Category Archives: Housing Recovery

February Pending Home Sales Beat

Posted on March 31, 2015 by grim

From CNBC: Pending home sales rose 3.1% in February Colder than average temperatures and heavy snow in much of the U.S. failed to keep February home buyers away. Signed contracts to buy existing homes rose 3.1 percent from January, according … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 84 Comments

“Newark needs love, Paris doesn’t”

Posted on March 29, 2015 by grim

From Politico: Is Newark the Next Brooklyn? NNewark is building again. Yes, that Newark—the city in Jersey that burned after the ’67 riots, the one that helped to define “white flight,” that struggles still with almost impenetrable unemployment and homelessness … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 40 Comments

Ball and chain holds back housing

Posted on March 28, 2015 by grim

From the NYT: Negative Equity a Drag on Home Sales While existing home sales are up nearly 5 percent from last year, economists say activity would likely be more brisk if it weren’t for the negative equity overhang that has … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 32 Comments

All about the wages (but did they get it right?)

Posted on March 27, 2015 by grim

From Bloomberg: U.S. Home Prices Are Surging 13 Times Faster Than Wages For most people, buying a home is no cheap venture. That’s especially the case when the growth in U.S. home prices is beating wage increases 13 to 1. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery | 61 Comments

Otteau’s forecast for 2015

Posted on March 25, 2015 by grim

From the Record: After tepid 2014, home prices forecast to rise 3.5% this year After treading water in 2014, New Jersey home prices will get a boost from low mortgage rates and an improving job market this year, appraiser Jeffrey … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery | 161 Comments

NAR calls rent and price growth “unhealthy”

Posted on March 24, 2015 by grim

From the WSJ: Home Sales Edge Up, but Rising Prices and Tight Supply Loom as Headwind Sales of previously owned homes ticked up last month, but buyers are facing a dynamic of rising home prices and shrinking inventory that make … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 58 Comments

Housing recovery for the high end?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by grim

From the NY Times: Mortgage Amounts Rising More Quickly Than Home Prices Mortgage amounts are rising more quickly than home prices, an unusual phenomenon that seems to confirm continued weakness at the lower end of the housing market, according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 46 Comments

Bubble buyers capitulating?

Posted on March 22, 2015 by grim

From the Record: Homeowners who’ve decided it’s (finally) time to sell Henry and Rachel Kirk bought their two-bedroom Mahwah town house in 2005, not long before the housing bubble began to deflate. As their family expanded to include three children, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 27 Comments

National foreclosures nearing 10 year low

Posted on March 19, 2015 by grim

From Marketwatch: U.S. Foreclosure Activity Down 4 Percent in February to Lowest Level Since July 2006 Despite 9 Percent Rise in REOs Realtytrac today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report(TM) for February 2015, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 73 Comments

Maybe millennials will save the market?

Posted on March 14, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: Is household formation set for a rebound Despite ongoing concerns about the delay in household formation by younger buyers, demographically speaking things may be about to turn a corner. The decline in the share of young adults living … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery | 21 Comments

Strong shore season in store for 2015

Posted on March 13, 2015 by grim

From the Press of Atlantic City: Beach rentals enjoying stronger season than 2014 It may seem a bit too early to worry about your plans for July and August, but it may be too late already to rent some local … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Shore Real Estate | 114 Comments

Investors have all gone

Posted on March 10, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: CoreLogic: Cash sales drop to 35.5% of home sales Cash sales made up 35.5% of total home sales in December 2014, down from 38.5% in December 2013, marking the 24th consecutive month of declines, the latest report from … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 111 Comments

Maybe millennials will buy after all?

Posted on March 8, 2015 by grim

From the NYT: Millennials on the Homeownership Path Besieged by the recession and buried in student loan debt, the so-called millennials, born from the early ’80s through the late ’90s, have largely lacked the financial wherewithal to buy their own … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery | 3 Comments

Housing recovery for the top?

Posted on March 5, 2015 by grim

From Bloomberg View: Income Inequality Hits the Housing Market There’s been plenty of talk recently about signs of recovery in the housing market. Rather than think about housing as a single market, it might be helpful to look at housing … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate | 88 Comments

Will the snow hold down sales?

Posted on March 2, 2015 by grim

From the Record: Winter weather puts a chill on home sales Avi and Leah Greengart want to sell their four-bedroom Teaneck house, but this winter’s frigid, icy weather hasn’t done them any favors. “There has not been a warm day … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate | 59 Comments