Category Archives: National Real Estate

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 →

The perks of campaign contribution

Posted on May 22, 2012 by grim
Posted in National Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 134 Comments

I’d be more surprised if this wasn’t going on everywhere. Will they be charging the contributors as well? Probably not, I’m sure they had no idea this was going on. Time for an investigation in NJ? From Bloomberg: L.A. Appraiser … Continue reading →

Shocking News: Banks Screw Borrowers

Posted on May 7, 2012 by grim
Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate | 81 Comments

From Bloomberg: Look Who’s Pushing Homeowners Off the Foreclosure Cliff One of the more confounding aspects of the U.S. housing crisis has been the reluctance of lenders to do more to assist troubled borrowers. After all, when homes go into … 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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Yet another housing price index – This one says good times are here again

Posted on April 6, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 79 Comments

From the Economist: The rebound is now On fundamentals, America’s housing market looks increasingly healthy. Inventory levels and vacancy rates are way down and rents are up. At the national level, the entirety of the price boom between 2000 and … Continue reading →

Foreclosure tsunami on the horizon?

Posted on April 5, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 106 Comments

From Reuters: Americans brace for next foreclosure wave Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the … Continue reading →

Zelman: “The equation of renting versus owning is becoming much more favorable for owning”

Posted on April 4, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 143 Comments

From the WSJ: As Home Rents Head Higher, Owning Regains Its Appeal Climbing rents for apartments are combining with a continued decline in home prices to push once-reluctant home buyers into finally taking the plunge, say economists and real-estate agents, … Continue reading →

Where do we go from here?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by grim
Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 43 Comments

From CNBC: Real Estate Recovery a Tale of Good, Bad and Ugly In Miami, condominiums are hot again. In Phoenix, builders are opening new communities. In New Jersey, buyers are finding it takes about three years to foreclose on a … Continue reading →