Monthly Archives: March 2012

Where do we go from here?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by grim

From CNBC: Real Estate Recovery a Tale of Good, Bad and Ugly In Miami, condominiums are hot again. In Phoenix, builders are opening new communities. In New Jersey, buyers are finding it takes about three years to foreclose on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 43 Comments

Poor not welcome in Short Hills

Posted on March 30, 2012 by grim

Came across this opinion/letter to the editor piece this morning in the Daily Record. Not sure whether to cheer or be appalled, but I’m leaning towards the latter, mostly due to the fact that the writer lives in Short Hills, … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Unrest | 139 Comments

Jamie says all clear on the housing front

Posted on March 29, 2012 by grim

From CNBC: Improving Housing Market Driving Economy: Jamie Dimon The U.S. housing market is very close to a bottom and there are already signs its improvement is giving a boost to the overall economy, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Humor | 116 Comments

Turning the corner or hanging off the edge?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by grim

From the Record: Area’s home prices drop 2.9% in January Despite signs of an economic recovery, home prices nationally and in the New York metropolitan area, including North Jersey, continued to slide in January, the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 164 Comments

Otteau: “We are at a turning point in the housing market and the economy”

Posted on March 26, 2012 by grim

From the Record: N.J. housing market recovering, appraiser says New Jersey’s housing market is recovering, and this spring’s home-selling season will be the liveliest in four years, appraiser Jeffrey Otteau said Monday. “We are at a turning point in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 139 Comments

Appeal 2012!

Posted on March 26, 2012 by grim

From the Record: North Jersey homeowners seek lower tax assessments (Hat tip Gary) Watching their property taxes rise as the value of their 82-year-old house dropped, Nora and Pat Sfarra of Teaneck decided to appeal their tax assessment last year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 82 Comments

The New (Jersey) Suburbia?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by grim

From the NY Times: High Marks for Transit Hubs WANT to know which New Jersey train stations have the most plentiful supply of parking spaces relative to town population? There’s a list for that. Or what about stations in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 36 Comments

Good start for employment in 2012, but quite a distance to go

Posted on March 23, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: New Jersey job figures show slow but steady growth, economists say During the first two months of 2012 alone, New Jersey created more than half the number of jobs it did during all of last year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 107 Comments

“Housing bottoming is going to surprise a lot of people”

Posted on March 22, 2012 by grim

From the WSJ: Housing Shows Signs of Life The U.S. housing market, a notable soft spot in the nation’s weak economy for the past four years, is becoming less of a drag on the recovery. Real-estate markets are showing signs … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 193 Comments

High expectations for February used house sales

Posted on March 21, 2012 by grim

From Bloomberg: Previously Owned U.S. Home Sales Probably Climbed Sales of previously owned U.S. homes probably rose in February to an almost two-year high, adding to signs of stabilization in the real-estate market, economists said before a report today. Purchases … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 129 Comments

Signs of recovery? Or just a shift due to the weather?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by grim

From CNBC: Did Warm Winter Steal Spring Housing? As if we really needed a reminder that today’s housing market is still very fragile, the first installment in a slew of housing data to be released this week came in below … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 302 Comments

Fast tracking abandoned homes

Posted on March 19, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Housing, banking advocates hail measure to speed foreclosures of abandoned homes A piece of state legislation that looks to turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing also contains a little-noted provision that banking and housing experts say … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Politics | 156 Comments

Tough Decisions

Posted on March 18, 2012 by grim

From the APP: Some NJ homeowners left under water as market prices fall Cynthia Spratt, a single mother of two, recently considered putting her Toms River home on the market and moving inland so that she could avoid the expense … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble | 14 Comments

Been a while since the last … Weekend Open Discussion

Posted on March 16, 2012 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 | 134 Comments

Re/Max: Spring looking good (but can we believe them?)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by grim

From Re/Max (Cheerleader warning, this is from a press release): Home Prices Start to Rise, Sales Trend Higher: Housing Recovery Underway For the first time in 18 months, home prices in February rose higher. With a median price of $171,881, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 132 Comments