March Home Prices Rise

CounsellorsTitle.net

May 7th, 2020

Title Wise

The New Jersey Real Estate News You Can Use

Despite the invasion of COVID-19, New Jersey real estate has been able to maintain its value thus far. With inventory supply plunging, it has been ever more important for agents and loan officers to be spot-on when it comes to closing. At Counsellors Title, our experienced team of closers and title professionals commit to closing with confidence while following the CDC guidelines.

Please feel free to email me at ralph@counsellorstitle.com

if you have any questions or would like to follow up on any of this edition's articles.

Ralph Aponte

732.914.1400

Home Prices Holding Ground

Despite the drop in the number of closed sales in New Jersey, March 2020 was a good month for home values and home sellers in general. With home values increasing year-over-year by as much as 11.7%, the number of homes available-for-sale has dropped precipitously.

The bad news for home buyers is that new listings have fallen by 27.8% on a year-over-year basis, pummeling the inventory of homes for sale on the market,which has nose-dived by 31.5% from 37,357 to 26,124. Compare this to the figures reported back in 2017 where there were 39,280 homes for sale in March 2017, representing a six-month supply of inventory.

Some regions like Hudson and Bergen County, which are often bellwether counties for the state, also showed a significant increase in the media

n sales price of single family homes.

In Hudson County, even though new listings fell by 40.7%, and the number of homes for sale also fell by 38%, the median sales price of a single-family home increased by 13.6%.

Bergen County experienced a significant drop in the number of new listings, down to 855, which was a 31.5% drop from 2019.

As many buyers, looking for access to the City, come to Bergen, the number of homes for sale in Bergen County fell to just 2,137, a 33.7% drop from 2019.

This will make it ever-more competitive for the potential home buyer. Inventory shortages and high price are going to continue to plague the potential home buyer in New Jersey for the balance of 2020 and into 2021.

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Buyers Transition to Virtual Buying Model

Finding a new home in this new world of social-distancing is a digital panoply.

People still are moving and renting. The economy and the pandemic have not stopped that. But the way that homes are bought and sold in terms of transactional protocols are clearly changing.

Now agents are hosting in-person open houses which are limited to under 10 people.

The percentage of virtual open houses have clearly skyrocketed by at least 30%.

Adapt

Since real estate is considered an essential industry, agents are learning to adapt quickly to this new normal. In addition to taking all precautions to protect themselves and their clients, they are taking advantage of many video platforms, which include Zoom.

Email

Email platforms have been reborn with respect to keeping in touch with client bases.

Drones

According to some research, 83% of clients prefer to work with an agent who uses drones. In addition, properties that are using drone technology are selling faster than those that do not use drones, up to 68% faster.

Virtual Open Houses

Scheduled virtual open houses call for agents to do a live walk-through of the property and they provide access the video links.

Video

According to some sources, buyers and sellers are 73% more likely to work with agents who use video. Clearly this was not the case 10 years ago. The trajectory of the industry has taken on a new force, that being digital, video, and artificial intelligence.

Agents are now expected to show the neighborhood in addition to showing the property.

Appraisals

Unfortunately, appraisals, due to the demand, are running about 10 to 14 days behind schedule.

Mortgages

Home buyers are finding that obtaining the loans necessary for the purchase is taking longer as well. This is due to the surge in credit unions and banks processing small business loans stemming from the pandemic. A great deal of demand for mortgages is coming from the low mortgage rates that currently are available as refinances are becoming highly popular.

Title Insurance

Also, title companies are adjusting and adapting to the state requirements for social distancing, which require that individuals maintain at least a six-foot perimeter around themselves.

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Economy Transitioning to Work From Home Model

According to some surveys, 42% of individuals today are working from home.

A great deal of anticipation and expectation is surrounding the future of the new domestic economy as it begins to reopen in the post-pandemic era.

Some experts are anticipating that up to 25% of workers will be looking to work entirely from home.

Productivity, in some cases, may have taken a temporary hit, but approximately 60% of those individuals working from home state that they are either as productive or more productive working remotely.

According to a CNBC research survey, 42% of those responding to the survey indicate that they are working from home as compared to just 9% pre-pandemic.

What will take place following the pandemic with respect to the number of people working remotely versus those who work in a commercial office may change dramatically. This could and most likely will translate into millions of dollars of losses for those commercial real estate developers and property owners.

According to the research survey, those individuals earning from $50,000 to beyond $100,000 are more likely to work from home.

