New Jersey Real Estate Report

From the Central Jersey Register News:

Expert: Housing woes may last through late ‘09

The local housing market has followed its expected downward course this year, and predictions it would begin to recover about this time have proved overly optimistic.

Many in the industry agree that prices are approaching or have already hit rock bottom, but there is some dissent on how much things will worsen before they improve.

Between the second quarter of 2007 and the same period this year, existing single-family home prices dropped just over 3 percent statewide, and sales dropped 18.53 percent, according to the New Jersey Association of Realtors’ Home Sales Report. Figures for the second quarter of 2008 were released this week and are preliminary.

Locally, prices throughout Burlington County dropped just over 4 percent since this time last year, and sales went down 15 percent.
…
“I guess it’s déjà vu from 2007,” said Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities. “The housing market and development in general as it relates to the public/private sector partnership has gone south.”
…
“We are fighting our way through a recessionary period as it relates to low housing starts and just a dismal financial picture as it relates to the business community overall,” he said.

Joseph Seneca, professor at Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy said there were some encouraging signs in the New Jersey real estate market, including a statewide increase in home sales in recent months, a fairly constant level of unsold inventory, and a slow decrease in prices, which he said probably helps the market.

But he emphasized the starker picture for the national economy, which he said has a large impact on the state. Rises in mortgage prices, credit standards and the large, if fairly stable, inventory of unsold houses are all national issues. So are the financial problems of large institutions, which he said have “no end in sight.”

“There are lots of foreclosures continuing nationally, and that adds more inventory to the market,” Dr. Seneca said. “House prices continue to fall, creating negative conditions for equity for homeowners.

“Foreclosures will continue to rise, and a good amount of the sales we’ve seen, particularly of existing homes, are fire sales of foreclosed homes being conducted by banks. So the housing market remains on a downward trajectory and prices are likely to continue to erode into 2009, nationally and in New Jersey.”
…
Experts generally agreed that the market is attractive for buyers with good credit who did not buy a house recently. “If you have equity in your home and we can price your house to sell, we can sell your home,” said Jeanne Roveda, broker/president of Century 21 B&R Realty in Upper Freehold. “Have prices adjusted? Yes, they obviously have. If you bought your house in 2005, 2006 or 2007, you may not be able to get what you paid for it.”

“We’re actually at a much slower market than 12 months ago,” said Donna Reichert, one of the owners of Coldwell Banker Winzinger Reichert and Associates on Route 130 in Bordentown. She estimated prices had fallen 20 percent in the area.

She added that things have picked up in recent weeks, “but people have to be realistic to expect what to sell their house for.”
…
Dr. Seneca’s forecast was slightly bleaker than those expressed by real estate agents. He said that others’ previous predictions of an economic turnaround in the second half of this year has been “postponed,” possibly to the last six months of 2009.

“And a big reason for that is the housing market hasn’t recovered, and with these negative factors,” he said, “the near-term outlook is for further weakness.

“I think there’s more correction in prices to come because of the very large inventory on the market and the still-increasing number of foreclosures putting more supply on the market, both nationally and in New Jersey,” Dr. Seneca said.

From the AP:

S&P: Home prices drop by record amount in 2Q

A widely watched index released Tuesday showed home prices dropping by the sharpest rate ever in the second quarter, but the data for June suggest the severity of the housing slump may be waning.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tumbled a record 15.4 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago.

The monthly indices also clocked in record declines. The 20-city index fell by 15.9 percent in June compared with a year ago, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.

However, the rate of single-family home price declines slowed from May to June, a possible silver lining, the index creators said.

“While there is no national turnaround in residential real estate prices, it is possible that we are seeing some regions struggling to come back, which has resulted in some moderation in price declines at the national level” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P.

From the Record:

Housing market finally hitting bottom?

Home prices dropped 7.3 percent in the New York metropolitan area, which includes North Jersey, from June 2007 to June 2008, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index reported today.

While that was a significant drop, it was less than half the decline seen nationwide. And some analysts saw signs that the market may be reaching a bottom
…
“Not one market is showing a positive return over the past 12 months,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s.

