Jersey Works

Posted on May 21, 2025 by grim

From ROI-NJ:

Report shows N.J. office market doing better than national average

A CommercialEdge report says office vacancy rates in the nation’s central business districts continue to struggle as declining listing rates and high vacancy levels persist as the effects of the pandemic linger. The New Jersey office market, as well as the Northeast as a whole, appears to be doing better than the rest of the nation.

According to CommercialEdge’s latest U.S. office market report for April, CBD vacancy is currently at 19.2%, up 730 basis points from early 2020, as demand continues to shift toward suburban locales. New Jersey edged up slightly to 18.9% after an 80-basis-point annual increase.

All Northeastern markets were below the national office vacancy rate in April, with Manhattan recording the lowest rate in the region at 16.2%—a figure that continued to decline both year-over-year and month-over-month. Philadelphia posted a steeper rise of 320 basis points to 19.2%. Boston saw the sharpest shift in the region, with a 470-basis-point increase in vacancy to a 17% rate. This was likely tied to the construction boom seen during the pandemic coming from the high demand for life sciences space. This, however, has resulted in an oversupply, and, as of late 2024, availability for life sciences properties in Boston reached 26.9%, one of the highest in the nation.

The average U.S. office listing rate was $33.34 per square foot in April, rising 5.4% year-over-year despite weak demand and elevated vacancy (19.7%). At $33.45 per square foot, New Jersey stayed above the national average. 

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate | 82 Comments

Clifton #1

Posted on May 20, 2025 by grim

From US News and World Report:

Best Places to Live in New Jersey in 2025-2026

Posted in Demographics, New Jersey Real Estate, North Jersey Real Estate | 60 Comments

Unemployment ticks up in NJ

Posted on May 19, 2025 by grim

From the NJBIA:

NJ Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.8% 

New Jersey employers added 4,800 jobs in April, but the unemployment rate inched up to 4.8%, the highest it’s been in over three years, according to preliminary federal data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. 

Total nonfarm employment increased by 4,800 jobs, about 75% of which were in the private sector, to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,398,300 jobs. Private sector employers have added 27,400 jobs during the 12-month span that ended in April, and the unemployment rate has risen by 0.3 percentage points during that same period. 

Additionally, the previous preliminary New Jersey monthly employment estimates for March were revised downward by 3,000 jobs in the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s unemployment rate for March remained unchanged at 4.7%. 

In April, five out of nine private industries recorded employment gains compared to March. Those sectors were education and health services (+7,100), financial activities (+1,600), manufacturing (+900), information (+300), and other services (+200). 

Sectors that recorded job losses between March and April include leisure and hospitality (-2,800), professional and business services (-1,900), trade, transportation, and utilities (-1,100), and construction (-800). The public sector added 1,200 jobs for April. 

Over the past 12 months, New Jersey has added 36,000 total nonfarm jobs, with 76% of those gains in the private sector. Four out of nine private sector industries recorded a gain between April 2024 and April 2025. These include private education and health services (+41,300), other services (+2,500), financial activities (+1,700), and manufacturing (+700).  

Losses were recorded year-over-year in leisure and hospitality (-4,800), information (-4,400), professional and business services (-3,900), construction (-3,300), and trade, transportation, and utilities (-2,400).  

The public sector has recorded a gain of 8,600 jobs over the past 12 months. 

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 60 Comments

Pass the salt, please

Posted on May 17, 2025 by grim

From the Realtors:

These High Tax States Could Benefit the Most From Higher SALT Deduction

There’s a new bill in Washington that’s become the subject of some ugly debate. In a surprising twist, the fate of the current House Republican tax package might hinge on a proposal to raise the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap.

Under current law, homeowners can deduct up to $10,000 in combined state income and property taxes on their federal return—a limit set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But that cap is set to expire, and a bloc of House Republicans from high-tax states like New York, New Jersey, and California are threatening to derail the package unless the SALT cap is raised or scrapped entirely.

