New Jersey Housing Market In Shambles

By John Smith at 19 December, 2009, 2:07 am

When conversation about problems within the housing industry comes up, New Jersey is rarely discussed. But New Jersey is suffering as much as many other states, especially in urban areas where they’re not used to having a housing or real estate bust.
Residential sales have dropped dramatically compared to 2008, at a rate of 42%. Some large cities have suffered even worse than that. Newark home sales have decreased by 56%; Irvington dropped 54%. The worst is Orange and East Orange, which has suffered a 78% and 76% drop in home sales.
At the same time, home prices have fallen, though nothing like what’s happened in the Southern states and in the west. The average home price has decreased 5.8%, but counties like Hudson County have shown prices decrease as much as 13%.
What’s hurting New Jersey is the same thing hitting many other areas of the country. Too many foreclosures, not enough banks approving new home buyers, and an overall unemployment rate near 10% is hurting the local economy. That, plus the reality that urban homes in New Jersey have always been overpriced based on location rather than on the quality of the home, is keeping things from improving much over the course of 2009.
Real estate experts in New Jersey believe there are a few things that have to happen for home sales to spark themselves again. One thing is to find a way to reduce unemployment so buyers will feel secure in being able to buy homes that haven’t been at rates so low since 2004.
A second thing is applauding the federal government for extending and expanding the first-time home buyer’s tax credit, still at $8,000 through the first half of 2010, and creating a new, $6,500 credit for longtime and move-up homeowners who purchase a new home.
Personally, it seems that creating jobs will do more than any tax credit. After all, the credit was in place all of 2009 and didn’t help the housing market one bit in New Jersey, though in some other areas it did help some people here and there. The worry is that if something doesn’t happen soon, more areas of urban cities could become empty concrete jungles that no one will ever want to live in again.

new-jersey-housing-300x225When conversation about problems within the housing industry comes up, New Jersey is rarely discussed. But New Jersey is suffering as much as many other states, especially in urban areas where they’re not used to having a housing or real estate bust.

Residential sales have dropped dramatically compared to 2008, at a rate of 42%. Some large cities have suffered even worse than that. Newark home sales have decreased by 56%; Irvington dropped 54%. The worst is Orange and East Orange, which has suffered a 78% and 76% drop in home sales.

At the same time, home prices have fallen, though nothing like what’s happened in the Southern states and in the west. The average home price has decreased 5.8%, but counties like Hudson County have shown prices decrease as much as 13%.

What’s hurting New Jersey is the same thing hitting many other areas of the country. Too many foreclosures, not enough banks approving new home buyers, and an overall unemployment rate near 10% is hurting the local economy. That, plus the reality that urban homes in New Jersey have always been overpriced based on location rather than on the quality of the home, is keeping things from improving much over the course of 2009.

Real estate experts in New Jersey believe there are a few things that have to happen for home sales to spark themselves again. One thing is to find a way to reduce unemployment so buyers will feel secure in being able to buy homes that haven’t been at rates so low since 2004.

A second thing is applauding the federal government for extending and expanding the first-time home buyer’s tax credit, still at $8,000 through the first half of 2010, and creating a new, $6,500 credit for longtime and move-up homeowners who purchase a new home.

Personally, it seems that creating jobs will do more than any tax credit. After all, the credit was in place all of 2009 and didn’t help the housing market one bit in New Jersey, though in some other areas it did help some people here and there. The worry is that if something doesn’t happen soon, more areas of urban cities could become empty concrete jungles that no one will ever want to live in again.

Related posts:

  1. The National Association of Home Builders
  2. Home Prices Don’t Always Increase
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Categories : Real estate


No comments yet.

Leave a comment