Monthly Archives: August 2006

From the APP: Bailout for wealthy decried if they choose to gamble Kristina Fiore said she’s got little sympathy for wealthy people who build multimillion-dollar homes on vulnerable waterfront property, then want help when Mother Nature makes a mess there. … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, I had mentioned that I thought we would begin to see year-over-year price declines by the third quarter of 2006. This was due to the fact that peak prices (and demand) were seen during the third … Continue reading →

From Bloomberg: U.S. Homebuilder Sentiment Index Falls to 15-Year Low Confidence among U.S. homebuilders plunged to the lowest level in 15 years this month as buyers cancelled orders and inventories of unsold dwellings piled up, a private survey showed. The … Continue reading →

From the New York Times: Immigrants Swell Numbers Near New York Immigrants have continued to surge into metropolitan New York since 2000, according to census figures released today, and that increase, combined with high birth rates, has elevated the foreign-born … Continue reading →

From RealtyTimes: Housing Counsel: Appraisals 101 You plan to purchase a condominium unit, and enter into a contract with your seller to pay $500,000. You give the agent $10,000 as the “good faith deposit,” to be held in escrow until … Continue reading →

From Gary Watts, economist for the Ocean County Association of Realtors (California): Mid-Year Economic Outlook for Real Estate B. Listing Agent Advice 1. Price Reductions: Please do not put a “price reduced” banner on your listings, and if you have … Continue reading →

Welcome to another edition of Price Reduced! For all the newcomers to this blog, Price Reduced! takes a look at a handful of significant price reductions across Northern NJ. The purpose of this exercise is to serve as proof that … Continue reading →

From the Herald News: Higher bills, flat incomes deflate the American Dream in Jersey Frederick Rembis, a Clifton resident, has kept a log of his annual property tax bills for decades. Over the last few years, he’s been troubled by … Continue reading →

From the Contra Costa Times: More use homes as main asset Instead of building a nest egg for retirement, a growing number of homeowners are putting themselves in a debt trap. Economists and investment advisers say that more Americans are … Continue reading →

From MSN Money: Homeowners say “Downsize Me!” Americans are carrying a lot of excess weight and desperately want to slim down. No, not their waistlines — in the size of their homes. “Steeply deteriorating.” “Hard landing.” “Kaput.” These are some … Continue reading →

From the Asbury Park Press: Man, 90, dismayed by property taxes For the last 85 years, Charles Aufiero has called a small brick house on East 11th Street home. He remembers when the road outside was dirt. “My whole destiny … Continue reading →

From the Courier Post: Landowners abusing tax breaks A top environmental group is claiming that a state program meant to provide farmers tax breaks is being abused by “phony farmers.” By owning a few horses or mowing some hay, landowners … Continue reading →

From the Asbury Park Press: Sales strategies Before Brick resident Vicki Aebischer put her home in the Herbertsville section up for sale at the end of June, she tried to figure out how to price it. She used the Internet … Continue reading →

From the Allentown Morning Call: Sellers vexed as homes linger A year ago when Betty and Lee Castle placed a deposit on a retirement community property, they began to think how much they would ask for the Allentown house they … Continue reading →

From the Herald/Record: Not all Jersey towns have it rough The borough of Bogota in Bergen County is less than a mile square, but the tiny town maintains its own high school, public works, health and building departments and has … Continue reading →