From NJ101.5:
The bright side of NJ’s iffy housing market
Featuring a worst-in-the-nation foreclosure rate and a significant inventory shortage, New Jersey’s housing market is far from perfect and still reeling from the economic downturn of late last decade.
But, sales are on the rise in the Garden State — up 7.7 percent from June 2016 to June 2017, according to New Jersey Realtors — proving that the allure of homeownership is still alive and well.
The median sales price of homes in New Jersey registered an uptick as well.
“The median sales price for the total market did remain strong at $275,000 for the first two quarters of 2017. That’s an increase of 1.9 percent over the same period last year,” New Jersey Realtors President Bob Oppenheimer told New Jersey 101.5.
Oppenheimer noted, though, the price/inventory/sales situation can’t be described by one statistic in such a diverse state as New Jersey. Three segments of the market are performing quite differently from one another.
Good Morning New Jersey
Good Morning Mike.
Mike is an automated robot programmed to be a constant reminder of our coming AI overlords.
Nice article thanks for sharing with us.
Yeah… that guy too
Was reading some article about top locations in America to live, and in the comment section, it’s the same sh!t everywhere. Just constant complaints about taxes, cost of housing, and traffic. Grass is always greener, right?
“please don’t move to Austin. I can see why travel and finance writers love it and want it to be #1, but they don’t live here, where the population increases by about sixty thousand people every year – and their cars. It’s exciting to live here if you’re young and childless, but good luck being able to afford buying a house, paying your property taxes, and getting to work on time because traffic! the worst traffic! nearly every hour is “rush hour”, whether that be streets or so-called freeways. Such a production to just go anywhere, and then you get to stand in long lines because some butthead told travel writers about your favorite hole in the wall then they wrote about it in national magazines.Soon Fayetteville will know.”
You joke Grim…but we’re working on deploying automation (RPA)
Just like I stated over the years here. You would be stupid to leave jersey for these places. Always stated to just wait till their population grows like Jersey did from 70’s to 80’s….they will become just like us, but worse. Their population growth is too fast, and they will have worse problems than Jersey in 10 years. Just wait. Their taxes are going to rise fast, due to all the new services needed,while jersey will flat line with inflation because we had our population explosion already.
“We’re having the same problem in boulder and Denver in Colorado. It’s been horrible.”
“In Denver you are always in rush-hour traffic no matter what time of day it is. Cost of living is outrageous, there are more people than there are places to live. Imagine going to look at an apartment and the complex is treating it like it’s an open house with 7 other people who are interested with their deposit ready. Want to buy a house? Forget it. You’ll be in competition with 15 other people who have a higher credit rating and more cash to put down than you. Not to mention houses go for thousands of dollars above the asking price because of the bidding wars. Also, $200,000 gets you a condo at best. Best advice yet; “You got high, now go home!””
Looks like Utah is doing a great job with regulations. 3b, you sure Utah is such a great place to live?
“Salt Lake City should not. E on the list. Too much pollution. Traffic is horrible. New move-ins struggle with assimilating. ATV tire tracks all over ancient Indian ruins. Stay away”
“Wow. We checked it out for a possible move. Stunned by the inversion..factories spewing smoke north of the city.
Downtown was too quiet on a Saturday night for a city
But those mountains..beautiful”
“Just moved from here after 15 years. The inversion on pregnant woman and the effects on young kids who knows what it caused. Not to mention if you aint morman and you have kids good luck. I hate the state more than anything imaginable. One highway to get north and south of the city. Look up stericycle where the burn used needles etc. No govt. Monitoring on what waste they can burn and release. Oh did i mention i hate this place”
You don’t know traffic till you lived in either northern NJ or a burb off the LIE. I lived in Los Angeles and when the traffic got bad (never NJ bad), there were always surface routes to avoid it. This is not the case in NJ. If the GSP is crowded, you are fukced. This weekend, we are driving from AC to Cape May on Saturday morning. We’ll need to allot an extra fukcin’ hour to the 45 minute journey to make sure we don’t miss the ferry with the typical Saturday check in traffic. Nothing like leaving the hotel at 10:30 to catch a 1:30 ferry. Keep the state to yourself Pumps. To hell with Jersey. Just wait until Murphy gets in. He’s going to turn this place into the most expensive landfill in the country.