The first version of the bill was voted down today, as hardline Republicans called for greater spending cuts and others insisted on increased SALT deductions. The current proposal would raise the deduction limit from $10,000 to $30,000, but some lawmakers are making the case that number still falls short of providing meaningful relief for their constituents. If the measure passes, however, here are the areas that can benefitthe most.

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 76 Comments

Go West, but not too far west.

Posted on May 16, 2025 by grim

From CBS News:

Here’s where it’s toughest for the middle class to find an affordable home

Homeownership is considered a mainstay of the American dream, but a shortage of affordable homes is blocking that pathway for many middle-income families, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Realtors. 

Only about 1 in 5 listed homes in March were affordable for households with $75,000 in annual income, down from about half of all listings before the pandemic, according to the analysis of property listings in the nation’s biggest 100 cities. To get back to that pre-pandemic level of affordable homes, the U.S. would have to add more than 400,000 new listings priced at $255,000 or below, it found. 

The median sale price in the first-quarter of 2025 was almost $420,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Rising home prices and higher mortgage rates are pushing many homes out of the price range for middle-class households, said Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The affordability gap has its roots in the housing crisis that started in 2006, which caused new construction to dry up for years afterward, she added. 

The lack of affordable homes is partly responsible for driving up prices even higher, as would-be buyers often bid up home prices to secure a property, Evangelou said. The result: More middle-income families are getting shut out of the housing market in many regions.

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 121 Comments

Foreclosures ticking up (but still low)

Posted on May 15, 2025 by grim

From Realtor.com:

2 Southern States Lead the U.S. With the Highest Number of Foreclosures

Foreclosures have continued to inch upward, signaling that homeowners are being squeezed by the high cost of homeownership.

There were a total of 36,033 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings, defined as default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions, up 0.4% from the prior month and 13.9% from a year ago, according to the April 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics.

“April’s foreclosure activity continued its gradual climb, with both starts and completions up annually,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “While volumes remain below historical norms, the year-over-year increases may suggest that some homeowners are beginning to feel the effects of persistent economic pressures.”

Three states had the highest number of foreclosures, and two of them might surprise you. The report revealed that South Carolina, Illinois, and Florida had the worst foreclosure rates in the nation.

While Florida, with its triple whammy of skyrocketing HOA dues, insurance rates, and property taxes, may predictably be a place where homeowners are finding themselves underwater on their mortgage, South Carolina and Illinois are a bit more unexpected.
…
South Carolina saw 1 in every 2,311 housing units with a foreclosure filing; Illinois had 1 in every 2,405 housing units; and Florida had 1 in every 2,526 housing units. Rounding out the top five were Delaware (1 in every 2,617) and Nevada (1 in every 2,944).

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 92 Comments

Camden is PRIME

Posted on May 14, 2025 by grim

From NJ1015:

Biggest home price jump in NJ is in a town you’d never live in

Real estate prices all over New Jersey have jumped to record levels, and most of the towns
where you see big increases are places that you would expect.

But if you told me Camden would top the list for the biggest spike in home prices in New Jersey, I would’ve laughed. And then maybe cried. Because, no offense, but when most Jerseyans think of buying a house, Camden is not exactly the dream zip code.

According to new Zillow data, home values in New Jersey jumped over 6% in March compared to last year. But Camden (specifically the 08104 zip code) saw a whopping 15% increase. Yeah, you read that right. The average home there is now $124,383. That’s still affordable by Jersey standards, but a big jump from last year.

The irony? Most of us wouldn’t even consider living there. For those who have been living under a rock, Camden has a reputation. Struggling schools, crime, lack of investment. It’s just not high on the list for folks house-hunting in the Garden State. But apparently, something’s shifting? Or maybe it’s just investors swooping in hoping to flip cheap properties? Or perhaps the Camden Renaissance will soon be underway?

