Monthly Archives: October 2017

Home Builders turn against tax plan

Posted on October 30, 2017 by grim

From the Washington Post: Home builders raise a hammer, try to smash the GOP tax bill The Republican effort to overhaul the tax code suffered a bruising setback over the weekend when a powerful corporate interest group came out against … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 139 Comments

Can small business thrive in NJ?

Posted on October 29, 2017 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Which are the hottest counties in N.J. for new business? Hank Sauce is made in small batches by hand, when the restaurant in Sea Isle City run by Josh Jaspan and his two former college roommates … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 54 Comments

Time to take a vacation … on the house!

Posted on October 27, 2017 by grim

From CNBC: Home equity loans set to soar along with home prices Ever since the epic housing crash of the last decade, homeowners have been incredibly conservative with their housing debt. Home prices rose, at first slowly and now quite … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 116 Comments

What the hell?

Posted on October 26, 2017 by grim

From HousingWire: New home sales 10-year high baffles economists After hitting a new low in August, new home sales surged in September to their fastest pace in the past decade, according to the latest report released jointly by the U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, National Real Estate, New Development | 127 Comments

NJ’s MacArthur throws down the gauntlet

Posted on October 25, 2017 by grim

From CNN: Republican group threatens to block budget over tax deduction fight Threatening the GOP’s top priority of passing major tax reform, Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur warned Tuesday night that so many House Republicans are frustrated with plans to nix … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 70 Comments

Automation will reshape America

Posted on October 24, 2017 by grim

From MIT Technology Review: In These Small Cities, AI Advances Could Be Costly It’s long been clear that urbanization and automated technologies are shaping society, but it hasn’t been obvious how the two forces affect each other. Until now, perhaps. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, National Real Estate | 139 Comments

If you can do it in Bergen?

Posted on October 23, 2017 by grim

From the Record: Bergen towns can build affordable housing Bergen County is recognized as one of the wealthiest counties in the country. Municipalities in the county helped secure this status by implementing exclusionary zoning practices that drove hard working families … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 40 Comments

Unexpected increase in September Home Sales

Posted on October 21, 2017 by grim

From HousingWire: Existing home sales reverse course, increase in September After falling for three straight months, existing home sales reversed course in September, posting an increase, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors. Total existing home … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 27 Comments

NJ Republicans vote to increase your taxes

Posted on October 20, 2017 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Senate Republicans just declared they want to kill your property tax deduction, New Jersey Senate Republicans just voted in favor of killing your property tax deduction, New Jersey. The GOP senators, whose states received $223 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 118 Comments

Bet the letters stop now…

Posted on October 19, 2017 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Judge throws out infamous Westfield ‘Watcher’ lawsuit A Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed the remaining counts of a civil lawsuit involving the infamous “Watcher” house, ending years of litigation about the Westfield home that gained … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Unrest | 69 Comments

Will big $$ make NJ more appealing?

Posted on October 17, 2017 by grim

From Bloomberg: Christie Backs Newark’s Amazon Bid With $7 Billion in Tax Breaks New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is seeking to deploy $7 billion in potential tax credits to lure Amazon.com Inc.’s planned second headquarters to Newark, which has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 188 Comments

Homes shrink, but they are still bigger than 10 years ago

Posted on October 16, 2017 by grim

From Bloomberg: Homes Are Shrinking in the U.S. In a reversal of a three-decade trend, U.S. homebuilders are cutting the size of the American home as margins are being squeezed by a shortage of land and labor. The average floor … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Development | 76 Comments

Albatross

Posted on October 15, 2017 by grim

From CNBC: Boomers worry they can’t sell those big suburban homes when the time comes Jeff Swaney is worried about selling his 5,600-square-foot home one day. In his neighborhood south of Atlanta, demand and prices for large ranch houses like … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 39 Comments

Why Trump’s tax plan will make housing even more unaffordable

Posted on October 13, 2017 by grim

There appears to be some thought that home prices on the coasts are elevated or subsidized through the use of the Mortgage Interest deduction (MID) and State and Local Tax (SaLT) deductions. These two deductions, either alone or together, artificially … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 125 Comments

Is it even possible to make NJ affordable?

Posted on October 12, 2017 by grim

From NJ Spotlight: RETHINKING NJ’S HOUSING MARKET TO MEETS NEEDS OF SUBURBANITES, CITY DWELLERS New Jersey’s next governor faces daunting housing problems that are widespread and complex, ranging from a lack of affordable homes in walkable communities to a glut … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 84 Comments