But Patrick O’Keefe, former head of the New Jersey Builders Association, said there are signs that the market may be bottoming out in New Jersey and the Northeast as a whole. For one thing, Case-Shiller reported that prices in the New York metropolitan area inched up 0.2 percent from May to June of this year, the first time in almost two years that they haven’t dropped month over month.

“It would be premature to conclude that a rebound is underway,” said O’Keefe, now a director with J.H. Cohn, a Roseland accounting firm. He said housing sales and prices in the region will likely remain flat into 2009.

From Newsday:

U.S. house prices again decline at slower pace

U.S. house prices declined at a slower pace for the fourth straight month in June, signaling that the worst housing slump in more than 25 years may be starting to stabilize.

Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell 0.5 percent from the previous month, with nine areas reporting a gain compared with seven in May, the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed. Prices were down 15.9 percent from the previous month, less than economists had forecast.

The figures add evidence that the drag on the economy from the housing slump is lessening, while officials and analysts predict that a rebound remains at least a year away. A private report yesterday showed that sales of existing homes in the past three months averaged the same rate as the previous period.
…
S&P/Case Shiller also released quarterly figures for nationwide home prices. That measure showed a 2.3 percent drop in the three months through June from the previous three months, compared with a 6.8 percent decline in the first quarter.
…
Unlike half the metro areas in the 20-city index, the New York metro region did not see double-digit declines from a year ago but fell 7.3 percent, data show. Prices did see a 0.2 percent uptick from May to June for the metropolitan area, which also covers Long Island, parts of Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to the Case-Shiller report.

From BusinessWeek:

Home sales, prices mostly fall in Northeast

Homes sales tumbled in most big Northeastern cities last month — with only Passaic, N.J., showing a healthy jump in activity — while sales of distressed properties dragged down median prices in the entire region, according to two reports released Monday.

Sales of existing homes in the Northeast declined nearly 12 percent in July from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said. The median price in the Northeast was $278,700, down almost 5 percent from July 2007.

That reflected the national trend: sales dropped more than 13 percent year-over-year, while the median price decreased 7.1 percent to $212,000.

But the Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report, also released Monday, showed July sales dropped by at least 20 percent in five of the nine Northeast cities tracked. The report analyzed home sales recorded by all real estate agents in those cities, regardless of company affiliation.

In the one bright spot, Passaic, sales jumped 38 percent over July last year. But the rapid sales pace could be stymied by glut of properties coming onto the market. The supply of unsold homes grew 32 percent to 10.6 months, and the median price slid 6 percent to $400,000.

Don’t forget to buy your tickets for the I.O.U.S.A. Screening GTG
Thursday, August 21st at 8:00pm

AMC Clifton Commons 16
405 Route 3 East
Clifton, NJ 07014

Tickets can be purchased online, click here.

—————————-
From the NY Post:

JERSEY: A LESSON IN FAILURE FOR NY

From 2003 through 2007, while the nation’s private economy soared, only tax-supported government jobs grew robustly in Jersey. Private employment increased a meager 1.8 percent, mostly in low-wage service jobs. In 2006, when the country was in the midst of an economic boom that produced government surpluses everywhere, Jersey faced a crushing $4.5 billion budget shortfall that prompted an embarrassing shutdown of state government.

Jersey’s decline has been rapid and astonishing. In the ’60s, one study judged it to be among the most business-friendly states because of its light tax burden. That helped attract a steady stream of businesses and residents from New York and produced robust economic growth.

Although there were occasionally signs of trouble over the years (like the pension shenanigans of Gov. Christie Whitman, in which government shirked its long-term obligations), the state’s real decline started with the election of Gov. Jim McGreevey and a Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2001.

McGreevey, aided by the Legislature, raised taxes and fees an astonishing 33 times, totaling $3.6 billion, amid a recession. The state also passed a heap of new labor-friendly, anti-business laws that rapidly worsened conditions.
…
The fallout has been swift. In 2002, the Beacon Hill Institute rated Jersey 26th among the states in overall competitiveness; by 2004, it had plummeted to 44th. Recently, corporate executives surveyed voted it one of the states where they’re least likely to expand.
…
Despite the constant stream of bad news, reform has been difficult because the kind of big-government, tax-consuming politics ruining Jersey have given too many residents a stake in the system.

