NJ Housing Market: Where is the Bottom?

In case you missed Sunday’s New York Times Article A Market Going Downhill Fast, home buyers and sellers in New Jersey have a lot to think about.

Overall, New Jersey home sale prices have declined by an average of 15 to 20 percent in every county in the past three and a half years based on contract sales data.
However, towns along and adjacent to the Midtown Direct Train-line have actually seen average sale prices increase* in the same time period given their excellent school systems and accessibility to New York City, Hoboken and Jersey City. While prices are in fact down from the peak, if you are a seller who purchased a home 5+ years ago, don’t dismay…you should see a positive number on your sale. The average days on market has increased in keeping with the current economic climate.
                              
                              04/08                                   04/08
                              Avg Sales                              DOM
                              Price % +/-                           % +/-
ESSEX COUNTY
Glen Ridge:             +10%                                  +18%
Livingston               + 9%                                   + 7%
Maplewood             +13%                                  +48%
Millburn                   +10%                                  – 3%
Montclair                 +23%                                  +38%
South Orange         + 9%                                   +16%
West Orange          + 9%                                   + 4%
MORRIS COUNTY
Chatham Boro        + 3%                                   +16%
Chatham Twp         +50%                                  +19%
Madison                  + 7%                                   +39%
UNION COUNTY
Springfield              + 4%                                    +23%
Summit                   + 5%                                    +51%
Westfield                +18%                                   +38%
*Based on GSMLS sales data
Antoinette Martin writes:
The problem for many sellers now is that they cannot wait five years to sell their homes at prices comparable to what they paid for them.
Tom Wragg, a mortgage broker with Worldwide Financial Resources Inc., has his familys three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath town house condo in the Crystal Woods complex in West Orange up for sale right now.
He purchased the condo for $438,000 five years ago, when his first child was about to take his first step. Last year, after he and his wife had their third child, Mr. Wragg put the town house on the market at an asking price of $525,000. After 125 days without a buyer, the listing was withdrawn €” and the house was relisted on Jan. 1 at $489,900.
Over the weekend of Feb. 7 and 8, when the weather was relatively balmy and small swarms of home shoppers actually emerged for various open houses around northern New Jersey, not a single prospective buyer showed up to view the town house, Mr. Wragg said.

€œIts a little disturbing, said his real estate agent, Perri K. Feldman of Keller Williams in Summit, €œbecause this home is now very well priced.

Ms. Feldman said last week that she was talking with two other sellers whose homes values had apparently slid below what the sellers originally paid. She said she was considering when to tell them that their only option appeared to be selling short and moving on with no nest egg profit in hand.

On the good news front, this same condo had three excellent viewings this weekend and buyers agents have indicated offers could be coming in this week. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Want to learn more about current homes of value on the market today?
http://www.240ClarkenDrive.com/
http://www.30LocustAve.com/
http://www.345OldShortHillsRd.com/