Save Housing, At Any Cost (again)

Posted on November 6, 2009 by grim

From the WSJ Developments Blog:

It’s (Almost) Official: Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended, Expanded

Congress voted on Thursday to extend the tax credit and President Obama plans on signing it into law Friday morning. The $8,000 credit will apply to all contracts, for homes up to $800,000, entered into before April 30, 2010, and closed by June 30. It creates a new $6,500 credit for property owners who have lived in their home for at least five consecutive years.

Income limits for eligible home buyers are expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples, from $75,000 and $150,000, respectively. To help guard against fraud, buyers are required to attach documentation of purchase to their tax return.

From the NY Times:

A Bad Way to Spend Money

Congress threw good money after bad this week when it voted to extend and expand a wasteful home buyer’s tax credit set to expire at the end of the month.

The new program, which will continue through the spring, is being portrayed as a rescue plan for the ailing housing market. But this costly giveaway to the real estate and mortgage industry will spend far more in taxpayers’ dollars than it can ever deliver in economic benefit. As happened with the cash-for-clunkers program in the automobile industry, the program will make housing look momentarily betterbut is unlikely to contribute to long-term recovery.
…
The bill that passed both houses of Congress this week extends the program through April 2010 and grants the full tax credit to couples who earn up to $225,000. The expanded program introduces a $6,500 tax credit for people who already own homes but want to buy new ones.

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 251 Comments

Construction loan crisis

Posted on November 5, 2009 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer:

Bad home-building loans plague banks

As financial regulators shift their sights to the mounting problems with commercial real estate loans, many Philadelphia-area banks remain bogged down in bad loans for residential construction.

Led by construction loans, the overall percentage of problem loans – those seriously behind in payment – at the 15 largest publicly traded banks here soared to nearly 3 percent Sept. 30 from 0.89 percent a year earlier.

That increase added $1.1 billion to the loans banks will have to collect through restructuring, foreclosure, or other measures – unless the improving economy allows the borrowers to recover enough to pay their debts.
…
Bankers, meanwhile, even those with the strongest loan portfolios in the region, see continued problems.

“I think every bank is going to be thinking very carefully about bolstering their reserves because you just don’t know what is out there,” said Kent Lufkin, president of TF Financial Corp., of Newtown, the parent of Third Federal Savings Bank, which had the lowest rate of nonperforming assets among the area banks.

Lufkin said Third Federal stayed out of trouble during the real estate boom because it did not change its conservative lending practices. “That’s helped us today to have a lower percentage of nonperforming assets,” he said.

By contrast, Abington Bancorp Inc., of Jenkintown, followed a suburban builder with which it had previous experience into the Philadelphia condo market during the real estate boom. The move came after the company raised $71 million in a 2004 stock offering and contributed to Abington’s possession of the highest rate of nonperforming assets in the region, 5.03 percent, according to data from Bloomberg News.

“It’s our construction-loan portfolio that’s in bad shape,” said Robert White, the lender’s chief executive officer. Indeed, the delinquency rate on its residential construction loans, including loans at least 30 days past due, was 35.2 percent on Sept. 30, according to a report by Stern, Agee & Leach Inc., a research firm in Portland, Maine.
…
The average past-due rate on construction loans at 15 Pennsylvania and New Jersey banks Kelley tracks climbed to 15.5 percent in September from 12.1 percent in June. The figure for commercial real estate climbed to 2.9 percent from 2.6 percent.

With loan defaults still rising two years after the subprime-mortgage crisis began, all business loans – not just for commercial real estate – are getting careful attention.

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 248 Comments

All eyes on the fat man

Posted on November 4, 2009 by grim

From the Star Ledger NJ Voices Blog:

Property taxes the major concern for N.J. voters despite political affiliation

Route 78 cuts through New Jersey. More accurately, it cuts through the many New Jerseys.

Every dozen or so miles, the towns off the highway sit like still portraits of time and place; museum dioramas of vastly different scenery, architecture and lifestyle.