The rapid growth of state and local government - whose employment increased by 15 percent from 2000 through 2006 alone - has created a huge public work force not about to vote for eliminating its perks and benefits.

Meanwhile, the state’s recent tax increases have fallen almost entirely on upper-income residents, so that those earning more than $200,000 a year (just 4.9 percent of households filing tax returns) are paying 60 percent of all income taxes. Jersey has even managed to make its onerous local property-tax system progressive by instituting a state rebate program - but only for those earning below certain incomes.

The effect of all of this is to make Jersey a place where businesses and a few residents pay the freight. So many people are on the public dole that reform becomes virtually impossible.
…
he question for New Yorkers is whether their pols learn anything from this. While for years people pointed to Jersey as a business environment New York should emulate, Jersey now stands as a cautionary tale. With Albany’s own dysfunctional politics, only Wall Street’s enormous earning power and Gotham’s international tourist appeal has insulated New York (and only Downstate) from Jersey’s fate. But with a prolonged crisis now possible in financial markets, New York may face the prospect of a Jerseyfication of its own budget and economy.

From the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development:

Employment Relatively Unchanged in July; Unemployment Rate at 5.4 Percent

Monthly indicators of the New Jersey economy showed little movement in July as payroll employment was essentially unchanged and the unemployment rate edged incrementally higher by 0.1 percentage point to 5.4 percent. The New Jersey rate remains below the national rate of 5.7 percent which was up 0.2 percentage points over the month.

Total nonfarm wage and salary employment in the Garden State was lower by 200 in July, to a seasonally adjusted level of 4,068,500, based on preliminary estimates from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s monthly survey of employers. The slight loss was equally distributed between the private and public sectors, each of which edged lower by 100. The previously released June estimate was revised upward by 200 to 4,068,700, to reflect a loss of 3,900 in June.

“Employment trends in New Jersey are reflective of broader economic challenges being evidenced nationally,” New Jersey Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow said. “During the first seven months of 2008, New Jersey’s total nonfarm employment declined by a total of 14,100 jobs or 0.35 percent while the nation lost 463,000 jobs or 0.34 percent over the same period.”

From the Star Ledger:

N.J. jobless rate edged up to 5.4 percent in July

New Jersey’s unemployment rate ticked up a notch to 5.4 percent in July, as employers in the credit, housing, hotel and food service businesses cut jobs.

The 0.1 rise in the jobless rate was less than the 0.2 percent increase in July for the nation at large, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The overall unemployment rate also fell below the national rate of 5.7 percent.

The job picture remains much grimmer than it was a year ago, however, when the unemployment rate in the state was 4.2 percent.

“Employment trends in New Jersey are reflective of broader economic challenges being evidenced nationally,” state labor commissioner David Socolow said in a statement.
…
Total New Jersey job losses through the first seven months of the year amount to 14,100.

From the Record:

Gunman surrenders after standoff

The son of a 88-year-old Saddle Brook woman whose house had been sold at foreclosure was arrested after pulling a gun on sheriff’s officers this morning.

Two Bergen County sheriff’s officers eventually talked John Brennan into giving up the weapon, and he was taken into custody.

The homeowner, Beatrice Brennan, was walked out of the house and taken away by ambulance.
…
eatrice Brennan had lived on the Adriana Street cul-de-sac for decades, neighbors said.

But the house had been refinanced and the loan couldn’t be paid, a real estate agent at the scene said.

The home eventually was sold May 16 at a sheriff’s sale.

The movers, Moving For Less of Union, showed up around 9:45 this morning and were told by two sheriff’s officers posted at the scene to wait until 10 o’clock, under the court’s order, said mover Anthony Shpilnan.

Moments later, John Brennan emerged from the house.

He pulled a .22-caliber handgun from his waistband, and the officers drew their weapons, said Ben Feldman, a spokesman for Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire.

Some additional information from the Bergen Jersey Foreclosure Blog:

Saddle Brook man pulls gun during foreclosure eviction

It seems that the woman lived in the home for decades but had recently refinanced the existing mortgage. The foreclosure judgment was over $400,000. According to the foreclosure notice, it looks like the loan was taken out by John J. Brennan, the man that was arrested, not his mom, who owns the house, according to the tax records.