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Rediscovering Email Marketing

So, with the economic concerns and dropping revenue - one of the FIRST things that's been cut is Travel & Entertainment. Going out for lunch or coffee, or even sponsoring a special event, right now they are all on HOLD!

But you are in business, and you can't lose the momentum that you built. Email can help maintain your business visibility - even when you aren't able to physically meet!

4 STATS YOU NEED TO KNOW

#1 - There Are About 5 Billion Email Addresses in the World.
People still depend upon email. When a person gives you their email address, it represents an opportunity to continue the conversation.

If you get their email address, and never had a conversation, that is a completely different story. But if they gave you their contact information, it is a chance to pony your value up to the plate through email.

Remember:
People do business with people they know. And secondly, People forget.

From my perspective, email is an electronic way you can maintain your visibility, credibility and future opportunities with those within your personal network.

So, even though there is so much buzz about things like "Facebook has 2 billion users," think about this...Email is what INVENTED the Internet, and it isn't going away!

#2 - 66% of People Say They Purchased a Product BECAUSE of an Email...
Email influences and confirms buying decisions. Especially when it comes to client retention, your quality emails reflect the level of quality of service that you provide.

Your emails need to be intentionally written from the client's point of view.

A good Newsletter is about the context of the business environment and the trends that are or will be impacting future business.

On the OTHER HAND, Social Media is basically about Me Me Me Me.

This statistic is PROOF that consumers lean on EMAIL to make BUYING decisions.

#3 - 72% PREFER Email Communication From Businesses.
Customers are checking their email all the time. Even if they don't read what we send all the time, they see your name in the Subject Line in their inbox.

Customers are ALWAYS checking their emails. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

This is not true with social media. With email, you are not at the mercy of the Twitter or Facebook algorithms. Your customers don't always see what you post on Twitter or Facebook. Customers want both: they want us to email them, not ONLY do social media.

#4 - BIGGEST Data: For Every $1 Invested in Email, $38 Comes Back.
That's a 3,800% RETURN on Investment. Think about that for a minute. 3,800%+. Where else will you get that kind of return on investment? This is all the more reason you really need to be consistently building your email list.

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A.S.A.P. Attorney Settlement Assistance Program

Our real estate secretarial services are able to assist you in every

aspect of the sale, purchase, refinance or loan closing process. We will directly communicate with all the parties involved in the transaction and coordinate and obtain all the items necessary to bring the matter to closing.

Our ASAP services can be individually customized to fit your needs. These services include:

Documentation Preparation
Disbursement of Funds
Attendance at Closing
HUD Preparation or
Post-Closing Matters

Our Commitment to Excellence

Counsellors Title Agency wants to thank you for the opportunity to work with you and your clients to grow your business. Please feel free to click the link above or here to leave us a review on Google. We appreciate your business.

Careers @ Counsellors

Sales: Leading NJ title insurance agency seeks experienced licensed salespersons to help expand its market share throughout the entire state. Benefits include health insurance, 401k with an employer match, flexible spending account, expense account, & marketing support. Send resumes by fax: 732-914-8898 or ralph@counsellorstitle.com

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Free Online Title Insurance Calculator

Counsellors Title Agency announced its updated Title Calculator for New Jersey home purchases & refinances at: Title Calculator

Loan officers, real estate agents and home buyers can find out how

much title insurance will cost for purchases made in New Jersey.

Easy-To-Use Functionality
This online tool includes many of the endorsements involved in calculating the cost of a title policy in New Jersey. CTA's Title Calculator is a great tool for real estate salespersons, loan officers, attorneys and those who are buying or refinancing their home.

It calculates the cost of title insurance based upon the purchase price of the home, the loan amount, and the various endorsements that can accompany the loan. The calculator provides the user the scalability of selecting the various endorsements involved in the transaction.

Counsellors Title Closing Services for Attorneys

Counsellors Title provides its Attorney Settlement Assistance Program [ASAP] with the real estate attorney in mind.

The Counsellors ASAP program offers secretarial services to assist in the process of a sale, purchase, refinance or loan closing.

Counsellors will even communicate directly with all the parties involved in the transaction to coordinate and obtain all the items necessary to assist in the close.

ASAP includes:

Documentation Preparation
Disbursement of Funds
Attendance at Closing
HUD Preparation or
Post-Closing Matters

For more information about the attorney services provided by Counsellors Title call our home office: 732.914.1400 or email us at info@counsellorstitle.com.