Archive for October, 2008
Hoboken Open Houses - Sat. November 1 & Sun. November 2: Interactive Google Map with Listings
Categories: Hoboken Condos, Open House Map
Here is the interactive Googlemap for all open houses in Hoboken this weekend. This map will be updated on Saturday & Sunday morning so please check back. Did you know you can subscribe to this map as an RSS feed? Just click on the RSS symbol at the top of the map. As new open houses are added it will be sent right to your feed reader. (Note - the map is a big file so it takes a minute to load. If you don’t see the blue location bubbles right away, go grab a cup of coffee and by the time you come back to your computer it will be up.)
View Hoboken Open House Map
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The Best (Yet) Solution to the Mortgage Mess
Categories: Finance
Someone’s Been Thinking the Problem Through
There have been numerous articles and explanations in the media of the reason we as a country and our global partners are in such a state of financial ruin. While most commentators and economists agree that the burst of the housing bubble caused the mortgage crisis which, thanks to securitization, snowballed out of control, there have been few suggestions as to how to fix the problem. Here is the best one I’ve read so far: Mortgage Justice Is Blind. It’s written by John D. Geanakoplos, an economics professor at Yale and Susan P. Koniak, a former law professor at Boston University. I was glad to see Prof. Koniak was one of the authors as BU Law is where I earned my law degree.
See also: Under Water Hoboken Condos
If you’re interested in learning more about the state of the mortgage industry and what it’s done to the economy, I recommend this great blog - Diaries of a Mad Mortgage Broker - by Dale Siegel.
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The Weekly Wednesday Wrap Up - Hoboken Condo Sales and Inventory for the Week of October
Categories: Hoboken Condos, Weekly Wednesday Wrap Up
Studio & 1 Bedroom Hoboken Condos:
8 sold in an average of 84 days at an average sale price of $375,687 SOLD Hoboken Condos
2 under contract this week in an average of 77 days DABO 1BR Hoboken Condos
170 total active with an average asking price of $473,320 ACTIVE Hoboken Condo Listings
6 new listing with an average list price of $429,833 1BR Hoboken Condo Listings
Two Bedroom Hoboken Condos:
12 sold in an average of 96 days at an average sale price of $505,437 SOLD Hoboken Condos
3 under contract this week in an average of 75 days 2BR Hoboken Condos
299 total active with an average asking price of $670,604 199 ACTIVE 2BR Hoboken Condo Listings
of 2BR ACTIVE Hoboken Condo Listings
(I can only link to 200 at a time)
12 new 2BR condo listings this week with an average asking price of $789,558 2BR Hoboken Condo Listings
Three Bedroom and Larger Hoboken Condos:
None sold this week.
One under contract this week in 122 days. 3BR Hoboken Condo
54 active 3BR condos for sale with an average asking price of $1,018,142 3BR Hoboken Condo Listings
4 new with an average asking price of $749,499 3BR Hoboken Condo Listings
Compare to last week: Week Of Oct. 22
PRICE CHANGES ON HOBOKEN CONDOS FOR SALE
42 listings with price changes on Hoboken condos for the past 7 days: With PRICE CHANGES
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Are Bargain Hunters Shopping for Hoboken Condos?
Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Market Analysis
Some Hoboken Condos May Be Cheap Enough To Buy Now
The Wall Street Journal today had an article stating that low prices on condos & homes have started to spur sales in some parts of the country. A quarterly survey of housing data in 28 metro areas shows the glut of unsold homes is shrinking in most of them. Some of these properties are being bought by investors seeking rental units. Others may be home buyers who are seeing deals too good to be true and prices low enough to finally motivate buyers to take action.
How Does The Hoboken Condo Market Compare?
According to the article, inventory in Manhattan was up 34.6% from a year ago. The NJ suburbs were down 3%. The figures were taken from the MLS at the end of June. I don’t have numbers for Hoboken but there can be no doubt that Hoboken condo inventory is up from a year ago. Hoboken condo inventory is probably more in line with Manhattan than the ‘burbs.
