Monthly Archives: September 2006

Great narrative of the Japanese housing collapse by Michael Nystrom. Most definately a must-read. Here are a few excerpts from his story: A Cautionary Housing Tale from Japan In spite of the booming economy, my uncle, like many Americans today, … Continue reading →

From the Washington Post: A Humbling Lesson for Realtors’ President He, of all people, should have known better. The president of the National Association of Realtors, Thomas M. Stevens of Vienna, admits he didn’t follow his agents’ advice when the … Continue reading →

From Bankrate: Lowballing in a cool housing market In the softening real estate market, how much wiggle room is there in negotiating for a house? — Kathi M. I wish to purchase a home soon. My question is what is … Continue reading →

From the Asbury Park Press: Judge orders state repaid for Dwek’s bad tax check After the state of New Jersey complained that Solomon Dwek’s $205,000 income tax check bounced, a Superior Court judge Friday ordered that the full amount be … Continue reading →

From the Township Journal: Newton proposes tough illegal immigration laws Following a trend that’s been seen in places like Hazleton and Allentown, Pennsylvania and Palm Beach, Florida, Newton town Councilman Philip J. Diglio proposed the adoption of a new ordinance … Continue reading →

Observations about your local areas, comments on news stories or the New Jersey housing bubble, Open House reports, etc. If you have any questions you wanted to ask earlier in the week but never posted them up, let’s have them. … Continue reading →

From Reuters: Fed study shows 2005 jump in non-prime mortgages U.S. mortgage lending data show sharp growth in the use of higher-priced “non-prime” mortgages for home purchases in 2005 over 2004, and even steeper gains in the incidence of such … Continue reading →

From Motley Fool: Housing Cheerleaders Losing Pep I’ve spent the past few months casting a hairy eyeball at a lot of the pro-housing hypesters out there, the folks I feel have cheered on a dangerous bubble with little regard to … Continue reading →

From BusinessWeek: Builders Brace for a Housing Downturn Even this typically sunny sector is expecting prices to fall as prelude to a prolonged downturn The housing market is looking sicker by the day. On Sept. 7, the perpetually optimistic National … Continue reading →

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: Housing decline: How ‘temporary’? You know the boom is over when even the brokers start predicting lower prices. That was true of the stock-market bubble in 2001, and it’s true now, as the air comes out … Continue reading →

From the Courier Post Online: Uniformity under fire at tax hearings Despite strong testimony against changing the state’s uniformity clause, and none for it, lawmakers tasked with lowering property taxes continued lengthy hearings Thursday on the constitutional mandate that all … Continue reading →

From Bloomberg: Housing Market’s Drag on U.S. Economy May Let Fed Stay on Hold The faltering U.S. housing market will be more of a drag on growth than economists expected a month ago, allowing Federal Reserve policy makers to hold … Continue reading →

From the National Association of Realtors: Home Sales Forecast Lowered, Prices To Dip Temporarily Home sales during the rest of the year will be lower than earlier projections as the market works its way through an inventory and price imbalance, … Continue reading →

From the Wall Street Journal: Housing Slowdown Takes Its Toll Economists believe cooling in the housing market to extend into next year and many forecasters in the latest WSJ.com survey predict no change — or an outright decline — in … Continue reading →

From the Press of Atlantic City: Slower housing market means fewer demolitions As tourists stow their beach bags for another year, Ocean City is getting ready for the launch of its second industry: teardowns. Builders say they are seeing a … Continue reading →