From NJ Biz:
N.J. added over 12k jobs in February, new report says
New Jersey added 12,600 total nonfarm jobs last month and saw its unemployment rate tick down slightly to 4.4 percent, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development,
The report also presented revised numbers for January, increasing that month’s total nonfarm job growth by 1,300 positions, to a total of 15,900 jobs.
“The Garden State economy is steaming forward, with private-sector job growth well above 10,000 for the second month in a row,” said state Department of the Treasury chief economist James Wooster. “The unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent and is now well below the national rate of 4.7 percent. And, for yet another month, New Jersey’s private sector growth outpaced the national rate.”
In February, the vast majority of the added jobs came in the private sector, where industries such as manufacturing and construction saw the biggest gains.
Good Morning New Jersey
Been noticing a lot of help wanted signs
outside small businesses
Jersey!!
Median home price in 1950 was 2x median household income. Today it is 4 times. Data from Washington Post article. Very little data given, however. Houses are much larger (average), other missing part ( more important) is that many more women are included in the household income, plus they make much more than in the 50’s. If so, much higher burden on the youth today.
Not only size but quality of finish and significantly more stringent regulatory around building code.
Homes are actually less expensive on an apples to apples comparison, we just feel that we all deserve to live in Mansions.
Quality? Yeah, high end. But some of the older homes are built extremely well.
Grim, what about the dirt under the house? The dirt is so valuable that no one will even build a Levittown size house anymore. Find me a 1/4 acre lot where a builder is willing to build a 1300/1600 sq ft house today. Won’t happen. And you are not building a house without a lot so the property must be factored into the equation. Add that to your apples and you no longer have an apples to apples comparison.
“Homes are actually less expensive on an apples to apples comparison, we just feel that we all deserve to live in Mansions.”
But what about all the POS capes that haven’t been updated since the late 50s?
BRT,
Go ask grandpa what he wants for it. Or Grandma. Bought it in 1961 for 17k, wants you to pay 299k now.
Usually, my experience has been, grandpa passed away and his kids want 375k.
I miss Gary’s Bergen County house search…….
Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
March 26, 2017 at 4:49 pm
But what about all the POS capes that haven’t been updated since the late 50s?
BRT,
And there you have it…..
The fact is that the housing stock here is old so it’s either tear-down or rehab. Either option is a recipe for financial disaster unless your town is ‘hot’….
Look at the capitalist tools complaining about capitalism. Maybe someone should teach you how to get a clue.
Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
March 26, 2017 at 5:27 pm
Usually, my experience has been, grandpa passed away and his kids want 375k.
Levittowns and the GI mortgage programs that filled them with buyers are soc!alism. I trust you are not suggesting we return to such government interference with the free market, comrade.
Phoenix says:
March 26, 2017 at 3:17 pm
Grim, what about the dirt under the house? The dirt is so valuable that no one will even build a Levittown size house anymore. Find me a 1/4 acre lot where a builder is willing to build a 1300/1600 sq ft house today. Won’t happen. And you are not building a house without a lot so the property must be factored into the equation. Add that to your apples and you no longer have an apples to apples comparison.
“Homes are actually less expensive on an apples to apples comparison, we just feel that we all deserve to live in Mansions.”
The biggest unintended consequence legislation that is likely to come out of the Trump times will be the privatization of Fannie/Freddie.
It’ll happen because Wall Street rules everything. It’ll happen because the financial rent seeking to Wall Street is unimaginable. Just picture 20-30yrs amortize loans with 5 yrs balloons that you have to refinance (fees) or requalify loan for another 5yrs.
You can actually follow the line of big money/capitalism. First build industry to make and sell products. Can’t compete. Move factories out to cheapest corner of the country/world. Can’t make easy money rig the system to extort fees/tolls in anything that you can, even and specially if you move into the duties government used to do.
Market futures looking bleak. Sell in March and go away?
What is the anger over people selling property at market value? The example of grandpa asking $299,000 for the home he paid $17,000 is OK if that represents market value. The example of the heirs overpricing and asking $375,000 means they will wait longer to get the $299,000 that grandpa knew the house was worth.
What happens when you are grandpa and your home is worth substantially more than you paid? Are you going to sell it for less than it is worth because you feel that is the fair thing to do?
Usually, my experience has been, grandpa passed away and his kids want 375k
Especially when you need a gas mask to walk through the place. The wonderful aroma of Rheingold, Chesterfields and leftover stuffed cabbage dinner does not make me envision Pottery Barn potential.
Builders building large homes is based on market demand and the concept known as highest and best use. The 1200 square foot cape is no longer the highest and best use when zoning permits a 3600 square foot home that the market will gladly absorb at a profitable price.
’30 i think the market knows this and acts accordingly.
Most are grudgingly paying up. In my case 1981 the place went for $180k – now I’m in at $750k. Only in the People’s Republic of Cali. Not here. Sane diff. Same rules apply. Onlyhere’s the rub, what condition is the place in?
Fast Eddie, You sound like a typical snowflake!
Thank you
: ) !!!!!!
Fast Eddie says:
March 27, 2017 at 9:20 am
Usually, my experience has been, grandpa passed away and his kids want 375k
Especially when you need a gas mask to walk through the place. The wonderful aroma of Rheingold, Chesterfields and leftover stuffed cabbage dinner does not make me envision Pottery Barn potential.
sh!t always happens at the end of the quarter like fcuking clockwork……..fcuk!