All are New Jersey; from hills over the Musconetcong Valley, to the ridges of the Watchungs, to the flatlands of the Newark Basin. All are home; from the simple mill houses in rural Stewartville to the planned mini-manses of The Hills, to the oldish manors of North Summit, to the new three families in the South Ward of Newark.

West to east, from rural to suburban to urban, the counties of Route 78 are political microcosms of greater New Jersey. Out west, rural and suburban Warren, Hunterdon and Somerset go Republican red. To the east, Union and Essex go Democratic blue. But today, purple was in the air as voters in all these places shared one major concern.

Property taxes.

From the Press of Atlantic City:

Christie’s tough task

Voters on Tuesday wanted change – they wanted it enough to overcome New Jersey’s powerful Democratic Party organization and elect Republican Chris Christie as the next governor of the state.

The victory in many ways was surprising. While Christie was ahead in the polls for months, his lead eroded after Gov. Jon S. Corzine poured huge amounts of his personal wealth into the campaign, much of it for negative advertising. Democratic superstars – including President Barack Obama – made multiple visits to New Jersey on Corzine’s behalf.

But this election was not about Obama. It was about Corzine – and the entrenched problems of New Jersey that he has not been able to solve.

Now, for Christie, the really tough job starts.

From the NY Post:

Jersey voters dump Corzine for Christie

Chris Christie last night became the first Republican to be elected governor of New Jersey in more than a decade — a stunning triumph that came just days after President Obama put his prestige on the line and visited the Garden State to urge voters to re-elect Democrat Jon Corzine.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Christie, a former US attorney who pledged to cut the state’s enormous tax burden, had 49 percent of the vote over Corzine’s 45 percent.
…
“This election was and is about the future of the state of New Jersey,” Christie said last night in a victory speech at the Parsippany Hilton.

“Tomorrow, together, we begin to take back New Jersey. Tomorrow we will fix this broken state.”

To cheers, he vowed to “pick up Trenton and turn it upside down.”

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 308 Comments

Get out and vote

Posted on November 3, 2009 by grim

From the Star Ledger:

Next N.J. governor is in hands of voters

Now it’s voters’ turn: Polls will be open across the state from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for the General Election.

Three major candidates, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett, along with seven others, are seeking to become the state’s next governor.
…
In addition to the governor’s race, all 80 seats of the General Assembly are open, and there is a special Senate race in the 23rd Legislative District to fill the two-year unexpired term of Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7th Dist.).
…
Voters also will be asked to decide whether the state should borrow $400 million to replenish the Garden State Preservation Trust. The bond issue would set aside $218 million for open-space purchases, $146 million for farmland preservation, $24 million for wetlands protection and $12 million to save historic sites.

Posted in Politics | 315 Comments

Own a priceless piece of history (at its 1987 price)

Posted on November 2, 2009 by grim

From the Star Ledger:

Whitney Houston unloading Mendham estate

Whitney Houston has put the 5-acre Mendham estate where she married singer Bobby Brown on the market for $2.5 million, far less than its assessed value of $5.6 million.

The 12,561-square-foot home, which she bought in 1987 for $2.7 million, is described in its listing as modern, full of natural light, with three fireplaces, walk-in closets, a bar (uh-oh), floor-to-ceiling windows, and a four-car garage. The (quite frankly rather dated-looking, and we’re not the only ones who think so) home has Frank Lloyd Wright-style stained glass in the entry, an enormous kitchen, and what appears to be a custom-made bed in the center of the master bedroom.

From the Examiner:

Whitney Houston’s ‘crack is whack’ New Jersey mansion for sale

Whitney Houston’s “Crack is Whack” house is on the market. The Grammy winner is asking $2.5 million for the Mendham Township, NJ house. While she commuted back and forth between this mansion and the house in Georgia, the reality show Being Bobby Brown was filmed for Bravo.

During this time, while Whitney Houston’s handlers were denying she was doing crack, she told Diane Sawyer…
…
This is the home where she married Bobby Brown in 1992. Whitney Houston has the mansion listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.

From WPIX:

Whitney Houston Places NJ Mansion For Sale

Whitney Houston has put her multi-million dollar New Jersey home where she married Bobby Brown on the market for $2.5 mlllion.

