real estate prices in new jersey. Whoa.

[dumpster56]

The same houses that were on the market in late april when I sold my place for 513 are now still sitting unsold and their prices are now 479 from 535 and 599 is now priced at 487, with a new realtor. There are also 22 homes in the same neighborhood that were on the market the day mine closed and are still active with lower prices as of sept 23 today.

I think the market is well in trouble in New Jersey.

 

[tryan]

And asking price is just that (wishful thinking) ... it's the sold price that sets the market price.

Seems that the highend is always hard hit. Talked to a realtor/broker last week regarding water front property ... says the market is down 30% from the "peak" last summer.

 

[mathjak107]

It seems to be down every where except the areas im interested in eventually moving. We keep going around looking at various new adult 55 communuities that are being put up and man its like the boom continues when they talk to you about prices. I dont know if builders are pretending that nothings wrong or that they are just selling these homes in these master communities here in new york and pennsylvania.

 

[tryan]

looking at various new adult 55 communuities that are being put up and man its like the boom continues

An investor/friend is betting the farm developing a 55+ community. Reports that he has not been hit by the down turn. Guess the aging boomers out number the units available (so far).

 

[rs0460a]

I and DW consider ourselves lucky.  No mortgage, no desire to upgrade, downgrade, or move sideways.  Nobody to leave it to after we're gone (don't ask - it's already going to charity).

"Sometimes it's good to be old"... 

- Ron

 

[honobob]

Sunday paper reports +16% increase in median price July 06 over July 05 in my zip code.  Figured my 1985 purchased $85K (1128sf) home was topping out in high $500's then a recent sale at $625K and then one last week two streets over for $697K!  Vegas and Honolulu properties seem to be holding their own.  Hawaii is killing me with the 28% property tax increase.  Nevada finally put a cap on increases. 

 

[virginia]

I don't think the 55+ communities will be hit hard. Those communities will continue to grow - the only thing that might hurt these communities is that the folks moving into them may have a hard time selling their old places.
I'd say those retirement communities are a great place to invest. No?

 

[Brat]

I haven't looked at our home as an investment. It is a place to enjoy where, hopefully, when we sell will return what we spent on it.  In a way mortgage interest is a form of rent.

HOWEVER, I just looked Zillow's estimate of it's market value and was stunned   It is still going up!    If selling didn't require getting rid of a lot of stuff it would be on the market is a flash.  The net from our home could pay the rent and utilities on a very nice condo for our lifetime. 

 

[GolferAndy]

Don't depend on what zillow says. It's notoriously innacurate.

 

[neo]

Don't depend on what zillow says. It's notoriously innacurate.

I'll second that. We sold our house recently after it had been on the market for 4 months. Zillow kept jacking up its value estimate during this period, as we were actually lowering the price at the same time. According to zillow we should have gotten way more than we did; its max estimate was totally out of whack with reality.

 

[Spanky]

Sunday paper reports +16% increase in median price July 06 over July 05 in my zip code. Figured my 1985 purchased $85K (1128sf) home was topping out in high $500's then a recent sale at $625K and then one last week two streets over for $697K! Vegas and Honolulu properties seem to be holding their own. Hawaii is killing me with the 28% property tax increase. Nevada finally put a cap on increases.

Hmm - people are still nuts about buying real estate in high demand areas, e.g., the Bay Area.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

It seems to be down every where except the areas im interested in eventually moving. We keep going around looking at various new adult 55 communuities that are being put up and man its like the boom continues when they talk to you about prices. I dont know if builders are pretending that nothings wrong or that they are just selling these homes in these master communities here in new york and pennsylvania.

I was talking to a new home builder also this weekend. He was VERY arrogant, "Oh yeah, Used homes are going down but everyone wants new" What a big load of crap! Excuse my French. There was an identical home that he was selling new, used with pool on a better lot for $50k less that what he wanted for the basic NEW home! They are basically simply feathering their own nest while they can. We are also experiencing a 24% decline on average on homes in our area from the same time last year. What I see funny is some builders are offering holidays, cruises even cars and Harley Davidson motorcyles to keep the sales prices up. Why not just sell the home cheaper? Go figure.

SWR

 

[lets-retire]

There moving quickly here. Of course half the homes were wash away about a year ago and the population didn't decrease that much.

 

[astromeria]

For Sale signs are building up in some middle class communities here, but so far upper middle class communities have about the same number of signs as usual. That may change over the next year. Now if land on Edisto Island gets cheap enough...

 

[Zoocat]

nm

 

[ronin]

ditto

Sunday paper reports +16% increase in median price July 06 over July 05 in my zip code.

My zip continues to be up 20% yoy although I noticed some areas of L.A. Co. starting to show negative median numbers. Had my socks knocked off this past week when my next door neighbor told me he'd been offered 1.7 million, but was holding out for 2! If true, he needs to lay off the dope and grab ahold of that one. I had a prospective tenant who wants a vacant half acre in the back for horses and a nursery offer to buy it from me last week (no #s discussed for a sale as I'm not interested at this point). I think our location has a lot to do with it. Hard to find large lots still zoned agricultural in the middle of L.A.

