New Jersey And a Tale of 2 Markets – Part 1

The recent numbers for New Jersey show a different trend than those in the southern markets, whereas in all 3 categories for single-family homes, sales fell in the state, including new listings, pending sales and closed sales for the month of August. Nationally pending home sales climbed up 8.1%, according to the National Association of Realtors. This was an unexpected jump, according to experts who were expecting a minimal 1% to 2% increase.

Certain counties in New Jersey such as Monmouth and Ocean counties continue to climb higher that many other regions. Monmouth climbed in just 3 years from a median price of $420,000 to August’s $611,000 and Ocean’s median price climbed from $299,000 to $430,000.

Primarily most of the biggest increases reported were in the less expensive regions, including the South and the Midwest.

But overall, home prices year-over-year have increased significantly, as reported by S&P CoreLogic, which posted a 19.7% annual home price gain for July.

Three cities that reported the largest year-over-year increases were Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle, reporting year-over-year gains of 32.4%, 27.8% and 25.5%, respectively.

What is most likely occurring is people in the Northeast are selling homes at extraordinary record-high prices and moving south, only to encounter a highly appreciated market in southern regions, where taxes are lower and prices are lower as well. Just consider the Phoenix market, which reported the biggest year-over-year jump: in 2012 the median home price in Phoenix was $109,000, today that median price is $370,000.

To Be Continued