The couple got hitched at the $5.6 million dollar home in Mendham in 1992 and then separated in 2007.

The real estate website describes the residence as a modern-styled home full of natural light and containing “circular-themed interior spaces,” as well as four-car garage, three fireplaces, walk-in closets, a bar, skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Houston nearly lost the home in 2006 after Mendham tax officials claim the 46-year-old singer and former reality star failed to pay taxes for four straight quarters and ignored delinquent notices.

From the Philly Inquirer:

Whitney Houston’s NJ mansion for sale

Whitney Houston’s New Jersey estate, where she married Bobby Brown in 1992, is for sale.

The five-bedroom, 12,561-square-foot house in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.

The Coldwell Banker Web site estimates a buyer would have monthly mortgage payments of $10,819 based on a down payment of $500,000 and a 5 percent interest rate on a 30-year, $2 million mortgage.

Posted in Humor, New Jersey Real Estate | 24 Comments

East Rutherford Auction Sells Out

Posted on November 2, 2009 by grim

From the Record:

Hard-to-move condos go quickly at auction

In one afternoon, the developer of an East Rutherford condo complex sold 26 units in his 32-unit complex.

Sales of the two-bedroom, two-bath homes in the new Courtland Arms building had suffered in the slumped housing market, so Rolando Cribeiro, president of CP Building Enterprises Corp., agreed to an auction.

On Sunday, suggested starting bids of $150,000 for condos that had originally listed for nearly $500,000 drew a standing-room-only crowd at the Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights.

Manhattan-based auctioneer Sheldon Good & Co. was enlisted to sell off 26 units, eight at the highest price, and the rest sold “on reserve,” where the seller has three days to reject bids not high enough.

But Sunday the homes were selling so well — many fetching prices in the $280,000 range — that CP Building sold them all on the spot.

“The prices were there,” said Cribeiro. “It would have taken 18 months, and to get it accomplished in four hours has been fascinating.”

A first-time home buyer, Ho-Ho-Kus native Stacey Weinberg, 27, drew cheers from the crowd when she finally outbid others for a condo at $284,000 after being forced to pass on previous units that sold above her price range.

“It’s stressful,” said Weinberg, a Manhattan resident who bought one of the luxury units for herself and her husband, Morgan. “It’s to get the best deal, so I guess, what are you going to do?”

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 204 Comments

Turnaround by 20 … 19?

Posted on October 30, 2009 by grim

From Bloomberg:

New Jersey Won’t Recover Job Losses Until 2019, Rutgers Finds

New Jersey, its jobless rate at a 32-year high, won’t exceed its pre-recession employment for a decade, Rutgers University economists predict.

The state will begin recovering in 2011, yet will require until 2019 to surpass by 118,000 jobs the 2007 employment peak, said Rutgers economist Nancy Mantell, director of the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service, said.

“The country, in contrast, will begin job expansion three years earlier, at the beginning of 2013,” Mantell said in a statement yesterday. “By 2019, it will have 7.7 percent more jobs than at the previous peak.”

New Jersey, the most densely populated U.S. state, entered the recession in January 2008, one month after the nation as a whole, and has lost 161,300 jobs, or 4 percent, of its employment base, Mantell said.

During the first year of the economic crisis, the state shed jobs at a rate comparable to the national figure. In 2009, the pace slowed to 1.8 percent, compared with 2.9 percent nationally.

The New Jersey jobless rate was 9.8 percent in September, up from 4.5 in December 2007, according to state Department of Labor and Workforce Development figures. The national rate is also 9.8 percent. New Jersey currently has 3.9 million non-farm jobs, according to state figures. In December 2007 it had a record-high 4.1 million, the state labor department reported.
…
The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services projects the state will confront a deficit of as much as $8 billion next year as rising unemployment and damped consumer spending depress tax receipts. The revenue gap is more than 25 percent of the $29 billion budget enacted in June by Governor Jon Corzine.

Tax and fee collections for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell $190 million, or 3.1 percent, below estimates, Treasurer David Rousseau said. Corzine ordered $200 million in cuts and directed his cabinet members to identify another $200 million in reductions.

