Category Archives: Economics

FHFA: Home prices up in March

Posted on May 24, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 152 Comments

From Bloomberg: Home Prices Rose Most in Two Decades in March, FHFA Says U.S. home prices jumped 1.8 percent in March, the biggest monthly increase in at least two decades, as the housing recovery builds momentum, the Federal Housing Finance … Continue reading →

April home sales make positive gains (but ignore the price data)

Posted on May 22, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 117 Comments

From Bloomberg: Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Rise as Market Stabilizes Sales of existing U.S. homes rose in April, driven by broad-based gains in demand that signal the market is stabilizing. Purchases, tabulated when a contract closes, increased 3.4 … Continue reading →

April sees both jobs and unemployment grow

Posted on May 17, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 134 Comments

From the Record: NJ added 2,600 jobs in April New Jersey added 2,600 jobs in April, a slight rebound from the March’s job losses, but unemployment remained high. The state added 6,300 private sector jobs, and lost 3,700 government jobs, … Continue reading →

NJ moves closer to the top … 8.4% of mortgages in foreclosure

Posted on May 17, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate | 151 Comments

From the Asbury Park Press: N.J. foreclosure inventoryspikes; 2nd most in nation New Jersey’s percentage of home mortgage loans in foreclosure continues to rise, even as rates nationally have fallen to the lowest level since 2008, a report released Wednesday … Continue reading →

Tax cuts (income or property) not looking likely as NJ revenue misses

Posted on May 16, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 144 Comments

From Bloomberg: Tax-Cut Pledge May Trap Christie as N.J. Revenue Misses Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who has spent the past four months promising New Jersey income- tax cuts, now confronts the challenge of selling his plan’s feasibility against a … Continue reading →

April Revenue #’s Gone Missing

Posted on May 15, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 112 Comments

From the Star Ledger: N.J. Treasury delays release of April revenue figures without explanation A joint news conference between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney wasn’t the only thing that didn’t go off as scheduled today in Trenton. … Continue reading →

Waiting for Godot the Bulldozer

Posted on May 14, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate | 125 Comments

From the Record: North Jersey foreclosures haunt neighbors Maywood homeowner Joe Leichtnam spent some time recently trimming the shrubs, mowing the lawn and fixing the siding. Not at his house; at the empty house next door. It’s a small effort … Continue reading →

Come to NJ – Get Rich!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 163 Comments

From the NYT: Memo to Would-Be Members of the 1%: Move to the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic Reaching for the American dream? Your best chances are probably in New York, New Jersey or Maryland. Those states are best at helping Americans … Continue reading →

North Jersey Contracts – April 2012

Posted on May 7, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery | 294 Comments

(Source GSMLS, except Bergen which is NJMLS) Pending Home Sales (Contracts) ——————————- Bergen County April 2011 – 669 April 2012 – 813 (Up 21.5% YOY) Essex County April 2011 – 324 April 2012 – 402 (Up 24.1% YOY) Hunterdon County … Continue reading →

The water is nice, but don’t turn your back on the waves

Posted on May 5, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Shore Real Estate | 29 Comments

From the NYT: Partly Sunny at the Shore JOEL NAROFF, an economist who last year won a prize from the National Association for Business Economics as the country’s most accurate forecaster, found his prediction skills wanting four years ago when … Continue reading →

National asking prices continue to rise (not so much here)

Posted on May 3, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery | 147 Comments

From the WSJ: Report: Asking Prices Bode Well for Spring Sales A report out Thursday says that strengthening asking prices for homes point to higher sales prices as early as June, which would be a welcome turn for the beleaguered … Continue reading →

Do renters really want to be owners?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics | 237 Comments

Or is Pulte just pushing a load of crap? From the WSJ: Renters Really Prefer Owning, Builder Survey Says. A survey from PulteGroup — one of the nation’s largest home builders — has found a surprising result: Many renters want … Continue reading →

Where the wealth is

Posted on May 1, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 73 Comments

From CNBC: America’s 10 Richest Counties 10. Westchester County, N.Y. Average income: $128,127 … 9. Morris County, N.J. Average income: $128,371 Morris County, located about 25 miles from New York City, is another county within easy commuting distance to Manhattan. … Continue reading →

The fear is gone?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 136 Comments

From the WSJ: Housing Ends Slide but Faces a Long Bottom Nearly six years after home prices started falling, more U.S. housing markets appear to be nearing a new phase: a prolonged bottom. Hitting a bottom, of course, isn’t the … Continue reading →

Otteau: Big jump for March contracts

Posted on April 28, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 76 Comments

From Otteau: NJ Home Sales Up 25% YTD (Click for graph) Home sales continued to surge in March as combined purchase-contracts for resales and new homes rose by 20% in March. YTD sales are now running 25% ahead of 2011 … Continue reading →