Author Archives: grim

Tippy Top?

Posted on April 25, 2025 by grim

From CNBC: March home sales drop to their slowest pace since 2009 Higher mortgage rates and concern over the broader economy are making for a weak start to the all-important spring housing market. Sales of previously owned homes in March … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 121 Comments

Is it really collusion if the data is public?

Posted on April 24, 2025 by grim

From Reuters: New Jersey sues RealPage, says collusion with landlords drives up rents New Jersey sued the property management software company RealPage, accusing it and 10 of the state’s largest landlords of conspiring to drive up residential rents, violating federal … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 153 Comments

Doh!

Posted on April 23, 2025 by grim

From the prestigious journal of economics and social commentary … Cracked: No Middle-Class Family Can Live Like ‘The Simpsons’ Anymore, Census Shows Over the past 36 seasons, The Simpsons has given us episodes about elaborate monorail scams, gun-toting babies and aliens from … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 87 Comments

$500k doesn’t get you paradise

Posted on April 22, 2025 by grim

From NJ1015: The price of paradise: New Jersey’s staggering housing market If you’ve been house-hunting lately in New Jersey, you probably didn’t need a national ranking to tell you it’s expensive. But just in case you were wondering, yep, we officially … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate, Where's the Beef? | 80 Comments

NJ Loses Jobs in March

Posted on April 21, 2025 by grim

From NJBIA: NJ Hiring Slows in March as Jobless Rate Ticks Up to 4.7%  New Jersey had a net loss of 2,700 jobs during the month of March and the state’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.7%, according to preliminary … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 95 Comments

Uh Oh…

Posted on April 20, 2025 by grim

From Zillow: Zillow Home Value and Home Sales Forecast (April 2025) Zillow’s latest forecast indicates a decline in home values coupled with an increase in existing home sales for 2025. While mortgage rates are in an especially unpredictable period, barring … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 25 Comments

Of course NJ knows how to negotiate

Posted on April 18, 2025 by grim

From ESPN (I have no idea, but I’ll take it): New Jersey Homebuyers Rank Among America’s Top Negotiators New Home prices have been on the rise across the United States. In New Jersey, there has been a 12.5% increase in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Where's the Beef? | 129 Comments

Monmouth foreclosures up (but the number is tiny)

Posted on April 17, 2025 by grim

From NJ1015: This county had the sharpest increase in foreclosures in NJ If you’ve been following the housing market in New Jersey, you already know it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Between rising interest rates, high home prices, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending, Shore Real Estate | 49 Comments

NJ economy softening?

Posted on April 15, 2025 by grim

From nj.com: Layoffs in N.J. double. More than 3,600 jobs are gone this year.  New Jersey saw twice as many layoffs in the first quarter of 2025 than it did last year, even before tariff fears, according to federal labor statistics. There … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 135 Comments

At least we still have the house

Posted on April 12, 2025 by grim

From the WSJ: Americans Have $35 Trillion in Housing Wealth—and It’s Costing Them The extra half a million dollars seemed to come so easily—on paper, at least.  In 2021, Nikole Flores and Rocco Savage bought an 1,800-square-foot home in Miami … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Employment, Housing Bubble, Mortgages | 154 Comments

As goes stocks?

Posted on April 11, 2025 by grim

From NorthJersey.com: Do stock market’s ups and downs impact NJ’s real estate prices? We asked the experts The stock market experienced a historic rally on Wednesday following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on most tariffs. The rally … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Employment, National Real Estate | 86 Comments

Here comes the inventory?

Posted on April 9, 2025 by grim

From the Bergen Record: Despite still dealing with low inventory, NJ saw a spike in active home listings in March As we get further into spring, real estate activity across the Garden State continues to grow. And while our region … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, New Jersey Real Estate | 191 Comments

Deal time?

Posted on April 7, 2025 by grim

From Yahoo Finance: Builders sitting on a pile of unsold homes are slashing prices and offering mortgage rate deals Homebuilders are sitting on the most unsold homes since the depths of the Great Recession, giving buyers a chance to snag … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, New Development | 188 Comments

What’s going to happen to the spring market?

Posted on April 5, 2025 by grim

From NPR: More homes are finally hitting the spring market. Will buyers take the plunge? It’s springtime, and “For Sale” signs are popping up in front of homes across the country. But with so much uncertainty in the economy, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Mortgages, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate | 91 Comments

You need to make more money

Posted on April 4, 2025 by grim

From NorthJersey.com: Six-figure salary needed to buy a home in 30 states. This is how much you’ll need in NJ Earning more than $100,000 a year is something many of us can only dream of. What if we told you … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 193 Comments