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 453 Comments

Buttoning up AC for the winter

Posted on October 29, 2009 by grim

From the Star Ledger:

Lack of guests leads Borgata to close rooms in Water Club Hotel

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City is taking hundreds of rooms at its Water Club hotel out of service on Tuesdays through Thursdays because of low demand.

The casino also shuttered most of the posh year-old hotel’s 800 rooms on those days last March. They were reopened when bookings picked up over the summer.
…
The lower demand comes as Atlantic City’s casinos have struggled with a weak economy and increased gambling competition in Pennsylvania and New York.

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 257 Comments

Bubble 2.0

Posted on October 28, 2009 by grim

From Reuters:

U.S. home price gains may not be sustainable: Shiller

The gains in U.S. home prices in recent months may not be sustainable and increases in some areas of the country appear to be in “bubble territory,” an economist known for his property market expertise said on Tuesday.

Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale University and co-developer of Standard and Poor’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, told Reuters Television he does not give quantitative forecasts on where home prices are headed but is concerned about the recent pace of increases.

Home prices in certain areas, such as Minneapolis and San Francisco, have risen by double-digits over a mere four months, and if viewed on an annualized basis, they look like they are in “bubble territory,” Shiller said.

“It is a time of great uncertainty,” he said.

U.S. home prices in August rose for the fourth straight month. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 1.2 percent in August from July, topping the estimate of a 0.7 percent rise according to in a Reuters poll.

“The prominent fact that we are seeing with this data is that home prices are just zipping up,” Shiller said.

“It is entirely possible that even with the bad news we are getting, home prices could start a major increase,” he said.

Prices in the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas gained 1.3 percent in August after a 1.7 percent rise the previous month, according to the S&P composite index.

Posted in Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 261 Comments

The push to extend credit is on

Posted on October 27, 2009 by grim

From the APP:

Time winding down for home buyers

With its expiration just over a month away, a push is on to extend the first-time home buyers’ tax credit, which boosted the beleaguered housing market in the midst of a recession.
…
There are competing ideas out there to extend — and even expand — the tax credit, which gives up to $8,000 to first-time buyers who close on a home by Nov. 30.

In a press conference on Monday at the New Jersey Association of Realtors in Edison, U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., said his bill would open the tax credit to all people buying a primary residence, regardless of past home ownership or income. He would increase the credit to $15,000 and extend the program through Dec. 1, 2010.

“We do not want the American dream to expire,” Lance said. “We want to make sure as many Americans as possible have home ownership.”

Lawmakers are under pressure from real estate agents and others in the housing industry to extend the credit.

The timing is critical, Lance said.
…
In the Senate, Senate leaders are negotiating to extend the credit and gradually reduce it through 2010, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, both Democrats, may seek to add the home buyers’ extension to legislation extending unemployment benefits that may be debated as early as this week, according to Regan Lachapelle, an aide to Reid.

Another proposal by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Senate banking committee chairman, and Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson would extend the credit through next June and expand it to couples earning $300,000 or less, up from the current program’s $150,000 maximum income eligibility for married couples.

The current program comes with costs. Congress allocated $13.6 billion for the home buyers’ credit. As of July 17, 2009, more than 1.1 million tax returns claiming more than $8 billion in credits have been processed.

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 228 Comments

“We are just trading off good news now for bad news in 2010.”

Posted on October 26, 2009 by grim

From Minyanville:

Where the Housing Market Goes From Here

Subsidizing renters with gobs of greenbacks if they buy a house turns out to be a pretty popular program.

Thanks to the tax credit for first-time home buyers, as well as cheaper home prices and lower mortgage rates, existing home sales increased by 9.4% to a 5.57 million annual rate in September, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Sales had been forecast to rise to an annual rate of 5.35 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

First-time home buyers, many of whom certainly owe you and every other taxpayer a thank-you card, rushed in to take advantage of the program.

The question, though, is what happens after the program expires in November?

Patrick Newport, US economist at IHS Global Insight, notes that the government’s home-buyer tax credit, like Cash for Clunkers, simply shifts sales from one period to another, but it doesn’t do much to heal the housing market.

