Monthly Archives: April 2010

Bend Over NJ

Posted on April 30, 2010 by grim

From Bloomberg: Christie’s Cuts May Push N.J. Property Tax Up 8% New Jersey property tax bills, the highest in the U.S., may rise an average of $600 to make up for Governor Chris Christie’s proposed cuts in school and municipal … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 540 Comments

Hank Paulson hasn’t heard about the real estate crash

Posted on April 29, 2010 by grim

From the WSJ: Paulson’s $4.6 Million D.C. Crib Hits the Market Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is asking $4.6 million for his three-bedroom house in Washington, D.C. The former Goldman Sachs CEO, who defends the bailout of Wall Street in … Continue reading →

Posted in Lowball, National Real Estate | 502 Comments

Small is the new black

Posted on April 28, 2010 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Homebuilders have a new mantra: Small will sell The pair of new houses that sit at the top of Truman Place off Route 1 in NorthBrunswick fit right in with the upscale style that has dominated … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 331 Comments

Happy days are here again!

Posted on April 27, 2010 by grim

From the APP Opinion Page: Recession over? For whom? There’s a reason why the number of economist jokes seems to rival the number of lawyer jokes. Economists are in the habit of making pronouncements that are so far removed from … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 315 Comments

With or without it

Posted on April 26, 2010 by grim

From the Record: Tax break draws first-time buyers Maryeth and Andres Valle of Cliffside Park figured they’d buy a condo at the end of this year — until they realized that if they signed a contract by April 30, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 402 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on April 23, 2010 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 | 546 Comments

March Existing Home Sales

Posted on April 22, 2010 by grim

From the AP: Home sales expected to rise in March Home sales are expected to rise 5.2 percent in March, reversing three months of declines, as government incentives juiced the housing market and kicked off what’s expected to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 403 Comments

“The West Orange Line”

Posted on April 21, 2010 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Take my house, please: Property taxes crushing residents in towns like West Orange Rosary Morelli has been living in West Orange since 1963. To hear her tell it, she’ll be lucky to get out alive. “I … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 282 Comments

Pay up, suckers.

Posted on April 20, 2010 by grim

From the NYT: N.J. Voters Asked to Pay More for Less at Schools School budget talks have become so contentious in this township that 700 people recently packed a school board meeting — and 100 of them stayed more than … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 600 Comments

Positive Equity … in 2017

Posted on April 19, 2010 by grim

From the NYT: Forecasts for Underwater Owners FOR the New York City area’s underwater homeowners – that is, those whose mortgage debt exceeds the value of their homes – this could be a very long decade. According to a report … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 495 Comments

Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on April 17, 2010 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 | 667 Comments

Cheap Nompounds go Mainstream (huh?)

Posted on April 16, 2010 by grim

From the NY Times: Happily Settling for a More Modest Country Getaway BUYERS looking for a country house in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills in New York State have settled on a more modest ideal: between $200,000 and $250,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, National Real Estate | 428 Comments

72% of Americans believe now is a good time to buy

Posted on April 15, 2010 by grim

From Gallup: Most Americans See Home Prices Stable or Rising Lower but stabilizing home prices combined with continued low mortgage interest rates have persuaded 72% of Americans that now is a “good time” to buy a house — essentially the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 352 Comments

How sure are we that it “won’t get any worse”?

Posted on April 14, 2010 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Housing experts predict a bumpy road back Coming off one of the worst years for real estate since the Great Depression, most developers say the housing landscape still looks rocky. An inevitable rise in historically low … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 422 Comments

Living Small

Posted on April 13, 2010 by grim

Not an econ or markets piece, but I have a soft spot for living small (and well)… From the Record: Web hed: On a tiny lot in Jersey City, architects create an affordable, sustainable house (click for pics) Hired to … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 460 Comments