The last transfer seems to be a quit-claim deed. It might be that the son refinanced his mom’s home for some reason.

From the APP:

Tax boards face flood of appeals by homeowners

Homeowners battered by the economy are seeking help in unprecedented numbers from property tax review boards. Nearly 6,000 tax assessment appeals were filed in Monmouth and Ocean counties this year, pushing hearing dates months beyond the normal calendar.
…
James Stuart, president of Stuart Appraisal Co. in Freehold, said homeowners “are looking at appeals more closely than at any time I’ve seen in over 20 years in the appraisal busi-ness. People see it as perhaps their one shot at having a say about their tax bill.”

Most appeals are unsuccessful. Tax officials said traditionally about a third of the appeals receive reductions. L. Ozzie Vituscka, the Ocean County tax administrator, said the success rate of appeals can top 40 percent “when the housing market is difficult or when a large number of revaluations are updated. The percentage of reductions is different each year.”

Still, a substantial number of area homeowners are willing to plunk down anywhere from $5 to $150 in appeal filing fees. The fees are based on the property valuation amount.

“People are really hurting in this economy, and when they get a tax bill for $9,000, they want to take a shot at knocking it down some,” said Wayne C. Pomanowski, a Monmouth County Tax Board commissioner.
…
Officials said they forecast a larger number of appeals next year if the slumping housing market doesn’t improve.

The Ocean County board is handling 4,100 appeals this year, more than twice the average appeals heard in previous years since 2000, according to Waxman, who said the number next year could be in the 7,500 to 10,000 range. Waxman said the projection is based on the poor housing market and because revaluations are scheduled to be completed for 2009 in several of the county’s large municipalities.

Clark said Monmouth County also could see an increase in appeals next year. The Monmouth board received 1,800 appeals this year, he said. The number is close to twice the average of previous years since 2000.

The record number of appeals for the two counties — 10,175 in Ocean in 1994 and 7,009 in Monmouth in 1993 — came during that decade’s housing slump.

How about something a bit different today? Is this scaremongering or should we heed the warning?

From the Philly Inquirer:

Climate change could cost N.J. billions

Climate change will wallop New Jersey by 2100, endangering lives and causing tens of billions of dollars in losses, according to a recent report issued by the University of Maryland.

The study, part of a project that looked at eight states, was prepared for the National Conference of State Legislators. It follows an international shift toward research on the economic consequence of climate change and adaptation policies rather than how to prevent the change.

“If there’s a bottom line in this research, it’s that delaying action carries a significant cost,” said Matthias Ruth, director of the university’s Center for Integrative Environmental Research and the study’s author.

If global warming continues unabated, the report predicts:

New Jersey’s coast, including Atlantic City, will flood every one to two years, potentially endangering 60 percent of the state’s population and threatening $106 billion in real estate.

Heavily paved Camden will broil in summer, driving up heat-related deaths 55 percent by 2020.

Lacking cold winters, Jersey orchards will stop bearing apples and berries.

Native birch, beech and maple trees will disappear from the state’s forests.

Low-lying access roads could flood, cutting off ports and jeopardizing $100 million in commercial fishing and $42 billion in manufacturing.

“New Jersey will experience among the hardest hits” in the nation, said Ruth, whose organization also researched the economic effect of global warming on Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio. Four more case studies are due out in the fall.

In the last century, New Jersey has experienced rising temperatures, increased precipitation, more frequent severe weather, and a sea level rising at nearly twice the average rate worldwide, according to the report, made public on July 23.

If climate change progresses unchecked, the study predicted, an estimated 1 percent to 3 percent of the state’s 210-mile shoreline will be inundated by 2100.

As conditions worsen, tourists will stay away, resulting in an economic loss of more than $3.7 billion a year as early as 2017, researchers concluded. Also lost would be 40,000 jobs.

From the Star Ledger:

INSTEAD OF FORECLOSED: SOLD!

