Monthly Archives: November 2010

Housing’s Handcuffs

Posted on November 12, 2010 by grim

From HousingWire: Recession forced homeowners to stay put, Cleveland economist says More homeowners are staying in their homes longer because of the struggling economy, according to Daniel Hartley, a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Hartley cited … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 203 Comments

“Because in America, it’s far more shameful to owe money than it is to steal it.”

Posted on November 11, 2010 by grim

From the Rolling Stone: Matt Taibbi: Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners The foreclosure lawyers down in Jacksonville had warned me, but I was skeptical. They told me the state of Florida had created a special super-high-speed housing court with … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 180 Comments

“The length and depth of the current housing recession is rivaling the Great Depression”

Posted on November 10, 2010 by grim

From Portfolio: Housing: Bleaker, not Better Talk about bad news for the thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs dependent on housing and the millions of others indirectly affected by the housing market. In Zillow.com’s latest survey on the state of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Bubble | 167 Comments

“[I]n the end it comes down to supply and demand.”

Posted on November 9, 2010 by grim

From CNBC: Three F’s in Housing Spell Trouble Now that we’ve gotten the Q3 reports from Fannie, Freddie and the FHA, the picture of housing’s future is becoming ever clearer. The combined Real Estate Owned (REO) inventory of the three … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 148 Comments

Again regulators drop the ball

Posted on November 8, 2010 by grim

From the Washington Post: Regulators lagged in foreclosure oversight As foreclosures began to mount across the country three years ago, a group of state bank regulators suspected that some borrowers might be losing their homes unnecessarily. So the state officials … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, National Real Estate | 150 Comments

Death and Taxes

Posted on November 7, 2010 by grim

From the Record: North Jersey property taxes rising, again The typical North Jersey homeowner will pay about $375 more in property taxes over the next year — and will get less for the money in many cases, as communities scale … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 136 Comments

Restarting the machine

Posted on November 5, 2010 by grim

From the NY Observer: JPMorgan to Get Back in the Foreclosure Business “We’re not evicting people who deserve to stay in their house,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in mid-October on his company’s third-quarter earnings conference call. Now it … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, National Real Estate | 203 Comments

Redefining Luxury

Posted on November 4, 2010 by grim

From the Montclair Times: Condo owners allege Siena has structural ‘defects’ Raniya Kassem owns a condominium on the fifth floor of Montclair’s luxury high-rise complex The Siena, but it’s been about a year and five months since she has resided … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 193 Comments

533 Days…

Posted on November 2, 2010 by grim

From Lender Processing Service: LPS Mortgage Monitor – October 2010 Mortgage Performance Observations

Posted in Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 166 Comments

Fitch: 40 months to clear shadow inventory, home prices to fall additional 10%

Posted on November 2, 2010 by grim

From HousingWire: Foreclosure shadow inventory will take more than 40 months to clear: Fitch The shadow inventory of delinquent loans, foreclosures, and REOs stands at 7 million homes, which would take the market more than 40 months to clear, more … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 136 Comments

A different kind of stimulus

Posted on November 1, 2010 by grim

From the WSJ: The Stealth Stimulus of Defaulters Living for Free The mortgage-foreclosure mess could prove expensive for banks and investors. But in some states, it will also prolong an unintended economic stimulus: free housing for millions of defaulters. Across … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 154 Comments