Monthly Archives: June 2006

“The market isn’t soft. It isn’t even slow. It’s dead”

From the Journal News: Region’s housing market deflates It’s over. The crazed phase of frenetic home buying in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties has screeched to a halt — leaving some industry experts wondering if the sound they hear now … Continue reading

Posted in General | 112 Comments

NJ Highways Encourage Sprawl

From the Courier Post: Highways said to speed travel, contribute to sprawl By RAJU CHEBIUM Traveling across New Jersey would be more difficult, the state would be poorer and cities would be a lot more crowded if not for the … Continue reading

Posted in General | 15 Comments

Luxury Condos – At What Price?

From Atlanticville (Long Branch): Redevelopment puts life, business on hold BY CHRISTINE VARNO Resident becomes activist as eminent domain looms Long Branch resident James Keelen thought he was living the American dream. Keelen, 49, began operating his business, Keelen Bus … Continue reading

Posted in General | 4 Comments

7.00% – Here We Come

From Bankrate: Weekly Home Mortgage Survey Average mortgage rates for single-family homes in the 10 largest metropolitan areas as of June 21, as compiled by bankrate.com. The rates are for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages for 80 percent of the value of … Continue reading

Posted in General | 43 Comments

Northern New Jersey Weekly Inventory Update

Please note, the inventory numbers provided this week represent a two week change in inventory. I do not have the inventory data for last week.. GSMLS – http://www.gsmls.com (Garden State Multiple Listing Service) Single Family Homes, Condo, Coop (Bergen, Essex, … Continue reading

Posted in General | 25 Comments

Where Does The Money Go?

From the Wall Street Journal: Don’t Blame the Latte: The Real Reason You’re Not Saving More Is Closer to Home By JONATHAN CLEMENTS The U.S. savings rate has fallen sharply since the mid-1980s. In fact, last year, it was negative … Continue reading

Posted in General | 70 Comments

No More McMansions For Wayne

From the Record/Herald: Wayne wants to stop ‘supersized homes’ By MARGARET K. COLLINS If you buy a small building lot, you’ll have to settle for a small house. That premise is embodied in a proposed rule change that would particularly … Continue reading

Posted in General | 11 Comments

15 Blocks Of Redevelopment For Hoboken

From the Jersey Journal: Hoboken sets vote on redeveloping 15-block area By BONNIE FRIEDMAN The City Council is expected tonight to designate 15 blocks in the southwestern portion of the city as an area in need of redevelopment – the … Continue reading

Posted in General | 13 Comments

Housing Starts Rise, Permits Fall

From Bloomberg: U.S. Housing Starts Rose More Than Expected in May builders worked on backlogs of unfilled orders and used incentives to win new business in a slowing market. Housing starts rose a greater-than-expected 5 percent to an annual rate … Continue reading

Posted in General | 66 Comments

Can Government Land Grabs Be Stopped?

From the Jersey Journal: BILL: STOP LAND GRABS By BONNIE FRIEDMAN The New Jersey state Legislature is considering a plan that would curb the government’s power to take private property for economic good – a practice some say has turned … Continue reading

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Real Estate Industry a ‘Cartel’

From CNN/Money: Consumer group goes after real estate industry By Les Christie A leading consumer rights group, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), on Monday issued a report charging that real estate industry members act as a cartel to stifle … Continue reading

Posted in General | 35 Comments

Glimpse Of The Future

From the AP: Foreclosures May Jump As ARMs Reset By J.W. Elphinstone In 2003, Anita Britten refinanced her two-story brick cottage in Lithonia, Ga. using a hybrid adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM. Her lender reassured her that she could refinance … Continue reading

Posted in General | 84 Comments

Homebuilder Confidence At 11-Year Lows

From Bloomberg: Homebuilder Confidence in U.S. Declines to an 11-Year Low Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped this month to the lowest in more than 11 years as higher mortgage rates caused sales to fall. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells … Continue reading

Posted in General | 5 Comments

Readership Keeps Growing

We’ve reached a major milestone this week, 500,000 hits! Momentum has been growing steadily. Each week brings more hits and visits than the last. It took us six months to hit 100,000, but only two more to bring that total … Continue reading

Posted in General | 18 Comments

Homes Getting Too Big?

From RealtyTimes: New Homes: Will The Big Home Downsize? by Blanche Evans As city planners, developers, builders, and Realtors look to the future of real estate, one question is on everyone’s minds — are homes getting too big? Surprising no … Continue reading

Posted in General | 30 Comments