A dozen chatty women and children stepped off a yellow school bus Saturday morning and into a vacant condo on 5th Street in Elizabeth. Armed with notepads, digital cameras and binders, they sounded optimistic about finding their dream home in the Union County city.

They peppered tour guides with questions about taxes, schools, unfinished basements and the number of bedrooms in each of the dozen properties the group would see. But this wasn’t an ordinary real estate tour.

It was a foreclosure bus tour hosted by the city — the first in the state to offer such tours as a public service, according to the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

In Florida, California and Michigan, where the housing foreclosure crisis has hit residents especially hard, these tours are becoming the rage among real estate agents. In New Jersey, which according to RealtyTrac, a firm that monitors foreclosures, saw a 140 percent jump in foreclosure filings over the last three months, real estate agents are catching on.

Tours are being organized in Sussex, Morris, Union and Warren counties and along the Shore. But this one was different: It was designed not only to help first-time buyers get an affordable home, but to keep troubled homeowners above water.

“Maybe it’s better to call it a ‘pre-foreclosure tour,’” said the city’s housing program director, Susan Ucci. “We want to prevent people from going into foreclosure.”
…
Only one of the homes on the tour had been repossessed by the lender; the rest were nearing foreclosure. Tour guides — carrying binders of information to match prospective buyers with sellers — were members of the city’s Home Improvement Program and the nonprofit housing group Brand New Day. The nine prospective buyers on the tour, all women, were pre-qualified for mortgages by Brand New Day, and all took and passed classes for first-time home-buyers.

Elizabeth’s program stands out, Ucci said, with benefits for all involved. Homeowners don’t go through the painful and credit-ruining foreclosure process. First-time buyers get a bargain on a home and “we get an occupied house instead of a foreclosed house in the neighborhood.”

Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said this is the first he’s heard of a city working with a nonprofit group to show off nearly foreclosed homes.

“I think it’s absolutely brilliant,” Dressel said, adding he wants to promote the program across the state. “It cuts through a lot of bureaucracy, and it literally matches people in homes where they want to be.”
…
Sandra Johnson, from Edison, said she was hesitant to look at homes that are near foreclosure but came on the tour because she was curious about what the market has to offer. “The tour is beautiful,” she said. “Everybody’s reminding you about what you can afford. A Realtor’s not reminding you.”

Organizers are planning another tour in September. And cities across the state may soon follow suit. Jacques Howard, economic director of Plainfield, said the tours “make perfect sense.” He plans on rolling out a comprehensive package of programs to battle foreclosure in his Union County city. He hopes to include home foreclosure tours.

When homes are vacant, “the city’s losing, the bank’s losing, everyone’s losing,” Howard said.

Preliminary June sales and inventory data for Northern New Jersey (GSMLS) is in. Please note that this data is subject to revision.

The first graph plots the unadjusted sales data (closed sales) for the counties listed. Please note the lower bound of the graph, it is set to 500, not to zero. I do this to emphasize the seasonal nature of the Northern NJ market.

(click to enlarge)

The second graph is another view at the sales data for the full year. Please note that this graph does cross at zero.

(click to enlarge)

The third graph displays only June sales, 2001 to 2008 YOY.

(click to enlarge)

The fourth graph displays an overlay of Sales and Inventory from 2003 to 2007.

(click to enlarge)

The fifth graph displays the year over year change in inventory on a month by month basis.

(click to enlarge)

The sixth graph displays the year over year change in sales on a month by month basis.

(click to enlarge)

The last graph displays the absorption rate (not seasonally adjusted), in months:

(click to enlarge)

Bonus Graphs!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

From the Press of Atlantic City:

Short sales saving more locals from foreclosure

An alternative to foreclosure for some homeowners called a short sale is becoming more common in southern New Jersey, according to attorneys who handle such transactions.

Short sales are for homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the property is worth and need to sell the house to get their finances in order.

For it to work, the lender must agree to accept as payment for the loan what the property is currently worth rather than the higher amount borrowed to buy it.

Lenders such as banks are free to insist on getting full repayment of the loan and many do, said attorney Jeffrey P. Barnes, of Stefankiewicz and Barnes in North Wildwood.

