Title Wise
The New Jersey Real Estate News You Can Use
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Greetings!
The news tries to paint a picture that either has fear, disaster or scarcity in its headlines. An inch of rain becomes a storm watch, 3 inches of snow calls for school closings. But looking at the real estate market, collapse is not in the near future and there is a continuing supply of new buyers, not pandemic purchasers. This next generation comes into this market aggressively pursuing their dream, and for many, with some effort, it is coming true. The market remains strong, interest rates remain low and the economy is coming back strong with some inflation.
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
Founder & President
732.914.1400
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Looking Forward:
Green Pastures for the Home Market
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What is clear is that the current housing market doesn't follow the traditional paths it had traveled during the years 1999-2019. The pandemic changed all of that. But behind the scenes, what was slowly taking place was the erosion of available existing homes for sale, and this became the tip of this market's spear.
For years the process of buying a home did not involve the issue of inventory scarcity. Now it appears to be with us for a few more years.
But inventory is no longer the greatest determining factor within this robust market. Affordability is now the most powerful force that has limited and priced many buyers temporarily out of the market.
New Jersey Market
The prices of a single-family homes have skyrocketed over the last three years, with a median sales price for a single-family home in October 2018 selling for $305,000 to a pricey $459,000 in June 2021. This represents a 34% increase over that period.
The average sale price has climbed from $381,000 to $576,000 over the same period of October 2018 to June 2021.
Since October 2018 to June 2021, the median price of a single-family home sold in Monmouth County, New Jersey has gone from $420,000 to $625,000, representing a stunning 35% increase.
The prodigious increase in the median price, compounded by the attrition of the inventory of homes for sale, has made buying a home a very difficult proposition.
The shortage of building supplies has also impacted the constriction of the number of new homes built and also their prices. Sales of new single-family homes fell to a rate of 670,000 from the estimated 724,000 that was projected, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Some experts believe that the significant appreciation of homes put many newly constructed homes out of the reach of many buyers.
Supplies and building materials, specifically lumber, increased over 300% during the pandemic, but has since fallen to only 75% above its 2019 average. The shortage of lumber is not only a byproduct of the ability of lumber mills to keep up with the demand but also an issue between Canada and the United States, which affects the amount of lumber coming in from Canada to America.
There have even been shortages in terms of appliances available. The result is that the number of new home sales have dropped 6.6% from projected levels.
Inventory of new homes has increased from May to June from 5.5-month supply to a 6.3-month supply. But this is only for new homes. Existing home inventories continue to experience significant shortages.
A recent S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller report indicated that May 2021 prices broke all records for existing home sales. The national average for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller report indicated that home prices for existing homes climbed 16.6% year-over-year in May 2021. Some cities, such as Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle, did significantly better, reporting increases of 25.9%, 24.7% and 23.4%, respectively. But even laggard markets such as Chicago, Cleveland and Minneapolis still reported gains of double digits.
Millennials continue to fuel the historic demand for homes, with mortgage rates cooperating with this new wave of buyers.
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Inventory Begins to Claw Back:
But Prices Continue to Rise
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For the very first time since February 2020, new listings are beginning to replenish inventory on a national basis.
This is also the case in New Jersey. Up until February 2021, new listings were below prior year metrics.
Finally inventory on a national basis has seen a marginal increase in June 2021 from May 2021, according to a recent published report.
Buyer demand, along with record-low mortgage rates and the stampede of pandemic buyers fleeing urban meccas, have depleted much of the abundance of housing inventory over the last two years. Finally, inventory climbed 1.9% in June from May.
The overall inventory picture is still pretty bleak for today's home buyer with an average two-months supply.
Most likely, as the economy continues to roar back in most segments, people who were considering moving pre-pandemic, are taking the leap by putting their homes up for sale.
Still, buyers and sellers are finding that prices are still at record highs and inventory is still uncomfortably short.
Unfortunately for the buyers, prices continue to track the ever-higher upward trajectory with median home prices hitting another new record nationally of $336,000. The only good news is that the mortgage rates are not tracking with home prices.
Also, the ferocity of bidding wars shows a little let-up, with ONLY 65% of written offers submitted being above listed price, as compared with April's torrid 72.1% of submitted written offers above the listed price. But competition is still a major hurdle buyers are having to deal with, as reported by a recent Fox Business article stating that there are still super-hot markets out there. "The markets facing the most competition are Sarasota, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina, with bidding-war rates notching 87% and 82.9%, respectively...and Reno, Nevada, with 80% of offers written [above listed price and] Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kansas City, Missouri, rounded out the top five markets, with 78.9% and 78.6% of offers facing competition, respectively."
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Get This Month's Free Rental Planner Spreadsheet |
Rental Income Planner in Excel Spreadsheet
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A.S.A.P. Attorney Settlement Assistance Program
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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
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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. |
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.
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Handy Guide to Real Estate Sources |
Here are some of the most widely used governmental websites for the real estate industry.
I look forward to being of service to you, providing you with outstanding real-time information and some humor to make doing business a pleasure.
Sincerely,
Ralph
Ralph Aponte
Counsellors Title
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Counsellors Title Agency, Inc. specializes in providing title insurance, title search services and loan closing services serving attorneys, Realtors, banks and various mortgage companies throughout the State of New Jersey. CTA offers full search and insurance capabilities within all 21 counties of New Jersey for commercial, residential and new construction purchases in our Toms River, Freehold, Chatham, and Union locations.
CTA is equipped with the latest digital technologies to ensure a complete and timely transaction.
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Mr. Ralph Aponte
Our Office: 504 Hooper Avenue,
Toms River, NJ 08753
Phone Number: (732) 914-1400
Fax: 732-914-8898
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