Category Archives: Economics

Northeast pending home sales up 18.4% YOY in March

Posted on April 27, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 151 Comments

From Bloomberg: Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Increased 4.1% in March Signed contracts to buy U.S. homes rose more than forecast in March as low interest rates drew buyers back into the market. The index of pending home purchases … Continue reading →

Property taxes are too damn high!

Posted on April 26, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 110 Comments

From the Philly Inquirer: Realtors’ group poll: Property taxes irk N.J. residents If you want to rile a New Jersey resident, two words will do it: property taxes. Most state residents — 89 percent of the 800 registered voters surveyed … Continue reading →

February Home Prices

Posted on April 25, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 159 Comments

From Bloomberg: US home prices drop for 6th straight month Home prices dropped in February in most major U.S. cities for a sixth straight month, a sign that modest sales gains haven’t been enough to boost prices. The Standard & … Continue reading →

Is distressed the new normal?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 133 Comments

From CNBC: Short Sales Higher, Prices Lower Buyer traffic is strong, supply of homes for sale is low, and yet home prices continue to defy the usual formula, falling again in March. Prices usually rise as supply shrinks, but demand … Continue reading →

How North Jersey came to be

Posted on April 23, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Development, North Jersey Real Estate | 113 Comments

From the Record: Our growing ‘City of North Jersey’: How we got here and where we are going It’s not surprising that Englewood chose to name its high school for Dwight Morrow, a city resident who was a U.S. senator, … Continue reading →

How much higher can NYC rents go?

Posted on April 21, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, NYC | 90 Comments

From the NY Times: The City of Sky-High Rent GARY L. MALIN, the president of Citi Habitats, the city’s largest rental brokerage firm, has seen the real estate market at its giddiest heights and its deepest despair. There should be … Continue reading →

New Jersey loses jobs in March

Posted on April 20, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 129 Comments

From the Record: Loss of 8,600 NJ jobs clouds economic picture Optimism that New Jersey’s economy is on the rebound took a beating Thursday with the release of figures showing the state lost 8,600 jobs in March, the first decline … Continue reading →

March Existing Home Sales

Posted on April 19, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 154 Comments

From Bloomberg: U.S. Existing-Home Sales Probably Rose Sales of previously owned U.S. homes probably increased in March as a drop in mortgage rates propelled demand to its strongest quarter in almost two years. Purchases climbed 0.7 percent to a 4.62 … Continue reading →

Expected the best, but worst still better than last year

Posted on April 18, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Development | 113 Comments

From Bloomberg: Housing Data Disappoint … Again So the latest housing number is kind of bad: 654,000 new units were started in March, 5.8 percent below the revised February numbers. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting something considerably higher. The … Continue reading →

Income or Property Tax Cut – Which would you prefer?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 168 Comments

Editorial on NJ Property Taxes from the Philly Inquirer: N.J. needs property-tax relief, not income The one thing that seems to get otherwise rational New Jersey residents to foam at the mouth is the state’s punishing property-tax system. Property owners … Continue reading →

Surprise! Rents are high here too.

Posted on April 16, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 124 Comments

From the Press of Atlantic City: Rents in New Jersey the third-highest in the nation A new survey has found that state residents continue to pay some of the highest rents in America, making it difficult to afford an apartment … Continue reading →

Risky loans bite Jersey banks

Posted on April 14, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Risky Lending | 41 Comments

From the Record: North Jersey banks repossessed more properties In banking, OREO is not a cookie, and there’s no sugary frosting in the middle. It’s an acronym for one of the industry’s most unpleasant statistics, Other Real Estate Owned, which … Continue reading →

Are those rising prices on the horizon? Or just a mirage?

Posted on April 13, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 108 Comments

From Reuters: Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013 The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, but a possible new wave of … Continue reading →

Fed: April Beige Book

Posted on April 12, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 127 Comments

From the Federal Reserve: Beige Book – April 11, 2012 Second District–New York Growth in the Second District’s economy has picked up somewhat since the last report. Labor market conditions have been stable to slightly stronger in recent weeks, and … Continue reading →

March MLS Snapshot

Posted on April 10, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 147 Comments

(Source GSMLS, except Bergen which is NJMLS) Pending Home Sales (Contracts) ——————————- Bergen County March 2011 – 709 March 2012 – 815 (Up 15% YOY) Essex County March 2011 – 327 March 2012 – 452 (Up 38% YOY) Hunterdon County … Continue reading →