“But it sometimes makes sense to take the market value because the bank will be putting the property up for sale anyway if it goes through foreclosure after paying thousands in attorney’s fees,” Barnes said Friday.

As an example, Barnes told of a Pennsylvania couple who bought a second home in the Wildwoods. As a result of falling real estate values, they wound up owing $50,000 more for the condo than it was worth.

The couple had hoped to rent it out but couldn’t at a price that would cover their mortgage costs, he said. And they had taken out a home equity loan for the down payment on the second home and now couldn’t keep up with all the payments.

“They got quite emotional about it. They had always paid their bills, and they didn’t know what to do. They tried whatever they could to keep it going,” Barnes said.

When their savings were depleted, they looked for a solution and pursued a short sale. Their bank allowed it and in a couple of months, they got out of the second home, he said.

From the Gloucester County Times:

Pa. out-hustling N.J. in battle for business

Gov. Jon Corzine, flanked by some of his top advisers, invited eight of the state’s top real estate executives to the governor’s mansion for coffee and Danish one day last March to hear their take on the wobbly world of economic development in New Jersey.

At first, the discourse was deferential and measured. Then it was Zygi Wilf’s turn.

“I develop real estate in 38 states,” Wilf said, according to two people who were in the room. “This is the worst.”

Corzine sipped his coffee and offered no response.

Wilf, who is also owner of the Minnesota Vikings, did not return phone calls requesting an interview for this story. But his remarks to Corzine reflect what many real estate executives are saying privately: New Jersey is losing out on scores of real estate projects, and thousands of jobs that go with them, to neighboring states aggressively courting new business.

And while Corzine, former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, promised a business-friendly approach to government, the name that takes center stage is Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

In five years in office, the hard-charging Rendell has implemented an aggressive development strategy and takes a hands-on approach, unafraid to pick up the phone or visit CEOs looking to relocate or expand their operations.
…
Where New Jersey has 225 employees dedicated to the task of economic development, Pennsylvania has close to 400, according to spokesmen for each state.

“Ed Rendell is not content to take our warehouse, pharma and biotech offices,” New Jersey real estate attorney Ted Zangari told Corzine at the Drumthwacket breakfast. “He’s now launched a new initiative Wall Street West, where he’s looking to attract redundant data centers and backup trading floors.”
…
“The eastern counties of Pennsylvania have become the new New Jersey,” Rutgers University economics professor Joseph Seneca said. “First the people go, then the jobs go.

Some of this trend can be attributed to interstate sprawl, a natural westward expansion from Manhattan through a built-out Garden State. But Seneca said Rendell has some good selling points when recruiting businesses: “lower property taxes, lower income taxes, lower corporate taxes, cheaper housing and cheaper labor.”

From Newsday:

Poll finds New Jerseyans glum about economy

New Jerseyans aren’t feeling especially festive with the Fourth of July holiday approaching. A new poll finds them increasingly worried about their finances.

The survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Silberman College of Business and conducted by the university’s PublicMind poll center found 54 percent of New Jerseyans think they’re worse off financially than they were a year ago. That’s up from 48 percent in March and 41 percent in January.

Just one in five say they are better off financially than a year ago.

“This is the first time in the six years in which we’ve taken this measure that a majority of people say their condition has worsened,” said James Almeida, associate dean of the Silberman College of Business and a professor of entrepreneurship.

People are also less optimistic about the future. Just 34 percent think they’ll be better off a year from now.

“People who are otherwise confident of their personal financial standing are seeing negative indicators about the economy in general, and that makes them less sure of their own prospects for the future,” Almeida said.

The poll found younger people more optimistic about their future than older respondents, with 57 percent of those age 30 and under saying they’ll be better off a year from now, compared to 21 percent of those 60 and over.

The poll found 46 percent are using their federal economic stimulus checks to pay bills, with 23 percent saving it and 20 percent spending it.

“Middle-aged folks are using it to reduce debt,” Almeida said. “It’s a rational response to the perceived economic uncertainty.”

Though pessimistic about the economy, only 24 percent are somewhat or very worried that they might lose their job in the next 12 months.

