Author Archives: grim

Short refi window closes

From CNBC: Mortgage rates jump back over 7% as stronger economic data rolls in The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage crossed over 7% on Monday for the first time since December, hitting 7.04%, according to Mortgage News Daily. … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 111 Comments

Sorry Texas

… Louisiana, and Mississippi.

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

January a mixed bag for NJ real estate

From NorthJersey.com: Real estate snapshot: Did North Jersey home prices increase in January? In January, New Jersey’s real estate market saw both positive and negative trends for potential homebuyers. Just about half of New Jersey’s 21 counties saw an increase … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 38 Comments

Finally slowing?

From CNBC: Home prices began to cool in November after nine straight months of gains, S&P Case-Shiller says Home prices in November fell 0.2% from October, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index. While that may not … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 124 Comments

NJ second worst state to retire in

From WalletHub: Best and Worst States to Retire (2024) Many people fear that retirement will mark the end of their financial security, and others worry they might never actually get to retire. That’s understandable when 28% of non-retired adults haven’t saved any … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 90 Comments

Uh oh…

From NJ.com: New listings of home sales spiked 72% in this N.J. county. Latest rankings by county.

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 78 Comments

Blame taxes for the inventory?

From CNN: Boomers are not moving out of their big homes. Here’s why After 33 years and four children, Baby Boomers Marta and Octavian Dragos say they feel trapped in what was once their dream home in El Cerrito, California. … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Politics, Property Taxes | 94 Comments

NJ Homes for $1

From Patch: $1 Homes For Sale In Newark; Public Lottery Will Mark Milestone Buy a house for a buck? That’s the dream that’s about to become reality for some lucky Newark families on Monday, when the city launches its first … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 64 Comments

Zillow: Up, up, and away!

From Fortune: Zillow just raised its home price forecast, seeing a 3.7% jump in 2024, and it’s all because of ‘external factors’ Just as things had started looking up for the U.S. housing market, with mortgage rates dropping modestly, on Thursday Zillow revised … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 59 Comments

So much for 2023…

From the NJ Association of Realtors: Monthly Indicators – December 2023 From NJ Business Magazine: Closed Home Sales in NJ Down 22.1% in 2023 New Jersey Realtors has released its 2023 year-end residential real estate housing market data revealing the … Continue reading

Posted in Demographics, Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 129 Comments

#hodlforever

About time the rest of the industry noted the behavioral trend that we were one of first to identify and discuss. 2) Mortgage lock-in, and this is one of the major trends I’m looking at in the near future. Should … Continue reading

Posted in Crisis, Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages | 59 Comments

Fairest lawn of all

From NJ.com: Bidding war results in suburban N.J. home selling for $115K over the asking price A house in Fair Lawn was priced to sell – and it sure did. For more than $100,000 over the asking price.

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 75 Comments

How long to sell?

From NJ.com: Homes taking longer to sell in N.J. See latest county-by-county rankings. Median Days on Market Burlington County 40 Gloucester County 40 Camden County 42 Union County 44 Middlesex County 45 Somerset County 46 Mercer County 46 Cumberland County … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 69 Comments

Prices to fall in 2024?

From Fast Company: Fannie Mae expects U.S. home prices to rise in 2024; Morgan Stanley disagrees “When we published our year-end forecast, we were expecting [housing] affordability to improve. . . . If mortgage rates were to stay here that improvement … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 78 Comments

Nobody selling, nobody buying

From PBS Newshour: U.S. existing home sales drop to near 30-year low Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank in 2023 to a nearly 30-year low as mortgage rates climbed to the highest level in more than two decades and … Continue reading

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 10 Comments