Monthly Archives: March 2015

February Pending Home Sales Beat

Posted on March 31, 2015 by grim

From CNBC: Pending home sales rose 3.1% in February Colder than average temperatures and heavy snow in much of the U.S. failed to keep February home buyers away. Signed contracts to buy existing homes rose 3.1 percent from January, according … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 84 Comments

Why NYC remains at the top

Posted on March 30, 2015 by grim

From the Atlantic: The Feedback Loop That Will Make America’s Richest Cities Even Richer This week, the Brookings Institution came out with a report on “job proximity”—that is, which cities have the largest and fastest-growing concentrations of jobs in their … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, NYC | 84 Comments

“Newark needs love, Paris doesn’t”

Posted on March 29, 2015 by grim

From Politico: Is Newark the Next Brooklyn? NNewark is building again. Yes, that Newark—the city in Jersey that burned after the ’67 riots, the one that helped to define “white flight,” that struggles still with almost impenetrable unemployment and homelessness … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 40 Comments

Ball and chain holds back housing

Posted on March 28, 2015 by grim

From the NYT: Negative Equity a Drag on Home Sales While existing home sales are up nearly 5 percent from last year, economists say activity would likely be more brisk if it weren’t for the negative equity overhang that has … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 32 Comments

All about the wages (but did they get it right?)

Posted on March 27, 2015 by grim

From Bloomberg: U.S. Home Prices Are Surging 13 Times Faster Than Wages For most people, buying a home is no cheap venture. That’s especially the case when the growth in U.S. home prices is beating wage increases 13 to 1. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery | 61 Comments

Otteau’s forecast for 2015

Posted on March 25, 2015 by grim

From the Record: After tepid 2014, home prices forecast to rise 3.5% this year After treading water in 2014, New Jersey home prices will get a boost from low mortgage rates and an improving job market this year, appraiser Jeffrey … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery | 161 Comments

NAR calls rent and price growth “unhealthy”

Posted on March 24, 2015 by grim

From the WSJ: Home Sales Edge Up, but Rising Prices and Tight Supply Loom as Headwind Sales of previously owned homes ticked up last month, but buyers are facing a dynamic of rising home prices and shrinking inventory that make … Continue reading →

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

Housing recovery for the high end?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by grim

From the NY Times: Mortgage Amounts Rising More Quickly Than Home Prices Mortgage amounts are rising more quickly than home prices, an unusual phenomenon that seems to confirm continued weakness at the lower end of the housing market, according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 46 Comments

Bubble buyers capitulating?

Posted on March 22, 2015 by grim

From the Record: Homeowners who’ve decided it’s (finally) time to sell Henry and Rachel Kirk bought their two-bedroom Mahwah town house in 2005, not long before the housing bubble began to deflate. As their family expanded to include three children, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 27 Comments

Wish we were over-heated, I’m done with the winter.

Posted on March 21, 2015 by grim

From the WSJ: Report Says “False Equity is on the Rise” in Housing Market Home prices in some U.S. markets are rising much faster than rental incomes or what it would cost to build new houses in those markets, according … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 17 Comments

You know it’s bad when Detroit replaces Atlantic City in Monopoly

Posted on March 20, 2015 by grim

Perhaps we should accept AC sliding further into the pit of irrelevance. Are those bulldozers I hear in the background? Sad reflection on the Atlantic City leadership and the State of NJ. Shame shame. From the APP: Atlantic City rejected … Continue reading →

Posted in Shore Real Estate | 83 Comments

National foreclosures nearing 10 year low

Posted on March 19, 2015 by grim

From Marketwatch: U.S. Foreclosure Activity Down 4 Percent in February to Lowest Level Since July 2006 Despite 9 Percent Rise in REOs Realtytrac today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report(TM) for February 2015, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 73 Comments

Jersey gains jobs

Posted on March 18, 2015 by grim

From the Record: NJ added 12,400 jobs in January; unemployment rate at 6.3% New Jersey got a double portion of positive employment news Tuesday: Not only did the state add 12,400 jobs in January, but it turns out that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 109 Comments

Back in the New York groove

Posted on March 16, 2015 by grim

From the WSJ: U.S. Regained Top Spot for Real Estate Investment in 2014 We’re number one – again! For the first time since 2009, the U.S. was the top destination for capital going into real estate markets, according to Cushman … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Employment, National Real Estate, NYC | 143 Comments

Maybe millennials will save the market?

Posted on March 14, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: Is household formation set for a rebound Despite ongoing concerns about the delay in household formation by younger buyers, demographically speaking things may be about to turn a corner. The decline in the share of young adults living … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery | 21 Comments