19 Yale Terrace, Montclair NJ

Purchased: 6/1/2005
Purchase Price: $762,000
MLS# 2503228
Sold: 6/26/2008
Sale Price: $705,000

19 Woods End Road, West Orange NJ

Purchased: 6/1/2004
Purchase Price: $379,000
MLS# 2493002
Sold: 6/27/2008
Sale Price: $362,500

31 North Road, Chester NJ

Purchased: 7/23/2004
Purchase Price: $425,000
MLS# 2498591
Sold: 6/26/2008
Sale Price: $390,000

2 Lent Street, East Hanover NJ

Purchased: 8/31/2005
Purchase Price: $595,000
MLS# 2504681
Sold: 6/23/2008
Sale Price: $490,000

3 Ryan Court, Montville NJ

Purchased: 9/7/2006
Purchase Price: $1,883,065
MLS# 2465933
Sold:6/27/2008
Sale Price: $1,875,000

2 Spring Brook Court, Randolph NJ

Purchased: 10/25/2005
Purchase Price: $620,000
MLS# 2502058
Sold:6/16/2008
Sale Price: $580,000

568 Herrick Drive, Rockaway NJ

Purchased: 12/22/2005
Purchase Price: $395,000
MLS# 2501924
Sold:6/27/2008
Sale Price: $385,000

1 Shannon Mountain Lane, Washington Twp NJ

Purchased: 7/23/2003
Purchase Price: $625,000
MLS# 2511748
Sold:6/26/2008
Sale Price: $616,500
(Under the 2003 Purchase Price!)

152 Patriot Hill Drive, Basking Ridge NJ

Purchased: 8/22/2007
Purchase Price: $640,000
MLS# 2498959
Sold:6/26/2008
Sale Price: $610,000

5 Crammer Lane, Hillsborough NJ

Purchased: 9/13/2006
Purchase Price: $495,000
MLS# 2515281
Sold:6/27/2008
Sale Price: $490,000

517 Cicilia Place, Scotch Plains NJ

Purchased: 6/15/2006
Purchase Price: $389,000
MLS# 2512061
Sold: 6/27/2008
Sale Price: $287,500

23 Park Ave, Newton NJ

Purchased: 9/12/2005
Purchase Price: $393,750
MLS# 2469605
Sold: 6/27/2008
Sale Price: $382,500

332 Knox Way, Hopatcong NJ

Purchased: 11/21/2006
Purchase Price: $210,000
MLS# 2516427
Sold: 6/26/2008
Sale Price: $175,000

10 Carolina Ave, Newark NJ

Purchased: 8/9/2006
Purchase Price: $195,000
MLS# 2516055
Sold: 6/26/2008
Sale Price: $50,500

95 Blue Hill Ave, Fairlawn NJ

Purchased: 9/15/2005
Purchase Price: $425,000
MLS#: 2811101
Sold: 6/27/2008
Sale Price: $401,000

From the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development:

Employment in New Jersey Held Steady in May; Unemployment Rate at 5.4 Percent

Trenton, June 18, 2008 – For the third consecutive month, employment in New Jersey as virtually unchanged in May, while the state’s unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage point to
5.4 percent. This is the largest unrevised increase in the unemployment rate since April 2006. Despite the increase, the state’s unemployment rate is still below the rate for the United States as a whole, which rose by 0.5 percent to 5.5 percent in May, the largest increase since 1986.

Total nonfarm wage and salary employment in the Garden State moved higher by just 100 in May, to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,071,700, based on preliminary estimates from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s monthly survey of employers. The previously released April estimates were revised lower by 1,100 to 4,071,600 after more complete reporting. In addition, April’s unemployment rate of 5.0 percent was revised slightly lower to 4.9 percent.

Private sector jobholding increased by 500 over the month but was offset by a decrease in government employment, which contracted by 400. Over the first five months of 2008, New Jersey’s total nonfarm employment has declined by 10,900 (-0.26%), while over the same period the nation has lost 324,000 jobs (-0.23%).

“Clearly, the national labor market is struggling, and New Jersey is consistent with that trend,” said Commissioner David J. Socolow. “As in prior downturns like this one, the federal government should step in to provide extended Unemployment Insurance benefits, so that job seekers will have additional support while they look for work in this uncertain economy.”