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According to the New Jersey Association of Realtors, the NJ market continues to strengthen thanks to a lower inventory of available homes, higher median prices and faster selling times. How do these numbers compare to last year?
According to NJAR, the number of homes for sale in all markets is down 15.5 percent from September 2012. Closed sales in all markets have risen 21.8 percent, though. Single-family homes have seen a median sale price of 7 percent more compared to September 2012, and single-family homes are spending less time on the market.
To add more good news to the picture, positive trends are being seen in the townhome and condo communities as well. While NJ isn’t back to pre-recession prices, at least the housing market is moving in the right direction.
Why Inventory is Low – But Maybe Not for Long
Part of the reason why inventory is low is because would-be sellers are holding onto their properties because they are not willing to sell their home at a discount. This deters many would-be sellers, so they either remain in their homes or rent them out to continue paying down their mortgage.
Over time, we can expect to see some of these sellers slowly listing their homes when they can finally make the numbers work for them, but in the meantime, inventory will remain relatively low – at least for these types of homes.
Foreclosed homes are a different story. With the high number of foreclosures, there are still many that need to make it onto the market. Once they are listed, we can expect to see them clear out very quickly, boosting sales and driving up the market, hopefully allowing today’s would-be sellers to finally list their homes without taking as much of a hit. This has been the trend for much of the country, and it has helped many states rebound to better sales.
We can only hope that the housing market bubble will be a thing of the past, and housing prices will continue to strengthen over time. We’re making positive steps in the right direction, making now – potentially – a great time to sell, buy or both.
