Monthly Archives: October 2006

Wall Street Where?

Posted on October 11, 2006 by grim

From the Morning Call: New York executives wooed by Wall Street West planners Officials from 15 financial services firms attended a luncheon in Monroe County Tuesday to hear about a proposed office park that would house backup data centers. The … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 15 Comments

Gaming New Jersey

Posted on October 10, 2006 by grim

From the AP via NJ.com: With many paid more than gov, senator renews pension reform plea With new statistics showing 47 people who worked multiple jobs earned more in taxpayer-paid salary than the governor, Republicans on Tuesday renewed calls to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment

Northern New Jersey September Residential Sales

Posted on October 10, 2006 by grim

Preliminary September sales data for Northern New Jersey is in.. The first graph plots the unadjusted sales data (closed sales) for the counties listed. Please note the lower bound of the graph, it is set to 1000, not to zero. … Continue reading →

Posted in North Jersey Real Estate | 116 Comments

The New American Dream

Posted on October 10, 2006 by grim

From the Herald News: Work here, buy a dream there Luzmila Gonzalez is surrounded by the dream of home ownership every day at her job working as a housecleaner in the opulent mansions of the Hamptons on Long Island. Housecleaning … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Cracks in New Jersey Real Estate

Posted on October 10, 2006 by grim

From the Record: Kara’s failure worries banks Kara Homes’ bankruptcy filing could hurt a number of banks and make lenders more cautious about lending to builders as the real estate market slumps. The Chapter 11 filing last week by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 6 Comments

Creative ways to extract money

Posted on October 10, 2006 by grim

From the Asbury Park Press: Reduce taxes, don’t add them As state lawmakers look for ways to reduce property taxes, there are two ideas on the table that would only increase the strain on taxpayers: allowing local governments to charge … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 8 Comments

Greenspan: Housing bubble wasn’t my fault

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the Financial Times via MSN Money: Housing boom due to global intergration says Greenspan The great boom in US house prices that abruptly petered out in recent months was caused by increased global integration, not loose monetary policy, Alan … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble | 29 Comments

How many more at the table?

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From Bloomberg: Kara Homes in Bankruptcy After Mortgage Payment Offer Kara Homes Inc., the New Jersey builder known for so-called McMansions, filed for bankruptcy after $250,000 discounts failed to lure buyers. The closely held East Brunswick, New Jersey-based company sought … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 19 Comments

When home loans go bad

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Bad Loans Draw Bad Blood As the housing sector cools, the mortgage market faces an awkward question: Who takes the hit when loans go bad? A generation ago, nobody asked. Banks made loans and suffered … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Risky Lending | 53 Comments

Brick by brick

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: (click to enlarge)

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble | 15 Comments

Tightening credit standards

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the LA Times: Mortgage Standards Tightened Starting this month, federally chartered lenders are being discouraged from qualifying buyers based on the low starter rates, when only the interest or a portion of the interest is due. Instead, they are … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Risky Lending | 13 Comments

Realogy launches assault on bubble

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From RIS Media: Realogy Makes Bold Move to Counter Negative Media Spin On October 5, Realogy took a strong stance against the barrage of negative press directed toward the real estate industry over the past several months. The Parsippany, New … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 32 Comments

Do crossed fingers sell homes?

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the Orlando Sentinal: Some folks just cross their fingers Mixed in among all of Central Florida’s home sellers are thousands of investors looking to leave the market. Still, there are many like Mitesh Gandhi, a 30-year-old self-employed information-technology consultant … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 5 Comments

New development at the Crossroads

Posted on October 9, 2006 by grim

From the Record: New complex in Mahwah would blend shops, homes A $200 million “lifestyle center” that could include a movie theater, 200 residences and a bevy of retail is being planned at the Sheraton Crossroads site in Mahwah. The … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, North Jersey Real Estate | 3 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on October 8, 2006 by grim

This is the time and place to post 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 160 Comments