Posted in Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 118 Comments

Used houses get even more used

Posted on May 13, 2025 by grim

From Redfin:

The Homes Americans are Buying are Older Than Ever

The typical home bought in the U.S. hit a record age of 36 years in 2024. That’s nine years older than the median age of homes purchased in 2012, highlighting how a lack of new construction over the past 15 years has fast-tracked the aging of America’s housing stock. 

This is according to a Redfin analysis of MLS data on the age of homes bought between 2012 (as far back as our records go) and 2024. The analysis refers to newer homes as being less than five years old and older homes as being more than 30 years old. Data refers to all home types (i.e. single family, condos and townhouses) combined unless otherwise specified. 

The homes people are buying are getting older across all types, with condos aging the most—to a median 38 years in 2024 from 26 years in 2012.

Americans are increasingly buying older homes for two main reasons:

  • Lack of new supply: There have been fewer homes built in the past two decades in comparison to earlier decades. This is particularly true on the East Coast and in the Rust Belt, where the median age of sold homes can be more than 60 years.
  • Affordability: Older homes are generally cheaper than new homes, with the typical 30-plus-year-old home selling for 15% less than the median price of all homes.
Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, New Development | 66 Comments

High property taxes = high rents

Posted on May 12, 2025 by grim

From NorthJersey.com:

AI didn’t break New Jersey’s housing market. Politicians did | Opinion

On April 23, New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed a lawsuit targeting AI-driven pricing software using in the housing market, alleging it enables landlords to collude and drive up rents. While this move is likely to grab headlines, it economically misses the mark. Blaming the software for high rents is like suing umbrella makers for rain — the real problem that needs fixing lies elsewhere.

Anyone who has ever used Kelley Blue Book or Hotels.com understands that algorithmic pricing software does not set prices; they simply analyze market conditions, such as demand and supply, and suggests rental rates based on real-time data. This is no different from a local coffee shop adjusting prices after tracking foot traffic, transaction volume and coffee inventory levels to maximize efficiency. Just as a coffee shop cannot charge $10 for a coffee without losing customers to a competitor, landlords cannot set rents arbitrarily high without tenants choosing to live elsewhere.

Blaming pricing software for high rents is ridiculous. The real storm driving up housing costs in New Jersey is years of skyrocketing property tax rates, restrictive zoning laws, housing mandates, utility costs, bureaucratic red tape and burdensome regulations that choke off new housing construction. Pricing algorithms merely reflect these underlying realities — they do not create them.

New Jersey is known for its world-class restaurants, beautiful shoreline — and the highest property taxes in the country. The average homeowner now pays close to $10,000 a year in property taxes alone. And these costs don’t just burden homeowners; they inevitability trickle down to renters. When landlords face high operating expenses, they have no choice but to pass them along in higher rents just to stay afloat. In a state with taxes this punishing, is it any surprise that rents are rising faster than almost anywhere else in the country?

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 82 Comments

Congrats on paying the most taxes

Posted on May 10, 2025 by grim

From the Real Deal:

Illinois and New Jersey lead U.S. in highest property tax rates for homes in 2024

Illinois and New Jersey recorded the highest effective property tax rates on single-family homes in 2024, of 1.87 percent and 1.59 percent, respectively.

That’s according to a new report from data provider Attom Data. Rounding out the top five highest tax rates were: Connecticut (1.48 percent), Nebraska (1.32 percent) and Ohio (1.31 percent). Attom noted that New York was excluded from their analysis because of limited data.

The states with the lowest effective tax rates on single-family residences were: Hawaii (0.33 percent), Idaho, Arizona and Alabama (all at 0.41 percent). Delaware came in at 0.43 percent.

On average, U.S. property taxes on single-family homes were $4,172 in 2024 – a 2.7 percent increase from 2023, according to the report.

Attom’s report also found that this increase was smaller than the 4.1 percent increase from 2022 to 2023.

