Monthly Archives: June 2024

Dining rooms and jello molds

From The Atlantic: Why Dining Rooms Are Disappearing From American Homes The dining room is the closest thing the American home has to an appendix—a dispensable feature that served some more important function at an earlier stage of architectural evolution. … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, National Real Estate, Where's the Beef? | 137 Comments

Fire up the money machine

From Yahoo Finance: Mortgage rates decline for 4th straight week The national average on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage inched down to 6.86% from 6.87% a week prior, according to Freddie Mac’s report published on Thursday. Rates have declined for four … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 16 Comments

No home for you

From CNN: The housing market is ‘stuck’ until at least 2026, Bank of America warns Help may not be on the way for first-time homebuyers frustrated by high mortgage rates and even higher home prices. Economists at Bank of America … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 78 Comments

No chance of home price declines?

From Marketwatch: When will home prices go down? Six economists weigh in. “The U.S. housing shortage is still lingering based on our estimate of 4.5 million additional housing units that are required to make up for the gaps accumulated from … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 82 Comments

What’s the next year hold?

From Fast Company: Updated home price forecasts from Zillow and Moody’s for 400 housing markets Despite strained housing affordability, national home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, increased by 3.9% from May 2023 to May 2024 (see … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 19 Comments

Expensive, no end in sight

From the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard: THE STATE OF THE NATION’S HOUSING 2024 Both homeowners and renters are struggling with high housing costs. On the for-sale side, millions of potential homebuyers have been priced out of the … Continue reading

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 22 Comments

Cracks in the market?

From ATTOM: New Jersey And Illinois Have Highest Concentrations Of Housing Markets At Risk Of DeclinesATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released a Special Housing Impact Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the United States … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 33 Comments

Record high, once again.

From CNBC: Home prices hit record high in May as sales stall Sales of previously owned homes are sitting at a 30-year low and didn’t move much in May as prices hit a new record and mortgage rates remain high. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 17 Comments

Jobs strong in NJ

From the NJBIA: NJ Gains Jobs in May, Unemployment Dips to 4.6%  The state’s unemployment rate declined by one-tenth of a percentage point for the second consecutive month to 4.6% in May, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 61 Comments

Anyone can get a $50m loan

From the Star Ledger: N.J. real estate investor admits role in $54.7M mortgage fraud scheme A New Jersey real estate investor admitted Monday that he was involved in a massive, far-reaching $54.7 million mortgage fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said. Aron … Continue reading

Posted in National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 104 Comments

Just another day in NJ politics

Hat Tip Gator. From NJ101.5: NJ Democratic boss stares down officials at corruption-case news conferenceLike a boss, Democratic power broker George Norcross sat defiantly in the front row on Monday as the state Attorney General’s Office outlined a blockbuster corruption … Continue reading

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 92 Comments

What’s it take to get banned by Freddie and Fannie?

From the Real Deal: Meridian makes cuts to New Jersey office  Meridian Capital Group has let go of brokers in its New Jersey office as the brokerage goes through a leadership shakeup and a blacklist from Freddie Mac and Fannie … Continue reading

Posted in Mortgages, NYC, Risky Lending | 26 Comments

Covid claims another

From NorthJersey.com: Coach USA bus company files for bankruptcy. How will it impact NJ riders? Paramus-based Coach USA — one of the largest private bus companies in the country — filed to begin Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings this week. Dan … Continue reading

Posted in Crisis, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate, NYC | 16 Comments

Another month, another record

From Redfin: U.S. Home Prices Hit Another Record High, But Mortgage Rates Are Starting to Decline–Which Could Give Buyers Relief The median U.S. home-sale price hit an all-time high of $394,000 during the four weeks ending June 9, up 4.4% … Continue reading

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

Pays to own a home in NJ

(Until it doesn’t) From CoreLogic: Homeowner Equity Insights – Q1 2024 CoreLogic analysis shows U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 62% of all properties*) have seen their equity increase by a total of $1.5 trillion since the first quarter of 2023, … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 85 Comments