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Where are all the houses for sale in our NJ Midtown Direct Towns?

 

After a year or more of waiting and watching the New Jersey real estate market,  many homebuyers in our trainline towns of Summit, Millburn, Short Hills, Maplewood, and Chatham,  are ready to buy a home, hoping to take advantage of depressed prices, low interest rates, and a federal tax credit that expires this summer. But many would-be buyers are facing an unexpected concern; not enough homes for sale and high demand for many that are available. Properties below $700,000 are hardest to find; and the most desirable of those, in good condition and reasonably priced, are generating multiple bids within days of going on the market.

What we have is the “perfect storm, increased demand and decreased supply.”

But now that many buyers seem to be gaining confidence in the market, homes are in short supply, because homeowners who don’t need to move are waiting for the market to turn and drive up prices.

Prospective buyers, however, are motivated by the federal tax credit, which was extended and expanded last year to include homeowners as well as first-time buyers. To qualify, buyers must enter into a deal to purchase a home before May 1 and complete all the paperwork before July 1.

Buyers also are spurred by worries that interest rates, which have been hovering at about 5 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage, will increase this Spring after the Federal Reserve halts its purchase of mortgage-backed securities.

As always the future is uncertain, and the market will continue to respond to certain pressures. Buyers and sellers have reason to make their plans now. Potential buyer’s interest could wane by summer, when the tax credit disappears and the threat of higher mortgage rates starts to loom larger. “We are going to have a flurry of activity in the Spring,’’ “What is going to happen after that is anybody’s guess.’’

Robin Benjamin  , Buyer Specialist, Sue Adler Team (973)202-7270   Robin@SueAdler.com

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Buying a home in this market, Market Updates, Stats & forecasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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