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Property Taxes | 40 Comments

Northeast wins the first quarter

Posted on May 9, 2025 by grim

From HousingWire:

NAR: Home prices are up in 83% of metros

Home prices rose in more than 80% of U.S. metro areas in the first quarter of 2025 — even as affordability remained stretched and fewer markets posted double-digit gains.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 189 of 228 metro areas (83%) saw year-over-year increases in the median price for existing single-family homes. That’s a slight decline from 89% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The national median price rose 3.4% from a year earlier to $402,300. In contrast, the previous quarter saw a 4.8% annualized increase.

“Most metro markets continue to set new record highs for home prices,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “In the first quarter, the Northeast performed best in both sales and price gains by percentage.”

The Northeast saw the strongest yearly price growth among U.S. regions at 10.3%, followed by the Midwest (+5.2%), West (+4.1%) and South (+1.3%).

Despite accounting for nearly 45% of the nation’s existing-home sales, the South lagged in price growth and saw sales decline.

Among all metro areas tracked, 11% recorded double-digit price increases, down from 14% in the previous quarter. And in the largest metro areas, the biggest annualized gains occurred in Syracuse, New York (+17.9%); Montgomery, Alabama (+16.1%); and Youngstown, Ohio (+13.6%).

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 76 Comments

Nearly half of non-homeowners aren’t considering buying

Posted on May 8, 2025 by grim

From Gallup:

Housing Market Perceptions Dampen Homebuying Intentions

Homeownership appears to be further out of reach for non-homeowners in the U.S. Two-thirds of these Americans report being priced out of the market, and the smallest percentage recorded in years say they expect to buy a home within the next five or 10 years. More generally, Americans remain broadly skeptical about the housing market, as they have been since 2022, with the majority saying it’s a bad time to buy a house.

The survey finds that 62% of Americans say they own a home, while 34% indicate they rent, which is similar to the figures from recent years. Homeownership rates were higher before the housing crash in the late 2000s, consistently registering 70% or higher between 2005 and 2009.

It doesn’t appear that homeownership rates are likely to increase substantially in the near future. Among those who do not own a home, 30% think they will buy one within the next five years, 23% in the next 10 years and 45% not for the foreseeable future.

The percentage of those who expect to buy in the near term is significantly lower than what Gallup measured in prior surveys, all conducted between 2013 and 2018, when no fewer than 41% of non-homeowners expected to buy a home in the next five years. Similarly, the combined percentage planning to buy within five or 10 years, 53%, is the lowest that Gallup has recorded.

Posted in Crisis, Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 100 Comments

North Jersey market stats for April

Posted on May 7, 2025 by grim

From the Record:

Is the housing market starting to rebalance? How NJ real estate performed in April

Of New Jersey’s 21 counties, 13 had an increase in new listings compared with April 2024 and 15 counties had an increase in new listings compared with March 2025.

In North Jersey, the counties of Passaic, Essex and Sussex all had an increase in new home listings compared to this time last year. But the counties of Bergen, Morris and Hudson all had a decrease in new home listings.

  • Bergen: 836 new listings (-7.11%)
  • Passaic: 308 new listings (1.99%)
  • Morris: 540 new listings (-0.37%)
  • Essex: 564 new listings (15.1%)
  • Sussex: 272 new listings (27.1%)
  • Hudson: 482 new listings (-6.59%)

Sixteen New Jersey counties had active listings stay on the market for a shorter period compared with April 2024. And 18 New Jersey counties had active listings stay on the market for a shorter period compared with March 2025.

In North Jersey, active listings stayed on the market for fewer days in Bergen and Essex counties in April than at the same time last year. All of the other counties had active listings stay on the market for more days during this time.

  • Bergen: 24 days (2.13%)
  • Passaic: 23 days (-11.54%)
  • Morris: 19 days (-11.63%)
  • Essex: 29 days (11.54%)
  • Sussex: 31 days (-11.43%)
  • Hudson: 32 days (-17.11%)

Median listing prices have continued to rise across most of the state, with 17 New Jersey counties seeing price increases compared to April 2024 and 16 counties seeing prices increase compared to March 2025.

