New Jersey single family home sales climbed to 5,908. In addition to the quandary of ongoing housing price increases and affordability concerns in many U.S. markets, the first quarter of 2019 saw a fair share of adverse weather as well. Sales totals were mixed across the nation and sometimes dependent on what was a persistent wintry mix, especially in the Great Plains, Midwest and Northeast. Meanwhile, new listings and total homes for sale have been trending lower in year-over-year comparisons in many areas, and last year’s marks were already quite low. 
• Single Family Closed Sales were up 0.8 percent to 5,908.
• Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 7.2 percent to 1,782.
• Adult Communities Closed Sales remained flat at 524.
• Single Family Median Sales Price increased 5.2 percent to $305,000.
• Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 4.1 percent to $255,000.
• Adult Communities Median Sales Price decreased 1.2 percent to $182,750.
The Federal Reserve recently announced that no further interest rate hikes are planned for 2019. Given the fact that the federal fund rate has increased nine times over the past three years, this was welcome news for U.S. consumers, which carry an approximate average of $6,000 in revolving credit card debt per household. Fed actions also tend to affect mortgage rates, so the pause in rate hikes was also welcome news to the residential real estate industry.