The housing market’s steep price slide appears to be slowing, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of an existing single-family home in North Jersey and the New York metropolitan area was $434,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, the NAR said. Nationally, prices declined 4.1 percent in that period, to a median $172,900.
Prices in North Jersey and the metro area are more than $100,000 below the peaks of around $540,000 reached in 2006 and 2007.
Patrick O’Keefe, an economist with the accounting firm J.H. Cohn in Roseland, thinks the big price declines are over for now.
"I think prices in New Jersey will stabilize and trend upward slightly over the rest of the year, primarily because the economic environment looks to be improving," O’Keefe said. "We should start adding jobs in the second quarter of the year." A brighter jobs picture would make buyers more confident about taking on mortgages.
The volume of sales jumped in the fourth quarter, apparently boosted by the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers, which was originally scheduled to expire Nov. 30. That credit was extended to sales that are under contract by April 30 and close by June 30. In addition, a $6,500 credit was added for repeat buyers.
Sales of condos, co-ops and single-family homes in New Jersey rose 34 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, to 135,600 units. That’s still below the levels of the housing boom, when yearly sales topped 180,000 in 2004 and 2005.
Real estate broker Vikki CQ Healey CQ of Vikki Healey Properties in Maywood said she thought prices in the area were down a little more than the NAR data suggests — maybe 7 or 8 percent.
"We have such a preponderance of short sales and foreclosures in the market; those prices are really bring down the averages quite a bit," she said.
But she agreed that the volume of sales was way up over late 2008, in part because of the depressed market activity after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
"Nothing was selling; it didn’t matter what the price was, what the interest rate was," she said. "That was when the financial crisis hit, and we were paralyzed."
Now, however, homes priced at the lower end of the market are selling, and the most attractive properties — in good locations, well-maintained and reasonably priced — are drawing multiple offers, Healey said.
"Based on the rising number of resales, it appears that the market has found its footing," Jarrod C. Grasso, chief executive of the N.J. Association of Realtors, said in a statement. "As the general economy begins to recover and jobs are added, the pace of housing sales should accelerate."
E-mail: lynn@northjersey.com
The housing market’s steep price slide appears to be slowing, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of an existing single-family home in North Jersey and the New York metropolitan area was $434,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, the NAR said. Nationally, prices declined 4.1 percent in that period, to a median $172,900.
Around the nation
Despite recent price drops, the N.Y. metro area, including North Jersey, remains one of the priciest in the nation:
| Area |
Median price* |
| N.Y. |
$434,000 |
| Honolulu |
$612,300 |
| San Francisco |
$551,300 |
| Boston |
$332,800 |
| Los Angeles |
$352,700 |
| U.S. |
$172,900 |
*Existing single-family home
Source: National Association of Realtors
Prices in North Jersey and the metro area are more than $100,000 below the peaks of around $540,000 reached in 2006 and 2007.
Patrick O’Keefe, an economist with the accounting firm J.H. Cohn in Roseland, thinks the big price declines are over for now.
"I think prices in New Jersey will stabilize and trend upward slightly over the rest of the year, primarily because the economic environment looks to be improving," O’Keefe said. "We should start adding jobs in the second quarter of the year." A brighter jobs picture would make buyers more confident about taking on mortgages.
The volume of sales jumped in the fourth quarter, apparently boosted by the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers, which was originally scheduled to expire Nov. 30. That credit was extended to sales that are under contract by April 30 and close by June 30. In addition, a $6,500 credit was added for repeat buyers.
Sales of condos, co-ops and single-family homes in New Jersey rose 34 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, to 135,600 units. That’s still below the levels of the housing boom, when yearly sales topped 180,000 in 2004 and 2005.
Real estate broker Vikki CQ Healey CQ of Vikki Healey Properties in Maywood said she thought prices in the area were down a little more than the NAR data suggests — maybe 7 or 8 percent.
"We have such a preponderance of short sales and foreclosures in the market; those prices are really bring down the averages quite a bit," she said.
But she agreed that the volume of sales was way up over late 2008, in part because of the depressed market activity after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
"Nothing was selling; it didn’t matter what the price was, what the interest rate was," she said. "That was when the financial crisis hit, and we were paralyzed."
Now, however, homes priced at the lower end of the market are selling, and the most attractive properties — in good locations, well-maintained and reasonably priced — are drawing multiple offers, Healey said.
"Based on the rising number of resales, it appears that the market has found its footing," Jarrod C. Grasso, chief executive of the N.J. Association of Realtors, said in a statement. "As the general economy begins to recover and jobs are added, the pace of housing sales should accelerate."
E-mail: lynn@northjersey.com
