Monthly Archives: June 2016

Pending Home Sales pause in May

Posted on June 30, 2016 by grim

From CNBC: Pending home sales down 3.7%, marking first annual drop in two years The final push of the spring housing season turned out weaker than expected. Signed contracts to buy existing homes fell 3.7 percent in May compared to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 68 Comments

Home prices set new highs in April (but not us)

Posted on June 29, 2016 by grim

From the Record: Home prices in N.Y. metro area continue gradual increases Home prices in the region are rising, but at only half the rate of the national averages, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index reported Tuesday. As the nation continues … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 70 Comments

Spy house still empty, Fitz-Hume and Millbarge disapprove.

Posted on June 28, 2016 by grim

From the NY Times: ‘Spy House,’ a Decrepit Reminder of Betrayal, Sits Empty in New Jersey Amid the 75 houses inside the oak-lined, no-outlet neighborhood, a single home stands unoccupied, a celebrity eyesore. Inside the house, the baseboards have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Comp Killer, New Jersey Real Estate | 54 Comments

Will it ever sell? Probably not.

Posted on June 27, 2016 by grim

From Forbes: New Jersey’s Most Expensive Home is Back on the Market for $48.8 Million Eight miles from Manhattan, a 30,000-square-foot estate is quietly hidden on six acres in the exclusive neighborhood of Alpine, New Jersey. Home to celebrities, doctors, … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 56 Comments

Foreclosure bill doesn’t go far enough to prevent zombies

Posted on June 25, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: Senate to consider wide-ranging bill to address zombie foreclosure “crisis” Mortgage lenders and servicers could soon have a whole new set of responsibilities for maintaining foreclosed homes, as Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, introduced a new bill on Friday … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 17 Comments

Investors out as cash sales fall?

Posted on June 24, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: CoreLogic: Fewer buyers paying cash for properties Cash sales made up 33% of total home sales in March 2016, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points annually, according to a recent report by CoreLogic. Monthly, cash sales fell by … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 106 Comments

Home sales strong in May

Posted on June 23, 2016 by grim

From the Record: Home sales climb in May to the highest level since before the recession In a sign of growing demand for housing, eager home buyers scooped up properties quickly this spring: Sales of existing homes in May reached … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 89 Comments

Housing expensive, rent or buy.

Posted on June 21, 2016 by grim

From APP: With rent of $1,160 a month in Asbury Park taking up most of her family’s income, Susan Aquino began to search for a new apartment that would give her some breathing room. The hunt didn’t last very long. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 229 Comments

Tan Man Walks

Posted on June 20, 2016 by grim

From Bloomberg: Countrywide’s Mozilo Off Hook as U.S. Said to Abandon Suit U.S. prosecutors have abandoned their case against Angelo Mozilo, a leader in selling the risky subprime mortgages that fueled the financial crisis, after a two-year quest to bring … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, Risky Lending | 57 Comments

A bad May for NJ jobs

Posted on June 18, 2016 by grim

From the Record: NJ lost 6,800 jobs in May; unemployment rate ticks up New Jersey lost 6,800 jobs last month, increasing the state’s unemployment rate to 4.9 percent, slightly higher than the national average, the Department of Labor and Workforce … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 42 Comments

Guess who is back?

Posted on June 17, 2016 by grim

From the NYT: Bidding Wars in the Suburbs The listing Nadia Krivickova and Michael Krivicka had been waiting for popped up early last September: a pristine 2,500-square-foot 1924 colonial with a child-friendly backyard in the lower Westchester County village of … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate, NYC | 99 Comments

Brookings: Student loan debt not holding back homeownership

Posted on June 16, 2016 by grim

From Brookings: The dividing line between haves and have-nots in home ownership: Education, not student debt There is widespread concern that student loans are a drag on the housing market. Leading economic thinkers, including Larry Summers and Joe Stiglitz, have … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 101 Comments

April foreclosures and delinquencies show continued improvement

Posted on June 15, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: April foreclosure inventory down about 25% from last year Foreclosure inventory continues to decline, decreasing 23.4% annually in April, while completed foreclosures declined by 15.8% annually, according to the April 2016 National Foreclosure Report released by CoreLogic, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 61 Comments

Will the next bubble be the biggest yet?

Posted on June 14, 2016 by grim

From CNBC: Experts sharply divided over whether surging home prices signal new bubble We’re living in a very different housing world today — from tighter credit to stricter regulations — compared with the dark days of the crash, but rising … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 122 Comments

Nobody ever said real estate was a rational market

Posted on June 13, 2016 by grim

From the WSJ: The Psychology of Buying and Selling a House It’s a fact of life: Homes come with far more emotional weight than any other investment we make. A home is a refuge from the world, a place to … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, National Real Estate | 50 Comments