The median sales price for a home sold in New Jersey in October climbed 10.7% over 2022 to $491,000. In addition, the number of homes sold fell nearly 16% to just 7,329 homes. This is creating quite a squeeze between price and availability, which leads us to the next metric, that being that older buyers appear to be more active in this particular housing market than at any other time except for 2022.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median age for a repeat buyer of a home was 58 in 2023. Compare that with the reported median age for a repeat buyer in 1981, which was 36 years old. It appears that the older buyer is squeezing out young buyers simply because they have more available cash to pay up for a home. Now the first-time buyers only comprise 32% of the market, which is approximately 12% less than the number of first-time buyers back in 1981, which was 38%.
Which leads us to a very frothy conclusion: if the median sale price for a home in New Jersey crosses the $500,000 threshold, New Jersey will probably be the most unaffordable state in the country except for California and Washington.
According to the recent Redfin report for October, the number of homes for sale in New Jersey fell 22% to 26,418. So as seniors downsize and sell their properties for a premium to other buyers who are being forced to pay up for a home, seniors are now looking to downsize to smaller homes, typically one story with less overhead to deal with.
According to the same Redfin report, 56% of homes sold in the state of New Jersey were above list price.
And the number of people moving out and moving into New Jersey is about even: the top five states where home buyers were looking to move from were California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.
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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