Monthly Archives: October 2018

Home price growth continues to slow

From CNBC: Home price gains fall below 6% for the first time in a year: August S&P Case-Shiller index Mortgage interest rates didn’t begin their recent surge until the start of September, but home prices were already feeling pressure, as … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 162 Comments

The “fix” is easy

The fix is to allow lenders to foreclose without requiring approval of the judiciary, everything else is a gimmick and give-away, like this from NJ101.5: HOW CAN WE FIX SOUTH JERSEY’S TROUBLING FORECLOSURE MESS? A new report finds the foreclosure … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, South Jersey Real Estate | 64 Comments

Strollers hit Jersey City

From the NY Times: Jersey City Grows Up When Zacheus and Ratri Chan showed up at an open house for a townhouse in the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City last fall, there was a line down the street. The six-bedroom … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Gold Coast, New Development | 15 Comments

SALT cap hits the Northeast … hard

From Bloomberg: Housing Is Tanking in the Northeast. Guess Why. Sales of new single-family houses were down 13.2 percent in September from a year earlier, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday. That’s a lot — the biggest year-over-year percentage decline since … Continue reading

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

New home sales “collapse” in the Northeast.

From CNBC: New home sales drop 5.5% in September to near two-year low New home sales plunged in September, falling 5.5 percent to an almost two-year low amid pressures from rising interest rates that have hammered the real estate market. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Development | 35 Comments

A Manufacturing Comeback?

From NJBiz: CBRE: 2018 strong year for NJ manufacturing real estate Boosted by the sale of a Jersey City manufacturing property, the real estate services and investment firm CBRE is forecasting 2018 to be one of the strongest years for … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 80 Comments

Kaboom! Err, a new boom.

From HousingWire: TransUnion: Home equity lending is going to soar Home equity levels continue to rise, and all signs point to a market ripe for home equity lending, according to a recent report from consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion. Home … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 42 Comments

Buy! No, rent! No, buy!

From the Real Deal: More than 75% of Americans choose renting a home over buying: report Fewer Americans are in the home-buying mood. Rising interest rates and housing prices prices, coupled with slowing rent growth are making homeownership less attractive. … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 94 Comments

Room to run or end of the road?

From Bloomberg: Housing Market Is Raising Serious Red Flags Despite a robust U.S. economy, at least as measured by gross domestic product, real home price growth is locked in a cyclical downturn. If that’s not bad enough, it will likely … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 96 Comments

Rockland and Westchester slow

From LoHud: After a robust year, there are signs the housing market is in correction mode The residential market in the Lower Hudson Valley shows signs of a slowdown. The number of sales in the third quarter slipped from a … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, North Jersey Real Estate, NYC | 65 Comments

Oh baby, now we’re talking

From CNBC: Thousands line up for zero-down-payment, subprime mortgages Magdalene Altidor lost her home to foreclosure during the subprime mortgage crisis, but this week she was first in line at a four-day event in Miami where borrowers with poor credit … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, Risky Lending | 16 Comments

Big Spender

From the Star Ledger: $170M Bayfront plan given final OK by Jersey City council A $170 million plan that city officials say will give them more control over the redevelopment of a formerly contaminated swath of waterfront land cleared a … Continue reading

Posted in Gold Coast, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 33 Comments

Mortgage rates touch 5% again

From CNBC: Mortgage rates jump past 5%, signaling more home price cuts ahead Millennials are in their prime homebuying years, and they’re used to cheap credit. So they might be in for a rude awakening as mortgage rates jump. The … Continue reading

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate | 80 Comments

Can NJ buy it’s way into a startup economy?

From the Star Ledger: Murphy’s risky plan to spark Jersey’s sagging economy Is New Jersey’s government smart enough to invest $250 million in venture capital projects, and come out a winner? Should a government that is not competent to run … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 141 Comments

Murphy taxes online sales

From InsiderNJ: Now Law: Burzichelli & Moriarty Bill to Require Marketplace Facilitators & Certain Remote Sellers to Pay NJ Sales Tax Legislation sponsored by Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Paul Moriarty to ensure a level playing field between brick-and-mortar businesses and … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 134 Comments