“The report might, on the surface, look to be really good,” Newport tells us. “But, if you think about it more carefully, it’s really not great news. We are just trading off good news now for bad news in 2010.”

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate | 220 Comments

Stuck in ’06

Posted on October 24, 2009 by grim

From the NY Times:

Puzzling Over Home Prices

THE housing market in New Jersey has been on a little roll toward recovery — the number of sales has risen and the number of houses on the market has fallen for four straight months — even though activity cooled slightly in August for the country at large.

But what does that mean for home prices? A halt in the decline? Even, possibly, a start in the other direction?

“In some neighborhoods, I have to say yes, prices are starting to go up,” said Karen Eastman Bigos, a partner in the Towne Realty Group, based in Short Hills, one of the highest-priced markets in northern New Jersey.

On the other hand, she and others say, brokers continue to encounter sellers who are “stuck in 2006.” Some people hear news reports about the improvement in conditions nationally, and insist on pricing their homes at precrash levels, Ms. Bigos said.
…
Most recently, Jeffrey Otteau, the group’s president, announced his view that it will take until 2016 for prices to recover to their high point in 2006.

Over all, he added, it is “very difficult — and possibly too soon” to say whether prices have even stopped their decline.

For one thing, data on final sales prices are not available until sales close — usually two to six months after a contract is signed — so there is a lag time before conclusions can be drawn. For another, there is no tried-and-true analytical method for determining the direction prices are headed at a time of flux like this.

When pressed to consider what could be discerned from information now at hand, Mr. Otteau came up with this: The seasonal shift downward in prices that occurred from summer to fall was not as sharp as last year’s. This year, the downward shift from the second to third quarters was 7.4 percent; last year, it was 10.4 percent.
…
Mr. Otteau said his data suggested that “a ground is beginning to form in terms of prices,” and noted that the trend had occurred as government stimulus programs that were intended to stabilize the residential real estate market were taking effect.

No matter how good the numbers are in a particular community, however, realistic pricing is critical.

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 107 Comments

Homebuyer Tax Credit Free For All

Posted on October 23, 2009 by grim

From HousingWire:

IRS Wrongly Gave Homebuyer Tax Credit to Resident Aliens, Minors: Watchdog

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) believes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may have paid out millions of dollars in first-time homebuyer tax credits to individuals not eligible to receive the $8,000 credit.

Nearly $4m of incorrectly paid credits were due to both alleged fraud and filing errors on claims by 580 taxpayers less than 18 years old. The youngest of these was 4 years old, TIGTA head J. Russell George said in prepared testimony to the House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee.

TIGTA also found 3,200 taxpayers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) claiming the credits. ITINs are generally used to track income tax for resident aliens, in lieu of a social security number.

While the legislation creating the tax credit does not specifically address resident alien eligibility, other laws prohibit aliens residing without authorization in the US from receiving most federal public benefits, George said. It is possible that as much as $20.8m in tax credits were paid to resident aliens ineligible for the credit.
…
But shortly after the IRS began administering the tax credit, the TIGTA office suggested additional fraud and error reporting measures, like requiring taxpayers submit a copy of their Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Settlement Statement, known as the HUD-1 form. TIGTA also recommended verifying the information on Form 5405 and manually transcribing paper versions of Form 5405.

The IRS rejected both proposals, saying requiring the HUD-1 form would be burdensome to taxpayers and may deter them from taking the credit. IRS also indicated the tax credit was approved too late to manually transcribe the paper Forms 5405.

As a result of the IRS’ decision to not implement the additional checks, George said, more than 19,300 electronically filed 2008 tax returns improperly claimed the tax credit for homes that had yet to be purchased at the time of the tax filing. He said more than $139m in erroneous claims were paid to these individuals.
…
George said his office also identified nearly 74,000 fraudulent claims for the tax credit by individuals who did not qualify because they were not considered first-time homebuyers. These individuals claimed deductions of home mortgage interest, real estate taxes, deductible points and qualified mortgage insurance premiums on previous years’ tax returns, indicating they had owned a home within the past three years.

