According to the website Realtor.com, the March average home listing price hit $300,000 for the first time ever.
What is driving prices higher can be attributed to the shortage of inventory, the shortage of new construction, the stronger economy, and the increased buyer demand, the result of higher overall rent costs. 
The analysis provided by Realtor.com indicates that homes priced below $200,000 decreased by 9% year-over-year, representing a greater squeeze on first-time home buyers to pay more.
The good news reported by the website is that there were an additional 56,000 homes for sale in March 2019 as compared with 2018. This calculates into a 4% increase year-over-year.
On a negative note, the number of newly listed properties fell by 0.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
The New Jersey Market
Many markets continue to suffer from significant inventory shortages, including New Jersey’s Bergen, Monmouth and Morris Counties, all of which have less than six months supply. Passaic County recently reported that its supply of properties for sale has fallen to 3.5 months supply with only 945 properties on the market. Even Ocean County, which historically has had up to 15 months supply of homes for sale, has fallen down to just 5.8 months supply or only 3,989 properties.
What is even more remarkable is that Salem County, located in Southwest New Jersey, has seen a remarkable recovery from 2018. The number of homes for sale has fallen dramatically from 668 to 545, representing an 18.4% decline. In addition, the total month supply of inventory has fallen by 27.5% from 9.1 months to 6.6 months from 2018 to 2019. On the value end for Salem County, the median sales price jumped remarkably by 19.3% from $110,000 to $130,250.
The expectation is that spring 2019 home prices are expected to continue to rise as inventory lags behind due to shortages in building supplies and skilled labor.
If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.
Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.
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