I’ve been to Austin twice. I’d take it any day over NJ. What they call traffic is having to stop at a traffic light. Get out of NJ for a change. It will change your perspective on this over-regulated, overpriced and overcrowded state. This is coming from someone who has flown over 500,000 miles on United/Continental almost exclusively in the US.
Pumps there are problems everywhere I never said there wasn’t. Utah is a well run state. They will address their issues. New Jersey is has been poorly run for years no end in sight. Nothing on the horizon indicates otherwise. Murphy more of the same.
Heck, I’d take Lubbock over anyplace in Essex County.
I’ve been to Utah numerous times and Salt Lake City twice. What a beautifully clean city. World-class skiing thirty minutes from the airport. Beautiful blondes everywhere you look. Lousy food, but you can’t win ’em all. Traffic, nope! Not even during rush hour.
Zion and Bryce are both stunning too. But they pale in comparison to the beautiful blue flames of the refineries in Linden.
Lots of new multi family housing coming to north jersey. They just broke ground in my town on a development of 70 new rentals half 2bedrooms. So more kids in the already overcrowded grammar schools that have had 2 additions in less than 20 years. Of course you can have kids in a one bedroom apartment too. And the new development is on a hill that looks like it will slide down onto the train tracks. This new development is right across the street from an existing huge rental complex packed with kids. Taxes up every year and up again. Many towns in Bergen will be seeing this type of development.
Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.
The Austin post above was correct, its influx and growth that turn these great places to shit as infrastructure costs and sprawl grown completely unchecked. Inevitably, they hit a tipping point when old infrastucture comes due. Then, taxes skyrocket.
Plague of locust migrants go from hot place to hot place, shitting all over and turning it to crap.
These ideal places are only ideal before anyone finds out. The best position you can be in, is to sell out when the horde cometh.
SLC?
Meth addicts there make Paterson heroin epidemic look tame.
Newark incinerates all of NYC’s trash. What’s the difference?
From Moody’s latest credit outlook:
Toyota-Mazda Alliance Is Credit Positive for Both Companies
Last Friday, Toyota Motor Corporation (Aa3 stable) announced that it will form a business and capital
alliance with Mazda Motor Corporation (unrated) to jointly build a US auto plant, develop electric-vehicle
and connected-car technologies and expand complementary products. The alliance is credit positive for
both Toyota and Mazda because it will allow the Japanese carmakers to share the costs of research and
development and capital spending, and build on their respective technologies.
We expect that Mazda’s low-emission engines will allow Toyota to strengthen its combustion engines and
focus on developing new electric vehicles, boosting overall research and development. Additionally, Toyota
can leverage Mazda’s capability to plan and develop new models to be launched in five to 10 years.
The announced capital alliance follows an earlier tie-up between the two companies in 2015. In the latest
partnership, Toyota and Mazda will invest in each other’s shares. Toyota plans to hold an approximately 5%
stake in Mazda, while Mazda will hold about a 0.25% stake in Toyota. This amounts to around a ¥50 billion
($454 million) investment for each company, which for Toyota equals around 3% of its automotive
segment’s total debt.
MAGA
Japanese makers Toyota and Mazda announced last Friday that their companies will launch a joint venture with a facility in the U.S. that will produce the top-selling Toyota Corolla and a Mazda crossover vehicle starting in 2021.
Neither company has suggested a location for the new factory, but the facility and the potential for it to generate 4,000 jobs is expected to set off a bidding war between states. Toyota’s only U.S. factory for Corolla production opened five years ago in Blue Springs, Mississippi. Mazda has no American facilities.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/08/09/kentucky-make-big-push-1-6-b-mazda-toyota-factory/552733001/
That Mazda 6 actually looks like a damn good car if you’re in the market for a sedan. Still can get it with a manual trans too if you want. Not a whole lot of dealers around though…
I wonder if they’ll export some of the vehicles made there or if they’ll all be sold domestically.
This is a biased perspective. I don’t think nj’s traffic is that bad except for certain locations and timing. I think you just happen to hit at the worse times, on the worse routes. No way do we come close to places like southern cal. That sh!t is a nightmare. Same with most of these other cities. Texas cities….atlanta…these places are bad when it comes to traffic. Hell, even had traffic at 12 in the afternoon on highways in south Florida this summer. In nj, at 12, you pretty much won’t hit traffic anywhere.
