Monthly Archives: September 2012

August Otteau Report

Posted on September 29, 2012 by grim

From the Otteau Group: Home Purchases Accelerating Home purchase demand continues to rise in New Jersey where purchase-contracts increased in August by 29% y-o-y for the 11th consecutive month. Going back to May 2011, housing demand has increased in 15-of-16 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 102 Comments

August contracts down nationally, but up in the Northeast

Posted on September 28, 2012 by grim

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Decline in August After reaching a two-year peak, pending home sales fell in August but are at elevated levels compared with a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 139 Comments

Dems pound Christie on HomeKeeper mismanagement

Posted on September 27, 2012 by grim

From the Record: Democrats say NJ’s foreclosure prevention program falls short The state’s main foreclosure prevention effort – the HomeKeeper program – has used less than 10 percent of its federal funding since it was started in May 2011, drawing … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate | 141 Comments

Those peaks look far, far away

Posted on September 26, 2012 by grim

From CNN/Money: Home prices may not return to peak until 2023 Home prices are showing signs of life, but have a long way to go to make up for losses from the housing bust. U.S. home prices dropped by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 263 Comments

Case Shiller & FHFA Home Price Indicies out this morning

Posted on September 25, 2012 by grim

From CNBC: Housing Recovery Should Show Up in Prices Real estate price data Tuesday should confirm that housing continued to stabilize this summer, even as the rest of the economy remained tepid. The S&P/Case Shiller home price index is expected … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 212 Comments

Are we expecting too much, too soon?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by grim

From the NY Post: Jersey’s hangover Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Christie declared that New Jersey’s comeback had begun. Since then, the state’s unemployment rate has risen and tax collections have slowed. Last week, Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 97 Comments

Romney housing plan still short of specifics

Posted on September 23, 2012 by grim

From the Huffington Post: Mitt Romney Housing Plan Short On Details (Again) If elected president, Mitt Romney would reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sell 200,000 vacant foreclosed homes owned by the government and promote “sensible, not overly complex” financial … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Politics | 47 Comments

Who to blame? Christie or the Survey?

Posted on September 21, 2012 by grim

From the Daily Record: Why is the NJ unemployment rate rising while the state gains jobs? Another increase in New Jersey’s unemployment rate — this time to 9.9 percent — prompted the Christie administration Thursday to wonder aloud if there … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 166 Comments

Appears that the bottom is now behind us

Posted on September 20, 2012 by grim

From the WSJ: The Housing Recovery Keeps Rolling Along. August existing-home sales and construction of single-family homes jumped to the highest level in more than two years. Meanwhile, a separate report showed housing starts in August rose 2.3% on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 108 Comments

Hey Christie – How about focusing a little bit on NJ now?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by grim

From Bloomberg: New Jersey Housing Suffers as Defaults Exceed Nevada: Mortgages New Jersey’s judicial review of all foreclosures, which delays seizures to help borrowers, threatens to hold down prices for years as properties remain subject to repossession and then may … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate | 144 Comments

Many borrowers locked out of lower rate mortgages

Posted on September 18, 2012 by grim

From the LA Times: Two-thirds of Americans with mortgages pay 5% interest or higher US. interest rates are at rock-bottom levels, but that’s not helping most Americans with mortgages. And those high-cost loans remain a big drag on the economy, … Continue reading →

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

Inept banks blamed for poor HAMP performance

Posted on September 17, 2012 by grim

From the Huffington Post: Banks’ Disorganization Pushed 800,000 Homeowners Into Unnecessary Foreclosure: ProPublica Over the past several years, we’ve reported extensively on the big banks’ foreclosure failings. As a result of banks’ disorganization and understaffing — particularly at the peak … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 111 Comments

White House shows support for HARP 3

Posted on September 15, 2012 by grim

From the White House Blog: Infographic: The Plan to Help Homeowners Refinance Congress is currently considering a plan that would help millions of responsible homeowners save hundreds of dollars each month by refinancing their mortgages. The plan to expand access … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, Mortgages, Politics | 120 Comments

Increased cancelations – Big deal or not?

Posted on September 14, 2012 by grim

From HousingWire: 15% of home sales fail: Capital Economics Many parties are forming real estate deals only to watch their transactions fall through before the closing date, Paul Diggle, a property economist with Capital Economics, said Thursday. Diggle released a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 237 Comments

Foreclosures up, but still at a very low level

Posted on September 13, 2012 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer: Foreclosure filings up in Pa., N.J., other states States that process home foreclosures through the courts, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, experienced an increase in filings in August over July’s levels, RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate | 191 Comments