NJ's Unemployment Hits New Low

CounsellorsTitle.net

November 7, 2019

Title Wise

Title Tips & Tactics for Today's Real Estate Professionals

Much of the analysis that looks ahead is presenting a strong real estate market for New Jersey in 2020 and beyond. Part of that trend is the pent-up buyer demand, strong economy and the shortage of available inventory. Most of the New Jersey counties are showing a consistent appreciation of value and some are even reporting increases in inventory.

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

Ralph Aponte

732.914.1400

New Jersey Works

Unemployment in New Jersey is seeing some serious

improvements: since April 2019 until September, those receiving unemployment assistance has plummeted from 174,700 to 140,800, with every month in between showing improvement. The ADP National Employment Report confirmed this trend by indicating that private sector employment has increased by 125,000 jobs in October with unemployment still at a 50-year low.

New Jersey's unemployment rate has fallen concomitant with these same figures; with April 2019 unemployment posted at 3.9%, it is projected to hit 3.1% for September 2019. This puts New Jersey's unemployment below the national average of 3.6% for October. The current unemployment rate is the lowest since 1969.

The low unemployment rates are creating a very competitive landscape for hiring for both large corporations and small businesses as well.

According to the October 2019 ADP Small Business Report, the private small business (companies with 1 to 49 employees) sector added 17,000 new jobs, with the service-providing and franchise sectors creating 20,000 and 30,100 jobs, respectively, in October alone. Smaller businesses (with employees of 1 to 19) didn't fare as well, reporting a loss 12,000 jobs.

In the restaurants sector 27,600 jobs were created, with auto parts and dealers adding 4,100, and food retailers, business services and real estate all adding 100 jobs each.

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The New Buyer Surge

As considered but not seen, TransUnion is projecting that the flood of first-time buyers are about to hit our nation in full force from 2020-2022. This recently published analysis is projecting that at least 8.3 million first-time homebuyers will enter the real estate-mortgage market between 2020 and 2022.

According to TransUnion, this army of first-time homebuyers is greater than any three-year period in the last decade. The analysis also projects that this figure might have to be adjusted higher by upwards of 1 million additional buyers depending upon the trajectory of the nation's economy.

Much of this demand is considered pent-up demand brought about by the egregious amount of student debt, shortage of inventory, especially starter homes, the shortage of skilled labor making it difficult for builders to meet demand.

Strong economic factors such as job growth and wage growth will finally allow Millennials to make the move into their own homes.

Also according to the report, the number of Gen Z consumers, categorized as those born in 1995 and after, who took out a mortgage more than doubled in the last 12 months.

This translated into the number of Gen Zers who were credit eligible (meaning they were 18 years or older) increased by 4.5 million in the last year, climbing to 31.5 million in the second quarter 2019, with another 13 million Gen Z consumers expected to become credit eligible over the next 3 years.

TransUnion did a survey of prospective homebuyers and found:

Delayed home purchase was due to not having enough money for a down payment
58% said they were delaying their homebuying
51% saidthey thought they would need between 10 and 20% for a down payment

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Unaffordability Creates Opportunity

A number of sources are projecting that New York City real estate will remain flat for the most-part of 2020. A part of that metric reflects the number of New Yorkers leaving the state for places that are more tax-friendly (state, city and real estate taxes). But those regions that are adjacent to the Empire State, such as Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey, are expecting to see an uptick in activity and valuation.

With Millennials and now Gen Zers entering the first-time homebuyers, New Jersey is looking to be a viable option. This is confirmed by the survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors in the second quarter of 2019, stating that now is a good time to both buy and sell a home. The report by the NAR states that 46% of those surveyed strongly believe now is a good time to sell a home, up from 37% reported in the first quarter of 2019. The job market and the continued low interest rates are clearly fueling this optimism.

The survey reported that 38% of respondents believe that now is also a good time to buy a home because 49% of the respondents believe that prices will rise within the next six months of 2019.

The facts* are bearing this optimism out:

Hudson County Single Family Sales Up 10.3% Y-O-Y

Passaic County Single Family Sales Up 9.4% Y-O-Y

Union County Single Family Sales Up 7.8% Y-O-Y

Middlesex County Single Family Sales Up 4.3% Y-O-Y

*October, 2019 NAR

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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

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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 [email protected]

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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: