Monthly Archives: September 2007

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on September 28, 2007 by grim

Weekend Topic: New York City vs. New Jersey 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 399 Comments

Top end hit hardest?

Posted on September 28, 2007 by grim

From the WSJ Real Time Economics Blog: Sales of Pricier Homes Plummet With Credit Crunch The market for higher-end homes took an especially strong blow in August as a result of the credit crunch: Sales of new homes priced above … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 4 Comments

Sinking, Skidding, Gloom, Carnage

Posted on September 28, 2007 by grim

…and people call me grim? From the NY Post: HOME WRECK CARNAGE MOUNTS AS PRICES ARE SINKING FAST

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 4 Comments

So Long, Foxtons

Posted on September 27, 2007 by grim

From the Asbury Park Press: Foxtons done in by housing slump Foxtons, a West Long Branch-based real estate company that made a splash with its discounted commissions, said Wednesday night it is closing because of a downturn in the housing … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 253 Comments

“In our opinion, the full impact is yet to come.”

Posted on September 27, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg: Subprime-Mortgage Defaults Rose Last Month, Data Show Late payments and defaults among subprime mortgages packaged into bonds rose last month, according to data for loans underlying benchmark ABX derivative indexes. After August payments, 19.1 percent of loan balances … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | Comments Off on “In our opinion, the full impact is yet to come.”

A luxury tax on vacation homes

Posted on September 27, 2007 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Bill Tightens Second-Home Tax Rules By JOHN GODFREY September 27, 2007; Page A8 WASHINGTON — Popular legislation to ease the tax burden on struggling homeowners could hit an unexpected constituency: people with second homes. The … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Politics | 1 Comment

Pessimistic or realistic?

Posted on September 26, 2007 by grim

From Page 1 of the Wall Street Journal Housing Chill Grows Worse, Bites Consumers By SUDEEP REDDY and MICHAEL CORKERY September 26, 2007; Page A1 The housing market is going into a deeper chill, and consumers are starting to shiver. … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 257 Comments

Can we afford to fix our crumbling infrastructure?

Posted on September 26, 2007 by grim

From the Associated Press: Engineers: NJ Infrastructure Crumbling New Jersey’s infrastructure is barely making the grade, with major problems looming, civil engineers said Monday as they estimated the state will need to spend billions to repair decaying transportation and water … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 6 Comments

August Home Sales & July Home Prices

Posted on September 25, 2007 by grim

From the AP: Home Prices Post Biggest Drop in 16 Years The decline in U.S. home prices accelerated nationwide in July, posting the steepest drop in 16 years, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday. Home prices have … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 143 Comments

“[M]ore painful and protracted than all but the most bearish expected.”

Posted on September 25, 2007 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Housing Slump Could ‘Reset’ Itself Again By SCOTT PATTERSON September 25, 2007 In the same way the relentless expansion of the housing sector amazed Wall Street, its downturn is proving more painful and protracted than … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | Comments Off on “[M]ore painful and protracted than all but the most bearish expected.”

“There always seemed to be an endless supply of people willing to buy these”

Posted on September 24, 2007 by grim

From the NY Times: Risky Loans Help Build Ghost Town of New Homes Along the streets of Far Rockaway, many recently built two- and three-family town houses sit waiting for even one family to move in. Some have boarded-up windows, … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, New Development, Risky Lending | 120 Comments

Scrap the bailout

Posted on September 24, 2007 by grim

From the Asbury Park Press: Drop mortgage bailout plan No one wants to see people lose their homes. But the state is in no position to rescue residents who have made bad financial decisions. The state Housing and Mortgage Finance … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | Comments Off on Scrap the bailout

The “gloomy sourpusses” were right

Posted on September 23, 2007 by grim

From the New York Times: They Cried Wolf. They Were Right. IN May of 2004, Dean Baker, an economist in Washington who had been warning about excesses in the housing market, sold his two-bedroom condo after concluding that the market … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 64 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on September 21, 2007 by grim

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 | 290 Comments

“Prices are going to fall much lower yet.” – Greenspan

Posted on September 21, 2007 by grim

From Reuters: House prices to drop much lower: Greenspan big overhang of property will bring U.S. house prices down further, but it is too early to say if the economy will plunge into recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 11 Comments