“You don’t know traffic till you lived in either northern NJ or a burb off the LIE. I lived in Los Angeles and when the traffic got bad (never NJ bad), there were always surface routes to avoid it.”
Well, they shouldn’t claim “dirty jerz” when they are doing the same thing.
D-FENS says:
August 10, 2017 at 10:08 am
Newark incinerates all of NYC’s trash. What’s the difference?
It’s sad, but what do you expect? Northeast nj is becoming one big city, whether we realize it or not. Giant residential housing will soon become the norm in every town that is not wealthy enough to fend it off. Places like Clifton will have 20 story building in 30-40 years. Zoning will change, just watch.
3b says:
August 10, 2017 at 10:01 am
Lots of new multi family housing coming to north jersey. They just broke ground in my town on a development of 70 new rentals half 2bedrooms. So more kids in the already overcrowded grammar schools that have had 2 additions in less than 20 years. Of course you can have kids in a one bedroom apartment too. And the new development is on a hill that looks like it will slide down onto the train tracks. This new development is right across the street from an existing huge rental complex packed with kids. Taxes up every year and up again. Many towns in Bergen will be seeing this type of development.
What on earth are you talking about?
“Traffic is horrible” needs to be put in perspective. The people in Denver never experienced the Rt 4/Rt 17 intersection. My friend moved from Bergen county to Colorado. He says people there refuse to commute and value their time. Much more relaxed atmosphere.
But I’m never leaving NJ.
Trying hard to change the zoning in my town….people are fighting back hard, but eventually a developer will win. The suburban character will change, its inevitable. I will fight, but I know in the long term it’s a losing battle. Unless we can get people to stop coming to jersey, it’s inevitable.
I love my 6. No one sells a car with the technology of my 6, the gas mileage, and the good looks (and reliability) as Mazda does. I rented a new Altima in Vegas this weekend. What a POS compared to mine, and it was at least 2 years newer. It took me almost ten minutes to figure out how to pair my phone. And no interactive touch screen. Though it does have a sticker about 4K less.
The future. Do you know places like Clifton were farms fifty years ago, now imagine 30-40 years from now. They will build taller because the land will become so valuable that they can’t say no. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it. Most of these towns will sell out and change their zoning laws in the chase for the dollar.
D-FENS says:
August 10, 2017 at 10:47 am
What on earth are you talking about?
Steam and pumpkin are both at extremes here. Other places have their problem but in general are less congested and more affordable than NJ. NJ has a lot of very nice areas but they are expensive no doubt. Listen NNJ is an appendage of one of the most important cities in the world, our biggest issue is the state is poorly run(Taxes are out of control) and the idiots like pumpkin(no offense) think a political hack like Murphy is the answer.
Murphy has vision. Don’t knock Murphy’s vision. “Yes We Can.”
Murphy + Oliver = Indentured Servitude
Maybe we can pass a law that collects your household debt liability on your way out.
Pumps it’s not just developers . N J courts have decreed that the state must provide 1.5 million new affordable housings units in the state . It will be coming everywhere. Bergen co is not immune. And even towns like mine that already have a couple of large old existing rental complexes are required to provide more.
Jcer nnj appendage of NYC is not necessarily that important any more as there are so many areas in NYC take Brooklyn that are attracting people that would not live in those areas say 10 years ago. More then a few of these people would have ended up in nnj. Not to mention there are other areas in NYC that could be revived as well such as the south Bronx. And if the so called experts are to be believed dumpy gritty Mount Vernon in lower westchester is the next up and coming urban area. 3 metro north stations in town under 30 minute commute to Grand Central.
Wrong. Looks like another Pumpking jizzfest today.
Do you know places like Clifton were farms fifty years ago
If Clifton had farms 50 years ago it would be filled with 1960’s bilevels today.
Be wary of all of that development. I just read a back of the envelope analysis of the additional tax revenue expected from all of the parking lots, turned condo in Montclair. The cost of the debt service on the new midtown parking deck the town is about to announce, which is necessary due to all of the lost parking spaces, will HOPEFULLY be covered by the PILOTs that were put in place for all of the new development. So much for developing our way out of debt. In other news. Every road in town appears to be getting ripped up to upgrade the infrastructure (sewage/water) these behemoth buildings require. Next block to be turned into Brooklyn is Seymour Street, to be shortly followed by the complete destruction of history at Blackawana Plaza.