STEAMTurd says:
March 27, 2017 at 8:52 am
Market futures looking bleak. Sell in March and go away?
3o year,
Hmmm… please describe the qualities of a typical snowflake.
“sh!t always happens at the end of the quarter”
I’ve totally witnessed this pattern with our investment club holdings. Earnings season brings us above mean every time. Then when all of the companies are finished reporting, it’s lookout below time.
Glad I saved a quarter of my retirement from this mayhem. Now to time getting back in properly. This is the tricky part.
Look at the capitalist tools complaining about capitalism. Maybe someone should teach you how to get a clue.
Uh huh. I don’t give a crap what they list it for. No one here is complaining except you to yourself.
So how is the Spring selling season going?
Out of the 150 homes in my development, only two are for sale on the MLS. The serial re-listers have put their home up for sale again. One on the busy main road and the other just tacked on $25k to the 2016 asking price.
Fast Eddie –
So where did you finally end up? Perhaps I missed it but I remember following your house hunt saga for quite some time and then you were in your new home the next time I checked in here.
How much did you end up off the original and ‘last’ list price? Did you end up having to put a lot of work in? Just curious as I seem to recall you put a lot of time in over several years.
Shore real estate report. The Allenhurst beach house I built in 1997 and sold in 2004 has just been gutted to the 2×6 studs. All the plumbing, electric, HVAC removed. The present owners when applying for relief of the land coverage variance (4500 sq ft house was not big enough) said the the house was old and needed updating. They use the house for two months a year. Good times for the 1%ers!
topper,
I am North of route 80 and East of route 287. ;) The house is roomy and has a combination of old and new world charm. It’s a very “warm” house with it’s own personality. I was getting nauseous looking at split levels. It was being in the right place at the right time, in so many words. The infrastructure was buttoned up and we already did some other work like updating two bathrooms, adding a knockout chandelier in the dinning room, painting the kitchen, having two bedrooms painted w. crown molding, new lighting, new window treatments, new stone floor in the den after removing linoleum, etc. etc.
It was meticulously kept in some ways but needed things done to bring it up to speed. I was willing to put some money into it but I needed to find a house that had it’s own identity and in an area that mattered to me. You walk in the front door, there’s a foyer with a coat closet and then when you walk into the living room, you’re looking at a wood-burning fire place, wide, engineered-planked flooring and double French doors to the left leading into the office. You know it’s a real house as soon as you walk into the place. That doesn’t include a 35 x 25 family room addition and an old-school walk-up attic equipped with a few old glass bottles in the corner from the turn of the century.
In the next few weeks I’m having a guy do the fireplace in some stone or marble work. You get the picture.
Chi…
Where’s the Revolution is the best DM song I’ve heard since college. This one will definitely go top 10 if not #1.
Fast Eddie –
Glad that you like your “new” house and don’t have buyer’s remorse.
Haven’t heard you sounding so happy about something in a long time.
Sima,
Lol! What me, happy? Thank you. I still think sellers are on drugs with the asking prices and still hold my breath not crying the blues if the hammer falls on my current job. We had a reorg recently and people were let go. The bottom line is I’m too old to give a sh1t. I got the house at a price I can live with and as long as I can pay my bills, I’ll sleep at night. How many times can I bang my head against the wall?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-27/america-s-housing-inventory-problem-explained-in-four-charts
The most shocking thing about Depeche Mode to me is that according to Wikipedia all three band members are all married, and to women.
The song sounds like their old songs. Still using the same synths and drum machines? Decent but very repetitive. I presume they won’t be touring/playing this in China, Cuba or Russia, where the lyrics seem most apt.
30 yr,
So highest and best use values also have changed over the years.
What is so different that was highest and best in 1960 is no longer highest and best in 2013.
Does a 4 person household that grew up fine in a 1600 sq ft home now feel cramped in that same 1600 sq ft home and need one twice the size?
30 yr,
Also, I believe 1600 sq ft houses will sell very quickly if they are in good condition and priced appropriately.
Just not enough profit for someone to make them anymore. Towns don’t want them either as they prefer to acquire more tax dollars.
Try doing this today..
” A truck would pull up to one tract and pour the concrete for a house foundation. Then it would move on to the next lot, and the next, and the next. Less than a week later, a construction team would be hammering wood frames into place. At that rate, Levittown houses could be built at the rate of 18 in the morning, 18 at night..”
10,000 dollar homes according to the article. Now factor in inflation
$10,000 in 1960 equals $82,119.73 in 2017. Remember, this would be for a new (but old) home, not one completely worn out.
http://www.saving.org/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10,000&year=1960
http://www.capitalcentury.com/1951.html
Dig a hole, wait for inspection, pour a footing, wait for inspection, build the foundation, wait for inspection, framing, inspection, electrical, inspection, plumbing, inspection,…
The End Is Nigh (Not Sure How To Categorize This One Edition):
http://nypost.com/2017/03/27/european-country-imposes-social-parasite-tax-on-the-poor/
Turd & No One….
This one leads off the album….may be the next single….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxv9TTmk18o
Not nearly as catchy in my opinion.
Then again, I dig the new Katy Perry song as well. Everybody is living in a bubble, bubble.
Chi,
Surprised you didn’t post from one of your favorites. While I still don’t agree with a lot of her views, it’s a fun read.
Are we great yet Gary?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/opinion/sunday/donald-this-i-will-tell-you.html