 

[PJ03]

Here in annapolis we see a lot of buyers sitting on the sideline, I think that things will start moving again early next year.
I'm talking about the high end home and not the tract house. I had a new home on the market for 870K, It went under contract for 1 mil on Sat. I did have a strip of unbuildable land next to it that i added to it early Sat morning and bingo it was gone in about three hours.
We have had seven calls on it asking if the contract will hold.
This is what most of the agents Im talking with are saying, the buyers are there and when they think we have hit bottom they will be buying again.

We are in a strange situation here with Condos selling for over 1 mil and new custom homes selling for less than 1 mil.
All in all borrowing rates are still low, so its not all doom and gloom here by the bay.

 

[jazz4cash]

I was talking to a new home builder also this weekend.  He was VERY arrogant, "Oh yeah, Used homes are going down but everyone wants new" What a big load of crap! Excuse my French. There was an identical home that he was selling new, used with pool on a better lot for $50k less that what he wanted for the basic NEW home! They are basically simply feathering their own nest while they can. We are also experiencing a 24% decline on average on homes in our area from the same time last year. What I see funny is some builders are offering holidays, cruises even cars and Harley Davidson motorcyles to keep the sales prices up. Why not just sell the home cheaper?  Go figure.

SWR

Builders may be reluctant to tick the hell out of anyone that has recently contracted to build or just closed on a new home by lowering the price for the next guy thru the door. The builders around here (MD subs of DC) are probably holding out hope that spring will be better

 

[REWahoo]

Help! Home for sale: Notes from all over on the difficulties of selling real estate.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Builders may be reluctant to tick the hell out of anyone that has recently contracted to build or just closed on a new home by lowering the price for the next guy thru the door. The builders around here (MD subs of DC) are probably holding out hope that spring will be better

They (Builders) can afford to I suppose, what about the person/people who has/have to move for some reason and cannot hold out. From what I have read recently they are buying their target home and holding the 2 homes complete with expenses. The first home is not selling they are going down hill fast. But they still will not reduce the home to a SALABLE price because their REALTOR says the price this good. In there lies another problem. Realtors get paid on sales price, NOT the service they provide, it is in THEIR interest not the sellers to keep prices high. For those who paid 2 mortgages on 2 homes for 6 - 12 months, they may as well have reduced the price to start with. And for this they demand 6%.

Realtors amongst others need to get a dose of reality, I see continuously in RE adds here, comments like "$78,000" or $50,000 BELOW appraised value, When was the appraisal last year!!!!. When will they/we get it?

"The value of any item or commodity (A La the Stock Market) is the price someone is prepared to pay for it". If no one will buy at $xx below appraisal then the REALTOR has YET AGAIN, NOT done their job for the seller and has priced the home incorrectly.

This simply goes to prove once again they are all FOS (in the words of George Carlin), or more politely OTL. REALTORS IMHO and experience, work for THEMSELVES ONLY, regardless of what they might say and prove it time after time after time......

While I have also met some true ethical realtors in my time, I would say 95% are just like car sales people. Just read the RE adds in your local paper. Cute (Small), Adorable (Tiny), they just continue to debase themselves and the market. Just listen to them the next time you look at an open house. "Don't wait it will get snapped up at this price", been on the market for a year but when you go in it will be snapped up. Another trick is they re-list the property after a contract has expired and list it as a NEW listing, "Just on the Market".

How do I know all this? My landlady is a realtor with 25 years experience, I really believe she is one of the good ones. You should hear the stories, nepatism, lies and cheating that goes on in the RE business. Right down to what they are TOLD to say to the punters.

Sounds JUST like our great government doesn't it. What is wrong with admitting the state of things, pricing stuff accordingly and going on with life. Lying and cheating is more profitable I suppose......

Off Soap Box.....

SWR

 

[sendbaht]

Here in Redondo Beach there are "For Sale" signs all over , more then I have seen in a long time. I spoke to a RR and he said, 10 years up then 5 years down. Home prices going down has just started.... hold on to your hat, it will be a blood bath.

Now for ya'll that love your home and want to stay..who cares if they go up and down, you have a place you love and not going to sell anyway.

 

[Lusitan]

I haven't bothered to look at whether the prices have moved or not, but here in my neck of the woods in N. Jersey, there are definitely a lot more "For Sale" signs up, and they're remaining up way longer, than 6 months ago. My guess is that prices may have come down a bit, but that most sellers are still holding out hoping for a higher price than they're likely to get anytime soon.

 

[craigt3365]

Here in Vegas prices are dropping for sure. And activity is way, way, way down. My good friend owns a title insurance company. He has laid off 8 out of 10 staff. Listings are up about 500% over last year. Great time to by buying, bad time to be selling.

 

[retire@40]

Great time to by buying, bad time to be selling.

The great time isn't here yet to be buying.

We are just at the beginning of the correction.

 

[tryan]

... yup, we're several years away from a "great time" to be buying.