NJ February Real Estate Results

As we progressed through February, the actual and expected impacts of COVID-19 continued to grow, with concerns of economic impact reaching the stock market in the last week of the month. As the stock market declined, so did mortgage rates, offering a bad news-good news situation. While short term declines in the stock market can sting, borrowers who lock in today’s low rates will benefit significantly in the long term.

• Single Family Closed Sales were up 5.5% to 4,780.
• Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 0.6 % to 1,407.
• Adult Communities Closed Sales were up 35.3% to 506.
• Single Family Median Sales Price increased 10.3% to $320,000.
• Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 9.7% to $261,000.
• Adult Communities Median Sales Price increased 6.4% to $190,000.

The recently released January ShowingTime Showing Index® saw a 20.2% year-over-year increase in showing traffic nationwide. All regions of the country were up double digits from the year before, with the Midwest Region up 15.7% and the West Region up 34.1%. As showing activity is a leading indicator for future home sales, the 2020 housing market is off to a strong start, though it will be important to watch the spread of COVID-19 and its potential impacts to the overall economy in the coming months.