Monthly Archives: June 2012

Friday Open Discussion and Legal Review

From Bloomberg: Eminent Domain Is Bad Ploy for Underwater Mortgages Officials in San Bernardino County, California, believe they have figured out a clever way to solve the county’s, and possibly the nation’s, housing problems. Detailed by a Cornell University professor, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, Politics | 204 Comments

Spring strength continues into May

From MarketWatch: Pending home sales surge 5.9% in May to 2-yr high Pending home sales climbed 5.9% in May to match a two-year high, a trade group said Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors said its pending-home-sales index rose to … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery | 236 Comments

NY Metro prices continue to show year over year losses

From the Record: Home prices down 3.8 percent in region Despite indications that the national real estate market may be stabilizing, the region’s home prices continue to slide, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index said Tuesday. Home values in the New … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 141 Comments

Case Shiller too laggy to be useful any more?

From Business Insider: Deutsche Bank Hammers Another Nail Into The Case-Shiller Coffin Tuesday morning, we get the April Case-Shiller home price index. Economists estimate that the 20-city index climbed 0.4 percent month-over-month. But prices are also expected be down by … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 132 Comments

NAHB: Fix housing or the kids get it

From HousingWire: NAHB: Housing slump linked to student debt The dramatic rise in student loan debt stems from the fact that parents of college-aged students are financially strapped and no longer able to help with tuition after losing thousands of … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble | 86 Comments

Best Spring Market in Years?

From the Record: Lower prices attract buyers, boosting spring market Tired of renting, Charles Carozza and his fiancée, Christina Trause, recently bought a Fair Lawn Cape Cod for $305,000 — well below the $400,000 they think the house would have … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 61 Comments

The ‘burbs ain’t dead yet

From the NYT: Old Neighborhood, New Life EMILY De NICOLO has lived in Manhattan for the last 14 years. But as she and her husband, Jay Della Monica, prepare for the arrival of their first child, in August, city life … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, General | 36 Comments

Home Sales Rise 13.6% in May

Why all the downers around existing home sales? Existing Home Sales, unadjusted, year over year, were up 13.6% in May nationally and up 16.7% in the Northeast. From Bloomberg: Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Fell in May to 4.55 Million … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 139 Comments

May Existing Home Sales

From Bloomberg: Sales of Previously Owned U.S. Homes Probably Declined in May Sales of previously owned U.S. homes probably fell in May, showing an uneven recovery in residential real estate, economists said a report may show today. Purchases dropped 1.1 … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 140 Comments

Zip Matters (But we already knew that)

I’d take this one step further and say that it isn’t location that matters, it is those incurable defects that impact the property that matter, location being one of those. The concept is easy, there are things you can fix, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 137 Comments

Tax cuts increases in our future

From the Star Ledger: A remarkable thing happened in Trenton last week: Democrats outmaneuvered Gov. Chris Christie for the first time ever, effectively killing his crazy plan to cut taxes. And then another remarkable thing happened: The most voluble and … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 179 Comments

That was quick

From HousingWire: Rancho Financial brings back stated-income mortgages Preparing for the return of the jumbo lending market and the days when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer mortgage finance behemoths, Rancho Financial is wading back into offering stated-income … Continue reading

Posted in Mortgages, Risky Lending | 77 Comments

Are homes affordable yet?

From the Huffington Post: Buying A House Costs As Much As It Did During 2007 Housing Boom, Study Says In spite of falling housing prices, it still is as unaffordable to buy a house as it was during the height … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 46 Comments

Shadows get a little brighter

From Bloomberg: Shrinking ‘Shadow Inventory’ Eases Threat to U.S. Housing The overhang of pending foreclosures that threatened to flood the U.S. housing market and depress prices is dissipating as banks sell off distressed properties and let borrowers sell homes for … Continue reading

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 180 Comments

Tax Showdown Approaches

From the Star Ledger: North Dakota’s no-property-tax dream is infectious As New Jersey homeowners fall asleep tonight, maybe they’ll dream of North Dakota. It’s possible that the folks in Fargo will wake up this morning as the first state to … Continue reading

Posted in Employment, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 118 Comments