Monthly Archives: May 2008

Not so fast with the granite

Posted on May 15, 2008 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Will Upgrading Your Home Help You Sell It? Big-Ticket Renovations Lose Value Amid Market Slump; Investing in Curb Appeal By M.P. MCQUEEN May 15, 2008 If you’re putting your home on the market anytime soon, … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 287 Comments

NJ Unemployment Rate Rises to 5%

Posted on May 14, 2008 by grim

From the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Employment Relatively Unchanged in April Unemployment Rate at 5.0 Percent for the Month In April, New Jersey payrolls increased by 1,000 and the state’s unemployment rate edged higher by 0.2 percentage … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 106 Comments

Foreclosures up 65% in April

Posted on May 14, 2008 by grim

From Bloomberg: U.S. Foreclosures Rise 65 Percent as Vacated Homes Add to Glut U.S. foreclosure filings climbed 65 percent and bank seizures more than doubled in April from a year earlier as rates on adjustable mortgages increased and vacated homes … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 261 Comments

NJ home prices rise and fall

Posted on May 14, 2008 by grim

From the Asbury Park Press: Sale prices of homes stabilizing at Shore Home prices in the area that includes Monmouth and Ocean counties were essentially flat in the first quarter of 2008, declining by 0.6 percent from the same period … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Shore Real Estate | 10 Comments

Gas prices popped the home price bubble?

Posted on May 13, 2008 by grim

From CEOs for Cities: Driven to the Brink (PDF) How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs The collapse of America’s housing bubble—and its reverberations in financial markets—has obscured a tectonic shift in housing demand. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble | 486 Comments

So much for being responsible…

Posted on May 12, 2008 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: The Biggest Housing Losers May 12, 2008 You may not know it, dear reader, but Congress is playing you for a sap. During the housing mania, you didn’t lend money at teaser rates to borrowers … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 353 Comments

Otteau: “the housing market has further to fall”

Posted on May 11, 2008 by grim

From the NY Times: Spring in a Cold Climate THE only way to know when the residential real estate market has “hit bottom” will be with a look in the rear-view mirror, according to Jeffrey G. Otteau, the New Jersey-based … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 84 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion – Part II

Posted on May 9, 2008 by grim

Now Open, Part II! Prior weekend thread closed due to comment overflow

Posted in General | 213 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on May 9, 2008 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 | 410 Comments

Why rescue underwater borrowers?

Posted on May 8, 2008 by grim

From the WSJ: Keeping Families Above Water May 8, 2008; Page A2 The latest flash point in the debate over the nation’s bursting housing bubble is this: Since so many American houses are worth less than their mortgages, should the … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Development, Risky Lending | 297 Comments

Northern New Jersey April Residential Sales

Posted on May 6, 2008 by grim

Preliminary April sales and inventory data for Northern New Jersey (GSMLS) is in. Please note that this data is subject to revision. The first graph plots the unadjusted sales data (closed sales) for the counties listed. Please note the lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 349 Comments

Ex-NAR economist Lereah changes tune

Posted on May 6, 2008 by grim

From Newsweek: It’s Going to Get Worse Economist David Lereah was once the housing market’s biggest cheerleader. Now he says the bust isn’t near over, and home prices still have a long way to fall. Let me confess at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Development | 28 Comments

Bernanke begs for a bailout

Posted on May 6, 2008 by grim

From Bloomberg: Bernanke Urges Action to Slow Jump in U.S. Home Foreclosures Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, seeking to end the worst housing slump in a quarter century, urged the government and mortgage lenders to intensify their efforts to … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 280 Comments

Getting harder to borrow

Posted on May 6, 2008 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Banks Toughen Terms on Loans Both Consumers And Businesses Feel the Impact By SUDEEP REDDY May 6, 2008; Page A3 In a blow to an already wobbly U.S. economy, banks are imposing tougher lending terms … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | Comments Off on Getting harder to borrow

Has it ever been a bad time to buy?

Posted on May 5, 2008 by grim

According to the National Association of Realtors, the answer is no, it has always been a good time to buy… …even during the darkest depths of the Great Depression. Unemployment was nearing 16% and approximately 8 million Americans were unemployed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, National Real Estate | 52 Comments