With a median listing price of $632,475 — down -3.7% compared with the same time last year — Hudson County was the only place in North Jersey that saw median listing prices decrease. All other North Jersey counties saw an increase.

  • Bergen: $799,000 (1.46%)
  • Passaic: $511,250 (4.87%)
  • Morris: $723,250 (3.47%)
  • Essex: $594,500 (2.1%)
  • Sussex: $406,000 (1.53%)
Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 84 Comments

Pocket listings in the crosshairs next?

Posted on May 6, 2025 by grim

From CNN:

America’s largest real estate brokerages are fighting over private listings

When a deal to buy Caitlin Bigelow’s San Francisco condo fell through last month, she felt relief, rather than disappointment.

Bigelow was working with a Realtor she trusted from Compass who had suggested she first list her home as a “Compass Private Exclusive.” That meant her home wouldn’t immediately be publicly advertised on home-search websites like Zillow or Redfin. Instead, the listing would be announced internally at Compass, one of America’s largest real estate brokerages, meaning only buyers represented by other Compass agents knew the home was for sale.

Bigelow had received two offers from this method — including one for $2.1 million, which was $95,000 over her list price.

It was the “magic number” she had in mind, and she quickly accepted. At first, she was thrilled. But after having time to think, she began to feel a sense of unease.

“Only two people had seen (the home) and we seemed to be hitting our magic number already,” Bigelow told CNN. “The longer I sat with that, the more I felt like, well, if two people saw it and we hit the number, what if 50 people saw it?”
…
Although Compass is not the only brokerage that lists homes off-market, the practice has become a signature part of how its agents market home listings. And it has prompted backlash: Other leaders in the residential real estate industry argue the practice is exclusionary and threatens to further chip away at consumer trust in real estate agents.

“If a portion of inventory is removed and only shown to a small group of people, by definition, that’s an exclusionary behavior that’s going to hurt others,” said Leo Pareja, the CEO of eXp Realty, another one of America’s largest real estate brokerages.

He said his company only handles private transactions when it’s required in special situations: “Fewer than 1,000 transactions for us last year were private exclusives out of 350,000.”

Critics also say the private listing strategy unfairly pushes home sellers to make deals with buyers represented by other Compass agents, resulting in the brokerage collecting a commission from both sides of the transaction.

Posted in National Real Estate, Unrest | 88 Comments

Slowdown? Maybe not.

Posted on May 5, 2025 by grim

From the APP:

NJ home prices: Here is what roiling stock market has done to spring 2025 home buying

Home buyers continue to descend on the Jersey Shore, shrugging off high mortgage rates, a faltering stock market and economic uncertainty to push median home prices to record heights, according to statistics from the New Jersey Association of Realtors.

The Realtors’ data showed that new listings ticked up in March, but so did prices. The median price of a single-family home sold in Monmouth County was $750,000, up 10.3% from the same month a year ago. The median price in Ocean County was $606,000, up 6.3%, during that time.

“One (buyer) has said they’re going to hold off now and wait and see what happens (with the economy),” said Adrian Jusino, a real estate agent with Exp Realty based in Red Bank. “But everybody else is business as usual, still going out, still looking at houses, still getting leads.”

As the spring buying season gets underway, house hunters in Monmouth and Ocean counties are running into a familiar pattern: They are finding low inventory and high prices, while they await for signs that the housing market is beginning to thaw.

The issue? Many owners who bought or refinanced their homes during the peak of the pandemic, when interest rates were at record lows, are unwilling to move now that mortgage rates are much higher. And economists say it will take time for more homes to come on the market.

“The passage of time should bring about more inventory as life-changing events force some homeowners to give up their locked-in low mortgage rates,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in an April 23 report. “Aside from inventory growth, lower mortgage rates will be needed to get homeowners to move.”

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, New Jersey Real Estate | 56 Comments