to protect government-backed loans from widespread defaults and foreclosures could have an adverse effect on the state’s housing sales, according to industry experts. Earlier … Continue reading →

Mortgage Mods: Treasury Wants Proof up Front

Posted on January 29, 2010 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 472 Comments

From HousingWire: Treasury Changes Guidelines for Getting Borrowers into HAMP The U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) changed guidelines on how servicers introduce borrowers into the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to go into … Continue reading →

Mixed picture for December new home sales

Posted on January 28, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 302 Comments

From the WSJ: December Chilled New-Home Sales Demand for new homes in December fell, as cold weather and continuing joblessness put a chill on hopes for a housing-market recovery. Single-family home sales fell 7.6% from November to a seasonally adjusted … Continue reading →

NJ Home Price Tracker – January 2010

Posted on January 26, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 403 Comments

The New Jersey Home Price Index Tracker has been updated to include: * November S&P Case Shiller (Aggregate, Tiered, Condo) (click to enlarge) (click to enlarge) FHFA (Formerly known as the OFHEO) Home Price Index HPI (Includes Refis) – Peaked … Continue reading →

December Existing Home Sales Slump

Posted on January 26, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 323 Comments

From the Courier Post: Home sales drop beyond expectation Sales of existing homes, plumped up by government incentives in November, melted 16.7 percent in December, the largest month-to-month drop in 40 years. The steep decline, reported Monday by the National … Continue reading →

Defining Deal Collapses, Tischman/Blackrock Walk Away

Posted on January 25, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 337 Comments

From the WSJ: Tishman Venture Abandons Stuyvesant A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties has decided to give up the sprawling Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex in Manhattan to its creditors in the collapse of one of … Continue reading →

NJ Commercial Snapshot

Posted on January 24, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 99 Comments

From the APP: More offices, shopping centers delinquent on loans The Whiting Town Center is a sprawling complex on Lacey Road in Manchester whose tenants include restaurants, doctor’s offices and a Super Foodtown that serves as an anchor. There are … Continue reading →

Prices Fall in Bergen, Passaic

Posted on January 22, 2010 by grim
Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 343 Comments

From the Record: Home prices fell 13% in Bergen and Passaic in 2009 Prices of single-family homes fell by an average 13 percent in Bergen and Passaic counties in 2009, according to data from two multiple listing services. The average … Continue reading →

Foreclosure Filings Jump in Jersey

Posted on January 21, 2010 by grim
Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 313 Comments

From the Star Ledger: N.J. sees 29 percent, year-end jump in residential foreclosure filings As the real estate market struggles to gain its footing back, the state’s number of residential foreclosure fillings jumped 29 percent at year’s end from 2008, … Continue reading →

NJ Unemployment Hits 33 Year High

Posted on January 20, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 111 Comments

From the Record: NJ unemployment rate hits highest mark in nearly 33 years In a blow to hopes of a quick recovery, New Jersey lost 2,300 jobs in December and unemployment rose to 10.1 percent – the highest level in … Continue reading →

FHA to tighten lending standards. As FHA goes, so goes the market.

Posted on January 20, 2010 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 270 Comments

From the WSJ: FHA to Lift Mortgage Insurance Fees The Federal Housing Administration will announce more-stringent lending requirements and higher borrower fees on Wednesday to cushion against rising defaults and stave off the need for a taxpayer bailout of the … Continue reading →

Corzine Approves Buyer Rebates

Posted on January 19, 2010 by grim
Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 360 Comments

From the Star Ledger: Corzine passes real estate legislation Two days before Gov. Jon S. Corzine was due to leave office he signed two pieces of real estate related legislation into law, according to a release. The state’s housing crisis … Continue reading →

Mortgage Modification Program A Failure

Posted on January 18, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, Politics, Risky Lending | 169 Comments

From Bloomberg: Loan Modification Recipients Fall Short, Drop Out About 25 percent of homeowners who received trial loan modifications through President Barack Obama’s main foreclosure prevention plan are failing to keep up with their new reduced payments, the Treasury Department … Continue reading →

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on January 15, 2010 by grim
Posted in General | 231 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 →