Category Archives: Economics

New Jersey Home Price Tracker – August 2010

Posted on August 31, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 161 Comments

The New Jersey Home Price Index Tracker has been updated to include: * June S&P Case Shiller (Aggregate, Tiered, Condo) * Q2 FHFA Home Price Index (HPI, Purchase Only) * Q2 NJAR Home Price Index (Statewide Median) (click to enlarge) … Continue reading →

Case Shiller Day!

Posted on August 31, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 132 Comments

From Reuters: US home prices to eke out small June gain U.S. home prices likely eked out a small gain in June, but a rise would represent the final tail-winds of the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April rather … Continue reading →

“The problem is that every house on their block is for sale, too.”

Posted on August 30, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Shore Real Estate | 47 Comments

From the NY Post (Hat tip Dan): Town is down on its luxe In this economy, it’s not uncommon for whole neighborhoods to be on the market. But Rumson, NJ, a leafy bedroom community of 7,200 residents, nonetheless stands out: … Continue reading →

“The housing market should improve but it probably won’t.”

Posted on August 30, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 110 Comments

From Time: Housing Market: What’s Ahead? Are housing prices near a bottom? It’s not just policymakers, realtors and bankers who yearn for the turn. Anyone who owns a house, a condo or coop is surely wishing for some modest improvement. … Continue reading →

There are no American soldiers in Baghdad

Posted on August 29, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 79 Comments

From the NY Times (Hat tip Cindy): Widespread Fear Freezes Housing Market You have to wonder sometimes what they’re smoking over there at the National Association of Realtors. On Tuesday, the self-proclaimed “voice for real estate” released its “existing home … Continue reading →

Home price outlook not rosy

Posted on August 26, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 185 Comments

From MacroMarkets: Home Price Expectations Continue to Dim “For the third consecutive month, the consensus from the experts indicates weakened overall confidence in the U.S. housing recovery, with only 21% of our panelists now predicting positive growth in prices nation-wide … Continue reading →

July contracts continue downward trend for NJ

Posted on August 25, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 159 Comments

Jeffery Otteau reports contracts signed, not closed sales. This is a more timely indicator of market activity, since closed sales represent purchase activity from approximately 2 months prior. Contracts is also a forward looking predictor of closed sales over the … Continue reading →

Northern NJ – July Home Sales

Posted on August 24, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 177 Comments

With July Existing Home Sales widely expected to disappoint at 10am this morning, I thought I’d share with you all the equally gloomy Northern NJ data. The local July declines are significantly worse (at least 2-3x) than the consensus estimate … Continue reading →

Housing transitions from cash cow to dog

Posted on August 23, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 112 Comments

From the NYT: Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth, Analysts Say Housing will eventually recover from its great swoon. But many real estate experts now believe that home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in … Continue reading →

NJ unemployment rises in July

Posted on August 18, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 46 Comments

From Bloomberg: New Jersey’s Unemployment Rate Increases for the First Time Since December New Jersey’s unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in July, the first monthly increase since December as municipalities cut payrolls to balance budgets. Employers shed 21,200 positions … Continue reading →

Altos: NY Metro July Prices Down, Inventory Up

Posted on August 17, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 55 Comments

(grim’s note: While the Altos numbers are a welcome addition, realize that they are month over month numbers, which tend to exhibit strong seasonality with regards to price and inventory. These numbers are hard to use (and potentially confusing/misleading) without … Continue reading →

6.67% of mortgage holders late in Q2

Posted on August 17, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 95 Comments

From Forbes: Late mortgage payments spike in 2Q vs year ago The rate at which U.S. homeowners fell behind on their mortgage payments remained stubbornly elevated in the second quarter. In the three months ended June 30, the number of … Continue reading →

Fannie reform unlikely as housing dips again

Posted on August 16, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 115 Comments

From the WSJ: Housing Ills Cloud Debate on Fannie All year long, the Obama administration has defended its decision to postpone the debate over the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by arguing that it first needed to put … Continue reading →

Prices still falling in Morris

Posted on August 15, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 64 Comments

(grim’s note: Yes, the rate of decline may have slowed in from January to June, but that is largely due to the market being goosed by external subsidy, which no longer exists. Look for the rate of decline to accelerate … Continue reading →

600,000 REO homes and rising

Posted on August 12, 2010 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 160 Comments

From CNBC: Foreclosure Math: Shadow Inventory Adds Up It’s the real key to the housing recovery. If we know exactly how much shadow inventory of foreclosed properties will come to market, and we know the general demand, then we can … Continue reading →