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Health & Fitness

Home Prices Climb As Local Supplies Dwindle

Nationwide, the price of homes is increasing and the number of homes listed for sale has decreased. Find out how Little Silver and Oceanport compare to other towns in our area.

 

If you’ve been following this column you probably weren’t surprised by the headline in the Aug. 8 Wall Street Journal: “Home Prices Climb As Supplies Dwindle." We’ve been saying for some time that the number of current listings, i.e., supply, is one of four key real estate indicators. When the supply of something goes down, prices tend to go up.

Other than in Rumson, the number of active listings of single-family homes (homes available for sale) has decreased, and sometimes decreased dramatically:

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

 

                            Change in Active Listings of Single-Family Homes

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

                                                  July 31, 2012 vs. 2011



Fair Haven

-9%



Little Silver

-11%



Monmouth Beach

-9%



Oceanport

-22%



Rumson

+27%



Sea Bright

0%



Shrewsbury

-29%

 

Note: the above table is for single-family homes only (not including condominiums).

What does this mean for Little Silver and Oceanport home buyers and sellers? For buyers it means the probable end of the chance to buy a house both at a low price and at mortgage rates that are at or near historic lows. For sellers it means less risk of selling their homes for unreasonably low prices.

The Wall Street Journal article says that in some parts of the country brokers are reporting multiple offers on newly-listed homes, and even bidding wars on homes that are attractively priced. Of course there are still concerns about the “shadow inventory” of bank-owned repossessed homes coming back on the market and bringing up the number of active listings. In addition, it’s still much harder to get a mortgage than it was four or five years ago. However, these two factors haven’t spoiled the housing recovery in hard-hit areas like Florida, Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, I hope this real estate update was useful to you.

Len

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