Here in Bergen County New Jersey, we find a situation where the market, on average, has been stable. This is simply because we have such a broad price range in Bergen County real estate from lows of $50,000 a unit to highs of millions. We find that people with money are spending it for the higher priced homes and other people with money, a job and good credit are buying in the mid range. This doesn’t mean that the “stable” word is a good thing.
The word I use-stable- is simply the average is stable. There are towns doing well and there are towns doing poorly, which averages out to stable on the whole. Confused? Most are!
While we can not utilize many of the market statistics this writer usually uses to determine what is happening in the Bergen County real estate market, we can look at the overall factors. The reason for this is the great debacle known as the tax credit the government gave the country last year which ended on April 30 of 2010. This was a debacle simply because it did absolutely nothing for the housing market or the economy. All it did was accelerate the buyer’s decisions to buy sooner, than later in the year to get that 8 grand! It is then possible to look at the usual statistics to make a statement on the state of the market.
Core Logic says that January, 2011 was the 6th month in a row that showed a year over year decline in prices. Remember, Robert Shiller of Case/Shiller came out a couple of months ago and said he wouldn’t be surprised if prices dropped 25% this year. Enough of this guy!
Here are some true facts:
• 23% of American homeowners owe more on their homes than the mortgage amount;
• 11.1 million properties were in a negative equity position;
• 2.5 miilion homeowners have less than 55 equity in their homes.
So here it is. Home loans get harder to get because of tightening of funds and tightening of qualification rules. Inventory is up due to foreclosures and short sales. And the most important factor is that the equity position of homeowners, has limited the mobility of some because they simply can’t sell their homes and move up, down or laterally to a new home. The equity they had, they ain’t got no more.
These facts are no different in Bergen County as they are in the rest of the country. The bright side is coming. Jobs growth is happening and unemployment is down a little. While we need to beware of the shadow inventory(distressed properties yet on the market), we also need to be confident that things are happening in a positive direction.
If you are in one of these equity poor positions and need to do something or you need to avoid foreclosure or short sale, please make sure you utilize an expert that has been trained and has experience!
Excerpts taken from “DS News” April, 2011