Posted in National Real Estate, Politics | 215 Comments

Army backstops home price declines in Ft. Monmouth closure

Posted on October 22, 2009 by grim

From the NY Post:

Army covers its bases on supporting house prices

HERE’S a government deal I know you’d love to get in on.

More than four years ago the US Army announced that it was closing its Fort Monmouth base in New Jersey and moving all the jobs to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.

There was the usual eruption, with the Asbury Park Press — the local newspaper — doing a series of stories showing how the move would actually cost the government more money, rather than result in the projected savings.
…
The closure hasn’t yet taken place. And New Jersey’s elected officials are still fighting it.

But employees recently got some unbelievably good news. Our government in Washington, with your taxpayer money and mine, will make sure that people who must sell their houses in the Fort Monmouth area because of the base closing get 95 percent of the 2005 fair market value.

Just in case you’ve forgotten, house prices have come down tremendously since 2005. In fact, the market peak was in mid-2006, according to the Case Shiller index, which tracks real estate trends.

So the folks involved in the Monmouth closing have — essentially — been exempted from the housing-market cycle and will be able to sell high (in New Jersey) and buy low (in Maryland).

I’m told that those affected by the decision, which incidentally also includes people who retired because of the impending closing, were ecstatic at what was called a Relocation Fair last week. Nobody could recall the government ever making quite such a good offer.

What if you simply can’t sell in this market? Well, it seems that the government will buy the house although the price may not be as good as the 2005 value.
…
But this much is certain: A lot of folks I know would love to collect 95 percent of what their homes were once worth. And I also know that the squawking among the Fort Monmouth employees in New Jersey who’ll have to move or lose their jobs will probably die down.

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate | 206 Comments

Beige Book – October 2009

Posted on October 21, 2009 by grim

From the Federal Reserve:

Beige Book – October 2009

Second District–New York

The Second District’s economy has shown scattered signs of a pickup since the last report. The labor market has given mixed signals, with some signs of strengthening in manufacturing, but ongoing weakness in hiring in other sectors. Manufacturing sector contacts report increased activity and remain optimistic about the near-term outlook.
…
Consumer confidence, though still low, has moved up moderately since the last report.
…
Commercial real estate markets–in both the office and industrial categories–have been steady to moderately weaker since the last report. Residential real estate markets have been mixed since the last report, but generally weaker, especially at the high end of the market. Home sales activity reportedly rebounded a bit from depressed second quarter levels, but prices, as well as rents, have continued to decline. Finally, bankers report rising delinquency rates–particularly on consumer and commercial mortgage loans–along with ongoing tightening in credit standards; loan demand continued to decline, except for residential mortgages, where bankers report some pickup in demand.
…
Housing markets remain sluggish across the District, though sales activity has picked up in certain areas. A New Jersey contact indicates that resale activity is inching upward, though prices continue to be depressed due to a substantial volume of foreclosures and short sales. New home sales remain flat in northern New Jersey, though the inventory is gradually diminishing, due to a lack of new development. In western New York State, home sales activity reportedly slowed in August and remained relatively sluggish in September, while prices generally remained steady; contacts express concern that the upcoming expiration of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers will adversely affect sales and prices. Manhattan’s apartment sales market remained weak in the third quarter. Sales activity rebounded moderately from the prior quarter but remained lower than a year earlier; prices continued to decline and were estimated to be down 18 percent from a year earlier on a per-square-foot basis. The inventory of listings declined modestly, but the average number of days on the market continued to climb. Manhattan’s rental market slackened further in September, with average asking rents continuing to run about 10 percent below a year earlier; in addition, landlords are reported to be offering increasingly generous concessions–waiving fees and offering one or more months of free rent. Vacancy rates are reported to have edged down seasonally, but this is expected to reverse in the upcoming (typically slower) winter season.
…
For all loan categories, respondents indicated a tightening of credit standards, ranging from 24 percent in the residential mortgage category to 30 percent for commercial mortgages; virtually no banker reports easing in credit standards. Respondents report widespread decreases in average deposit rates. Finally, bankers note increased delinquency rates for all loan categories, most notably in the consumer loan category.

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate | 26 Comments