Monthly Archives: January 2013

December Housing Scorecard

From HousingWire: Obama Administration: Housing prices up, inventory down Home prices showed strong annual gains for the 12 months ending October 2012, the Obama Administration said in its December Housing Scorecard report. “As the December housing scorecard indicates, our housing … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 106 Comments

Buyer must feed squirrels

From the WSJ: Can I Buy Your House, Pretty Please? Rob and Julia Israch won a fierce bidding war for a three-bedroom townhouse in Mountain View, Calif., late last year even though their $750,000 offer—while $92,000 above the asking price—was … Continue reading

Posted in Humor | 67 Comments

Are Free-and-Clear Owners and Cash Buyers driving the Market?

From CNBC: Homeowners With No Mortgage Offer Clues to Recovery As federal regulators and banks argue over whether new lending standards will make mortgage credit too tight or too expensive, one important fact about the housing market goes largely overlooked: … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 141 Comments

North Jersey Contracts – December 2012

(Source GSMLS, except Bergen which is based off NJMLS) December Pending Home Sales (Contracts) ——————————- Bergen County December 2011 – 489 December 2012 – 516 (Up 5.5% YOY) Essex County December 2011 – 230 December 2012 – 267 (Up 16.1% … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate, North Jersey Real Estate | 123 Comments

Conservative appraisals holding back housing recovery?

From The Street: Your Move When Appraisals Lag Home Price Recovery Like many young things, the housing recovery is suffering some growing pains, as appraisals lag rising prices and make it difficult for borrowers to get loans. The problem, mortgage-data … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Recovery | 141 Comments

Bubble 2.0? Not likely

From HousingWire: Clear Capital: Price recovery in most housing markets will slow down Despite beginning the year with market lows, most home prices gained momentum toward the end up 2012, finishing the year at 4.9% year-over-year price gains. Some markets, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 99 Comments

2013 – “Breakout” year, or much of the same?

From the Record: Housing 2013: The recovery is here, but it’s slow After a long, deep slump, the real estate market is expected to grow stronger in 2013 as rock-bottom mortgage rates and a slowly reviving job market boost demand … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 97 Comments

Fitch: Housing Overvalued

From CNBC: Home Price Gains May Slow in 2013 Home prices are now rising at their fastest pace since 2005. Housing bulls are running again, pointing to rising construction starts, rising home sales and falling mortgage delinquencies. Fears over the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery | 58 Comments

400 square feet is the new 4000

From HousingWire: Generation Y values amenities over square footage Generation Y, those of us between the ages of 20 to 34, are playing a large role in the multifamily market and reshaping how it will look moving forward. “Clearly Gen-Y … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, New Development | 94 Comments

Shadow shrinks, but still large enough to loom over Jersey

From HousingWire: Shadow inventory contracts as investors snap up foreclosures Current residential shadow inventory continued to fall from peak levels, CoreLogic said in a third quarter report. Shadow inventory shrank to 2.3 million units in October, which represents a supply … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Mortgages | 96 Comments