January 2010

The widespread belief that real estate had a terrible 2009 is being disproved by the data for the southern New Jersey market released this week. Compared with the prior year, sales were almost even in Atlantic and Cape May counties, and significantly higher in Cumberland County. Prices fell, but by single digits, and the time it took to sell homes remained about the same. Real estate offices said the second half of 2009 in particular was strong, and the momentum is continuing into this year. “I thought we had a great year,” said April Puesi, broker owner of Coldwell Banker Excel Realty in Vineland, estimating sales at the agency were up 25 percent. Puesi said she’s starting to see prices rising, with appraisals coming in higher than half a year ago. [Read this article]

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Last week we reported that home sales had fallen nearly 17 percent in December – the worst decline in nearly 40 years. Why is that happening when the economy is supposed to be giving us “glimmers of hope,” turning around, beginning to recover, coming back and otherwise reminding us that things are getting better, not worse? It’s also a fact, however, that more homes were sold this December than last – 15 percent more. And if you look at the whole year, you find that 5,156,000 homes were sold in 2009, up from 4,913,000 homes sold in 2008, a year-over-year increase of 4.9 percent. If you look at it another way, sales volume in December was up 21 percent from the worst month of 2008, which some experts say was the bottom of the housing market crash. More facts, and maybe not so scary now, eh? [Read this article]

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Two new reports forecast a spike in home prices in the region in 2010, but the end of federal aid looms on the horizon for local real estate agents. Home prices in the Washington region dipped slightly from November 2008 to November 2009 and are expected to rise 3.35 percent from November 2009 to November 2010, according to data from First American CoreLogic. “On average, we are expecting home prices to turn around next spring,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. Maryland saw the nation’s sixth-biggest home price decline in November, dropping more than 10 percent, while Virginia’s 2 percent gain was third-best in the country, the report said. [Read this article]

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Banks, which weathered tough times in 2008, have arguably faced the closest scrutiny on Capitol Hill since the Great Depression. All along, the Coachella Valley’s community banks closely watched their own state of affairs and the consumer psyche in an area ravaged by a high jobless rate and the housing downturn. Recently, four chief executives – Andy Montgomery, Stu Bailey, Mark Gustafson and Tony Swartz – gathered for The Desert Sun’s Roundtable on Banking to discuss the state of banking, real estate and consumer confidence. [Read this article]

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There’s something in the air that most Delawareans haven’t gotten a whiff of for a while – optimism. Happier days may not quite be here again, but it’s growing clear that some key measures of economic health – from consumer confidence to small-business lending – are picking up momentum. It’s also clear that there’s a lot of ground left between here and prosperity, and a good bit of fear over what’s ahead, local observers say. But a little good news is better than all bad news any day. One of the most anticipated signals of recovery – consumer confidence – has been rising in several recent studies, giving more hope that the spending needed to fuel the economic machine will resume. [Read this article]

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The number of new-housing permits issued statewide in 2009 did not even reach 12,000. The last year the tally was that low: 1945, when New Jersey was still mostly cow and corn country. Yet even in the face of these sobering numbers, several builders of multifamily projects have forged ahead – some actually building, others planning on it as soon as weather permits. Some asserted that their condominium developments held special appeal despite the general slowdown in sales; others said they had used the “down time” of the economic crisis to reconfigure plans and now felt that they understood the changes in buyers’ requirements. At Henley on Hudson in Weehawken, work is under way on a 27-unit building that is to open in July. “We get a lot of visitors who are enamored of the finishes and amenities we offer,” said Michael Skea of Lennar, “but they cannot pay prices that high. We wanted to press ahead with providing homes that are affordable to more buyers.” [Read this article]

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The economy will be better in Lee County this year than last year, the county’s economic development director says. But not yet good. “I think it’s a better year, but there’s a tough couple years to go,” Jim Moore said. Kitty Green, a former Bonita Bay Group executive who’s chairing the council’s community outreach committee, said the economic downturn at least showed people the county must reach beyond tourism and construction. Moore said the worst is over, but the housing market must be the key to a real recovery. “Real estate led us in, and real estate has to lead us out,” he said. [Read this article]

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The Super Bowl is a little more than a week away and in real estate circles, it’s not just about the big game but the kick-off to the spring home buying season. It’s a coin toss whether this year’s housing market will be appreciably different than last year; 2009’s sales were relatively flat compared to 2008. It’s also unclear whether the market will come earlier than it has in the past, as home sellers and buyers try to benefit from the extended and expanded home buyer tax credits before they expire. Those deadlines mean it’s crucial – whether you’re a buyer or seller – to get the right real estate agent working for you. What follows are some of the basics, gleaned from asking agents what they’d ask if they were hiring an agent themselves. [Read this article]

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