I’ve lived all over Northern NJ and Long Island before leaving NJ for good in 1996 and Long Island in 1997. Either I don’t remember or the traffic has gotten a lot worse there in the last 20 years. I hear Atlanta is godawful too.
When we visit NJ from Boston we just about never come through Northern NJ anymore unless we leave at 1AM. Since we need to get far West on Route 80 there is almost no good time to leave on a weekday to miss New England rush hour traffic in the morning and get West of the Rockaway mall before being hemmed in by NJ pm rush (when does it start? It seems like before 3PM?). So we usually take I-84 and come down through Middletown NY and Sussex County, that way we are moving the opposite direction as most NJ rush hour is coming the other way as we head down to Warren County. My MIL lives just a couple miles from Route 80 yet we may visit for a week and never travel Route 80 at all while we’re there, which is just fine with me.
OTOH, if you’re willing to travel between midnight and 6 AM coming down from Boston, 95 to Route 80 is the way to go. It’s well lit and you don’t have to worry about deer and weather at higher altitudes. I’m sometimes amazed that I can just tag onto the end of a line of big rigs and fly from Stamford to the GWB at 80mph.
BTW, I just bought a cheap used car. My mechanic called me up and said he had a good deal for me. We bought a 2008 Kia Sedona LX, one owner car, 40,000 miles for $5600 (they wanted $6K). The car looked like there had never been a kid in any of the back seats and the carpet didn’t look like it was ever tread on. Also, how the hell does a 9 year old minivan only have 40,125 miles on it? When I saw the title my questions were answered. It was owned by a local Jeusit community.
BTW, who knew that Koreans make a 250 hp V6?
NYC is no place for educating kids…..especially the hoops that are required to get them into any sort of normal social environment …… anyone who insists on remaining as a parent is just being exceedingly selfish, or else is rich off their a%%…..
3b says:
August 10, 2017 at 11:41 am
Jcer nnj appendage of NYC is not necessarily that important any more as there are so many areas in NYC take Brooklyn that are attracting people that would not live in those areas say 10 years ago. More then a few of these people would have ended up in nnj. Not to mention there are other areas in NYC that could be revived as well such as the south Bronx. And if the so called experts are to be believed dumpy gritty Mount Vernon in lower westchester is the next up and coming urban area. 3 metro north stations in town under 30 minute commute to Grand Central.
Long Island is not New Jersey……. Long Island is in its own class…..
That said, DC and Atlanta are a joke……
Pumpkin is correct……there are bad times to drive, but outside of the normal rush hours and GSP for shore traffic, it really is not bad…….
Also, my colleague (from NJ) spent a significant amount of time in Colorado, and had grandchildren there…….. Denver and environs are screwed for now, especially northern suburbs……no public transport options…… traffic never lets up……
“The median sales price for the total market did remain strong at $275,000 for the first two quarters of 2017. That’s an increase of 1.9 percent over the same period last year,” New Jersey Realtors President Bob Oppenheimer told New Jersey 101.5.
Don’t you think I see the connection here?
Oppenheimer……. Manhattan Project……. proximity to Manhattan…….
Being quoted yesterday August 9th for an article on the 72nd anniv…..
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-nagasaki
But the most important thing was the secret code name for the bomb….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man
It takes a genius……but I have connected everything…..
Appendage or sphincter?
Listen NNJ is an appendage of one of the most important cities in the world
It’s bad if you need to travel between Exit 160 and 140 on the GSP. Likewise, between 16W and 13 on the turnpike. There can be traffic at nearly any time of the day in these parts, and on the GSP, it’s more the rule than the exception. It’s getting so bad that the back routes, Scotland Road, Wyoming and even the ghetto routes are now backing up as well. Rush hour has extended as well. It used to be, if you got on the GSP before 4pm, you would be okay. Now it’s only decent before 3pm and that’s IF there aren’t any accidents. Both North and South.
Chgo that may be true. But they at least appear to be staying. I see it everyday . And if you are late 20s or early 30s and having a kid and only one kid at that is 7 to 10 years out and it’s one and done than there is no need to run to the suburbs.
Steam last Friday we went to the shore on Friday afternoon. Left at 2:30 we get on at GSP exit 161. We get off at 104. The trip takes one hour thirty minutes.
Parkway to the shore would be a breeze if you just shut down all the newark, oranges, irvington exits.
That’s always the worst part of the trip, either direction.