The other interesting number in the article was “months supply” (or absorption rate for those of you who have been following along). In Manhattan it’s 6.3 months. In the NJ suburbs, 11.2 months. So while Manhattan may have had a greater increase in inventory, sales are still brisker than in outlying areas. There is currently a 7.87 month supply of Hoboken condos on the MLS.
Finally, median sales prices in Manhattan were down 7.7% over last year. The median sales price for Hoboken condos listed on the MLS was $485,000 September 2007. It was up to $489,000 as of the end of this September.
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How Many Hoboken Condos Are “Under Water”?
Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Hoboken Condos
What is an Under Water Hoboken Condo Anyway?
There was an article in the NY Times last week about the housing fiasco that struck a chord. There were many innocent home buyers swindled by unscrupulous mortgage brokers, others who have adjustable-rate mortgages with payments that have ballooned and they can no longer afford, and still other home owners with good intentions who have fallen on bad times. It has always seemed to me that something was missing at the heart of the explanation of why we are in this mess. This column by David Leonhardt insightfully addressed those home owners who are said to be “under water”. Now in Hoboken, an under water condo may have a literal meaning every time we have a heavy rain. In this case, however, that’s not what is meant by an under water Hoboken condo. Homeowners whose properties have lost enough value so that the property is worth less than the underlying mortgage is said to be “under water” or have negative equity in their home. That is what the article addressed. It’s also what has always made me feel unease about the mortgage crisis.
Do Property Owners Get To Choose Not To Pay?
If you read about the mortgage crisis, it is often assumed that just because an owner is under water, he or she cannot afford to make the mortgage payments. That is simply not always the case. A property owner with negative equity often has a choice to make. Many of them could continue to pay their mortgage in a timely manner. Just because the value of a Hoboken condo has gone down on paper, that does not necessarily mean that the condo owner cannot afford the payments. Nor does the owner always have to sell the property. There are home owners with negative equity who could stay put and keep paying and many do. These people might like their condo, want to stay in Hoboken or feel a moral obligation to keep their side of a bargain. After all, many of them knowingly and willingly with the representation of counsel chose to enter into a contract and agreed to make the payments. Nothing in that agreement provides them with an automatic out if the value of the underlying property falls. That would be similar to buying stock on the premise that if the price goes up the owner can sell at a profit but if the price drops the corporation is somehow obligated to absorb the shareholder’s loss. While some of us might wish that were true, that’s not the deal. Why should it be any different with a mortgage? In fact, when stocks bought on margin decline in value, the owner gets a margin call and has to put more money down. Why not do that with real estate, too?
As the article aptly points out, there are home owners who look at their purchase purely as an investment vehicle that may not pay off. They choose to walk away from the mortgage and the real estate because they can. With the prospect of a homeowner bailout, these owners may not have to worry about their credit rating being hurt, declaring personal bankruptcy or even taking a loss. With help from the federal government by way of your and my tax dollars, the condo owner who could make the mortgage payments but chooses not to will get the same relief as those who truly cannot pay and face foreclosure. Many of the home owners who would receive help by choice rather than by necessity are likely to be investors. The Hoboken condo buyers who may have bought pre-construction as a speculative investment with the hope that the market would continue to skyrocket often planned to flip the property. They bought with little or no money down and no intent to ever live in the condo. With a primary residence somewhere else they often have no ties to the community. Is that who we should be helping? What do these condo buyers contribute to the future health and prosperity of Hoboken?
There Are No Easy Answers
Of the $700 billion bailout fund the Treasury Department has structured, it seems that because of reasons like these, little of that money will go directly to homeowners regardless of their need or circumstances. I always believed that if you make a promise you should do your best to keep it. To me, that includes paying your mortgage when you can afford to do so regardless of the value of your home.
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