Monthly Archives: April 2007

Weekend Open Discussion

This is the time and place to post observations about your local areas, comments on news stories or the New Jersey housing market, open house reports, etc. If you have any questions you wanted to ask earlier in the week … Continue reading

Posted in General | 287 Comments

“Too much cheap money”

From the Times Trenton: More owners facing foreclosure Two years ago, when the housing market was booming, William Soodul figured he would reduce his costs with a “creative mortgage.” He took out a $226,500 adjustable-rate mortgage on his A-frame home … Continue reading

Posted in Risky Lending | 1 Comment

“As the real estate market goes, so goes the homebuilding market. “

From the Courier Post Online: Homebuilders see end to slump in ’08 As the real estate market goes, so goes the homebuilding market. Since the former is mired in the doldrums, the latter is mired as well, said Patrick J. … Continue reading

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 4 Comments

Making the loans work

From MarketWatch: The dubious value-add of appraisers The solicitation that Texas real-estate appraiser Jim Amorin fielded came with a quid pro quo. If he’d appraise a mixed-use Austin subdivision for $25 million, the mortgage broker promised to steer 15 more … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | Comments Off on Making the loans work

Appraisers under pressure

From the Baltimore Sun: Appraisers seek curbs on lender pressure Have inflated appraisals helped fuel the current surge in foreclosures by credit-strapped borrowers? Are they at the core of many mortgage fraud schemes? The four largest trade groups representing appraisers … Continue reading

Posted in National Real Estate | 1 Comment

Mortgage market slowdown prompts job cuts

From the NY Times: 2 Subprime Lenders Announce Job Cuts; Call Centers Closed General Electric’s subprime lending unit, WMC Mortgage, closed three centers yesterday and cut 771 jobs — about half of its remaining staff — while the Residential Capital … Continue reading

Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | Comments Off on Mortgage market slowdown prompts job cuts

West Windsor transit village planned

From the Trenton Times: Transit village design unveiled The possible future of the township was revealed last night by Hillier Architecture in a redevelopment design that would envelop the Princeton Junction train station with retail, residential and office buildings while … Continue reading

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | Comments Off on West Windsor transit village planned

Hoping for a bottom

From Reuters: Housing market bottom hoped for, not expected Investors hope the next round of results from U.S. home builders, starting on Thursday, will show that the slump in the housing market is abating, but realistically they expect no sign … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 134 Comments

Steep slide for MEW

From Bloomberg: Housing Bust Meets the Equity-Withdrawal Blues: Gene Sperling While the subprime and exotic mortgage fallout has been grabbing recent housing headlines, another potential story for 2007 may be in the wings: as Americans withdraw less equity from their … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 2 Comments

Piggyback or PMI?

From the Wall Street Journal: When It Makes Sense to Pay PMI My sister Melissa and her husband Joe have finally pulled the trigger and made an offer to buy a house, after years of struggling to find something affordable … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble | 4 Comments

NJ Unemployment up in March

From the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development: New Jersey Employment Gained 4,900 Jobs in March Unemployment Rate at 4.3 Percent for the Month New Jersey’s payroll employment expanded in March fueled by job growth in the private sector. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 8 Comments

Unwinding of the bubble will take time

From Mark Kiesel at Pimco: Still Renting (This one is worth the click) One question my friends and colleagues have asked me repeatedly over the past six months is: Are you still renting? Yes! I sold my house over a … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 47 Comments

Bailing out borrowers

From Reuters: Subprime summit to propose steps to help borrowers A Washington summit on Wednesday on how to help troubled subprime mortgage borrowers will end with seven principles to aid borrowers, according to a document prepared for the meeting. Mortgage … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 67 Comments

Luxury home prices slide

From Bloomberg: Luxury Home Prices Fall in New York’s Long Island Luxury home prices slid in New York’s Long Island and Queens in the first quarter as more property came onto the market and took longer to sell, appraiser Miller … Continue reading

Posted in National Real Estate | 1 Comment

School board and budget results

From the Record: Budgets in the black Tuesday’s school elections produced some surprising results, from squeakers on budget approvals and veteran board members being voted out of office to a power outage that held up counting. Rochelle Park showed that … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Property Taxes | 8 Comments