Living down the shore already…… I live at about the level of 109…..the amount of work that was done from 63 to 100 was pretty massive……it is still isn’t great at its worst, but the extra lanes, built up shoulders and the express toll lanes make it nothing compared to even 15 years ago…… and the volume is staggeringly higher……
To be clear…….in the summer, if you didn’t know that the GSP was packed, you would have no idea…..it is pretty tranquil almost everywhere else……
A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack
Former NSA experts say it wasn’t a hack at all, but a leak—an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system.
https://www.thenation.com/article/a-new-report-raises-big-questions-about-last-years-dnc-hack/
I’m really shocked we haven’t pulled down the toll plazas everywhere. They are a major trigger point – and whoever decided to put them on curves should be fired and disbarred from engineering.
Make it 100% Pass, just like most other states. And only put sensors on the ramps.
Grim I am still amazed at how many people still don’t have ez pass!
I finally broke down and got one last year.
Saw lots of Canadians on the parkway this year. Lots of people from Quebec drove the entire length of the Parkway and vacationed in Wildwood. I don’t imagine they have ezpass.
The DNC hack was never Russia. A day or two after it came out, the DNC was accusing Russia. Do you honestly think our government is that efficient to determine that? This whole narrative was born out of Trump mouthing off saying that he wished Russia could get the emails she deleted. A comment in jest turned into a gigantic sh1tshow of desperation to try to prove some sort of grand conspiracy.
It’s all nonsense anyway. You tell me one person that switched their vote because of Vladimir Putin.
3b there is more than enough demand to sustain NYC, Westchester, LI, NNJ, and CT. The truth is that Westchester is in the stratosphere, LI isn’t far behind and all three states are pretty poorly run, if it wasn’t for NYC, NY state would be bankrupt. Truth be told Long Island traffic is worse than NJ and Westchester it is fairly similar if not a little worse. NJ loses on trains, NJTransit is bad, always delayed and fewer trains per hour than LIRR and MetroNorth. Rush hour driving in any area around nyc is a nightmare. Property taxes in Essex county are the worst anywhere, based on my purchase price I pay a 5% tax rate and those clowns in Essex county upheld the assessment. Truth be told besides the taxes until recently home prices were not unreasonable in Essex, the mortgage(lets assume 500k) on a 600-700k it takes to buy a nice house is inexpensive for many people in this market when you add in 20k in property taxes affordability takes a hit. The mortgage interest is likely less than the property tax bill. Compared to NYC costs though it is low.
Jcer,
Now take into account that even though you are paying 20k in taxes, your state is still 40+ billion in debt. Kinda like paying the minimum amount on your credit card, yet still have a balance due.
Question is, are they coming after that money one day? Will it be like musical chairs that if you are holding the bag (have not sold your house yet) you will be hit with an astronomical spike in property tax?
“Truth be told besides the taxes until recently home prices were not unreasonable in Essex, the mortgage(lets assume 500k) on a 600-700k it takes to buy a nice house is inexpensive for many people in this market when you add in 20k in property taxes affordability takes a hit. ”
Don’t you think the price is a direct impacted? It isn’t a zero sum game , but it’s pretty damned close
In terms of the Garden State Parkway when you consider the Raritan Bridge and then all the work done below exit 100 it is a staggering amount of effort second only to what they did with the turnpike
I watched both in progress. It killed me how much it cost and the fact that they continue to ignore the worst section of highway in the state. Truth be told, there’s no room to widen the GSP where it’s really needed without building a flyover lane between Bloomfield and Union without exits.
Eminent domain
It is how that stretch was built in the first place……..my wife’s grandparents had their house right in the footprint in Irvington……..
Grim says:
August 10, 2017 at 9:21 pm
Eminent domain
Jcer New York is definitely better run than NJ. Yes upstate New York is dying. But the majority of the population is in the NYC area.
3b your delusional, they have a better tax base as a result of NYC but the government is a train wreck go try to build anything there it is worse than NJ. My late father would say real estate development was difficult in this area, hard in NJ but impossible in NY. There is an inherent dysfunction where the cities, county and state are all fighting. If you look despite a better financial situation the infrastructure is all shot, they have the same property tax issues, and despite being a liberal place the lower classes are more highly taxed in NY than NJ.
I get that property taxes are a factor in home pricing as it is a factor in affordability. And Phoenix I’d love a 20k tax bill mine is nearly 40k.