Monthly Archives: July 2012

Otteau: 2012 still running strong

From the Otteau Group: Housing Recovery Still Strong The steady improvement in home sales can be seen in this graphic which shows that YTD home purchase contracts in New Jersey are running at their highest level in 3 years. Home … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 141 Comments

Watching for the turn

From the WSJ: Are Home Prices Rising? A Price-Index Primer. Look for the S&P/Case-Shiller index to post a year-over-year decline of 1% when the latest results are released Tuesday, according to estimates from Zillow. That would be the smallest decline … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 95 Comments

Still better to be rich than poor in NJ

From the Star Ledger: Study: N.J. wealthy flourishing, gap between rich and poor is largest since Great Depression The rich really did get richer in New Jersey over the past 10 years, and the gulf between the wealthiest and poorest … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 169 Comments

We’ve all seen better bottoms…

From the WSJ: Is This What a Housing Bottom Looks Like? Another housing report shows that market activity is up considerably from one year ago but easing off of the levels set by a surge of transactions earlier this year. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 28 Comments

The “other” housing market (p.s. this one is hot)

From Globe St: M&M: NJ Rental Market Will Continue To Surge On Wings Of Economic Uncertainty Vacancies down. Rents up. Investor interest way up. That is real estate firm Marcus & Millichap’s prediction through the end of 2012 for the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 91 Comments

Foreclosures continue to loom large

From CNBC: New Crop of Foreclosures Is Coming While fewer Americans are falling behind on their mortgage payments, the huge backlog of already delinquent mortgages is finally making its way through the banking system to foreclosure. Total foreclosure activity rose … Continue reading

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 131 Comments

Is the housing recovery here? Or is Goldman just trying to dump homebuilders?

From the IB Times: The US Housing Recovery Is Here: Goldman Sachs The U.S. housing recovery is here, with an uptick in prices and governmment support and a decrease in unsold-off market homes, known as shadow inventory, according to analysts … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Development | 87 Comments

Zillow: Home prices have bottomed

From the WSJ: Home Prices Reflect Strengthening Home prices in the second quarter rose from the year-ago period for the first time since 2007, according to a closely watched index, the latest indication the housing market is starting to recover. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 92 Comments

Foreclosure 2.0 – Tsunami or Belly Flop?

From the Press of Atlantic City: Second wave of foreclosures starts to rise in New Jersey, region The long-expected second wave of foreclosures in states where courts delayed their processing appears to have begun in New Jersey and area counties, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 142 Comments

NJ unemployment jumps to 9.6% despite continued jobs growth

From the Star Ledger: N.J. unemployment hits 9.6 percent in June, its largest jump in 3 years New Jersey’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.6 percent in June, up from 9.2 percent in May in the sharpest monthly increase since the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 230 Comments

June Existing Home Sales

From Bloomberg: Sales of Previously Owned U.S. Homes Probably Climbed in June Sales of previously owned U.S. homes probably rose in June, a report may show today, a sign the recent pickup in demand will be sustained. Purchases climbed 1.5 … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 165 Comments

Wealthy screw everything up again

From the IB Times: Wealthy Homeowners Threaten Housing Recovery As the U.S. housing industry begins to sputter with signs of life, wealthy homeowners face a different kind of problem: selling their posh condos, villas, and waterfront properties before the onset … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, Politics | 271 Comments

The new problem in the housing market … inventory

From the WSJ: With Low Supply, Asking Prices Rise for Fifth Straight Month. Home sellers are staying on the sidelines this summer, which is helping to firm up prices in more U.S. housing markets. The number of homes listed for … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 182 Comments

Housing math more painful than trig.

From the WSJ: Yea! Home Prices Hitting Bottom. Now, the Bad News. This is a great time to buy a home in many parts of the country. There are signs that the downward price spiral is bottoming out. Mortgage rates … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 92 Comments

Homes go big again

From Bloomberg: Long-shrinking homes begin to grow again Even as the U.S. economy struggles to rebound from the worst recession since the Great Depression, Americans are living larger. Larger, as in larger homes: two-story foyers, twin front staircases, children’s wings, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Development | 38 Comments