This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Oceanport Real Estate Indicators Moving in Positive Direction

There are 4 key real estate indicators, and for Oceanport 3 of them are positive. One (1) key indicator is negative, and this REALTOR says it can't stay negative much longer.

At mid-year, there are a lot of positive things to talk about when it comes to the Oceanport real estate market. The number of homes sold has increased by 27% (more sales = positive news). The number of homes currently listed for sale is down by 25% (lower inventory = positive news). The real estate Absorption Rate (the time it would take to sell all of the homes on the market if the rate of sales remains at the current rate) is almost down to the “normal market” rate of 5 – 7 months (normal Absorption Rate = positive news).

There’s only one key real estate indicator that isn’t positive, and that’s the average or median sales price. Not only is Oceanport’s average sales price down, but it’s down significantly:

 

Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

          Oceanport Home Sales, January - June (6 Months Year To Date)



     Key Real Estate Indicator     2011     2012          Comment



Sales (Demand)       22       28 More homes sold this year.



Listings (Supply)       53       40 Fewer homes on market.



Months' Supply (Absorption Rate)     10.4       7.4 Almost a "normal market".



Average Sale $ (Value) $566,638 $436,571 23% lower avg. sales price.



Average Listing $ $616,061 $466,428 24% lower avg. listing price.



 Avg Sale/List %    92.0%    93.6% Sale $ closer to Listing $.

 

So how can this be? If 3 of the 4 key real estate indicators are positive, shouldn’t we be seeing an increase in the average sales price, not a decrease? The answer is yes, we should.

Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In my view, the average Oceanport selling price will be increasing significantly in the fall. Not only do the Demand, Supply and Absorption Rate indicators support this, but real estate sales in the surrounding communities support it as well. Year-to-date median selling prices are up by more than 30% in Shrewsbury and are up slightly (3%) in Rumson; year-to-date median selling prices are down only slightly (3%) in Fair Haven and Little Silver. Oceanport has a lot of similarities to those 4 neighboring towns, and it doesn’t make sense that home prices would be heading in different directions for very long.

Remember the expression, “A rising tide lifts all boats”? We’re seeing the beginning of a “rising tide” in the local real estate market. Oceanport is a great place to live: the quality of life is great, the schools are great, and the future is bright. If you've been following my posts you know that I tell it like it is, and I don't try to just point out the positive things about the real estate market. Honestly, to me this would be a great time to buy a home in Oceanport, so you could lock in the lowest mortgage rates in our lifetimes and buy a home in a great town at an unusually low price. If you know someone who’s looking to buy a home in this part of Monmouth County, tell them to look in Oceanport now, because if they don’t they’ll be kicking themselves 5 years from now. Remember, you heard it here first.

Len

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?