Although New Jersey’s housing market experienced a devastating downturn during the recession, coupled by Hurricane Sandy’s destruction that left people without homes or jobs, it appears that the worst may be finally over.
According to recent statistics provided by the National Association of Realtors, significant growth is indicated by a rise in New Jersey’s median home values, the first increase since the now-ominous housing boom peak that occurred just a year before the bust of 2008. Sparked by job growth and a lack of homes for sale due to the reluctance of homeowners to put their houses on the market, New Jersey seems poised to experience a healthy rebound before the end of 2013.
Yet, industry experts remain slightly cautious due to the large number of foreclosures glutting the market that could have a negative affect on the Garden State’s price index for median housing. While the U.S. as a while is seeing a decrease in foreclosure rates, New Jersey continues to hover on the edge of catching up with the rest of the country or remaining stagnant because of uncontrollable forces–namely Hurricane Sandy–and cautious homeowners and buyers.
Further information from the NAR holds that the average home in New Jersey was purchased for around $275,000 during the first four months of 2013, a slightly lower figure than the nearly $300,000 for that last four months of 2012. Although this reflects a decrease of 0.5 percent, it also shows a 5.3 percent increase over 2011 numbers. Moreover, the majority of New Jersey’s markets are reporting definite signs of an upswing, except for Edison, Atlantic City and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. One New Jersey area that showed significant growth was Trenton-Ewing at nearly 13 percent by the latter half of 2012.
Real estate insiders assert that these numbers, as well as the fact that most of New Jersey’s markets reveal steady improvement that coincides with the end of the recession, provide empirical proof that now is the time for prospective homebuyers and sellers to take that leap into the housing market. Many also consider this time to be the perfect opportunity to purchase homes and enjoy mortgage rates that may come only once in a lifetime.
Orly Chen knows that this is a great time to take advantage of a housing market offering the benefits of competitive prices combined with low inventory. With New Jersey starting to show signs of recovering from one of the worst recessions in decades, now is the time for real estate owners interested in selling or buying to take action while such an opportune and profitable atmosphere surrounds the housing market industry.