Monthly Archives: June 2013

Otteau: Contracts soared in May

Posted on June 29, 2013 by grim

From the Otteau Group: Home Sales Continue to Accelerate in May Home purchase contracts in New Jersey soared for yet another month in May, recording a 23% increase compared to one year ago. Given that the pace of sales rose … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 26 Comments

Pending Home Sales at a 6 year high

Posted on June 28, 2013 by grim

From MarketWatch: Pending home sales jump to six-year high in May Pending home sales jumped in May to reach a six-year high, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The NAR’s pending home sales index climbed 6.7% to 112.3 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 58 Comments

Whodathunkit

Posted on June 27, 2013 by grim

From CNBC: Rising Mortgage Rates Cause ‘Rush to ARMs’ After hovering around record lows for the past few years, mortgage rates are rising dramatically. That has consumers not only shopping more but also considering adjustable rate mortgages, which offer lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, Risky Lending | 80 Comments

Rising rates cast a shadow over housing recovery

Posted on June 26, 2013 by grim

From CNN/Money: Home prices jump 12%, new home sales hit a five year high The housing recovery continues to pick up steam, as home prices jumped in April, and new home sales hit a five year high in May. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 89 Comments

Case Shiller Day!

Posted on June 25, 2013 by grim

S&P Case Shiller home price data for April due out this morning. Consensus estimates have the 20-city composite up 10.9% year over year. While we wait for the Case Shiller numbers, you can chew on the April home price report … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 87 Comments

Hot market, with caveats

Posted on June 24, 2013 by grim

From the Record: North Jersey housing market hot as buyers return After 30 years in their five-bedroom Old Tappan colonial, Enid and Generoso Squitieri wanted to downsize, but they held off on a sale, waiting for the housing market to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, North Jersey Real Estate | 97 Comments

NJ adds 14,300 jobs in May, Unemployment falls to 8.6%

Posted on June 21, 2013 by grim

From the Record: NJ economy adds jobs, jobless rate declines A slight dip in the unemployment rate and the addition of 14,300 jobs in May, taking the increase to 30,000 jobs since the start of the year, suggest the state’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 92 Comments

Rising inventory to deflate prospects of a bubble

Posted on June 20, 2013 by grim

From HousingWire: CoreLogic: Housing recovery is durable, but not bulletproof The trend of rising home prices continues and is expected to carry on, but don’t expect double-digit gains as a norm, analysts say. Home prices rose 12.1% in April, making … Continue reading →

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

High-end feeling the pain in Jersey?

Posted on June 19, 2013 by grim

From the Record: High-end homes in North Jersey await price rebound Home sales and prices are beginning to rebound in North Jersey, but what effect that will have on the still-sluggish higher end of the market – which slumped the … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 116 Comments

S&P: No bubble yet, home prices continue to rise

Posted on June 18, 2013 by grim

From HousingWire: S&P expects home prices to keep rising Surging home prices throughout the country have spurred talk of a housing bubble, as many markets are still recovering from the last bubble bursting in 2007. But Standard & Poor’s Ratings … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 93 Comments

First timers still missing from the market?

Posted on June 17, 2013 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer: Are there enough first-time buyers to sustain housing recovery? hiladelphians Luis Valenti, 25, and Eleonora Barbieri, 26, are getting married July 14. If planning a wedding doesn’t seem stressful enough, the couple are settling July 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery | 79 Comments

“Gen Y may turn out to have unrealistic expectations about what they can afford”

Posted on June 15, 2013 by grim

From the NYT: Home Loans for Millennials The next generation of potential home buyers prefer to live in developments with an array of housing types close to shops and mass transit, a recent survey shows. Is this bad news for … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, National Real Estate | 24 Comments

FEMA: Just Kidding!

Posted on June 14, 2013 by grim

From the Bridgeton News: Large areas of N.J. Shore to be removed from high-risk flood zone Declaring the controversial federal flood zone maps issued in the wake of Hurricane Sandy “fundamentally flawed,” U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said today revised … Continue reading →

Posted in Shore Real Estate | 61 Comments

Banks taking advantage of higher prices … to foreclose

Posted on June 13, 2013 by grim

From Bloomberg: Foreclosures Jump as Banks Bet on Rising U.S. Home Prices Home repossessions in the U.S. jumped 11 percent in May after declining for the previous five months as rising prices and limited inventory for sale across the country … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures | 45 Comments

Waters recede, homeowners learn to float

Posted on June 12, 2013 by grim

From Bloomberg: Homeowners With Negative Equity Fall Below 20% of U.S. Borrowers The share of U.S. borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth fell to less than 20 percent in the first quarter as prices surged in hard-hit … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 61 Comments