October 1st 2023, MLB Playoffs, Football and Fall Season Local Real Estate Stats

Time flys by! It`s October now and the Phillies are in the playoffs again, trying to get to the World Series and Eagles fans in South Jersey are feeling hope and joy, wishing the Birds reach and win a Superbowl this season!

The leaves are turning and starting to fall from the trees at a faster pace now each week.

As season`s change, so do real estate markets, and this one we experienced the last 2 year has been unique for me in my 47 years of being a realtor. Higher mortgage rates, along with elevated sales prices and a lack of housing inventory, have continued to impact market activity during the recent summer homebuying season.

 The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has remained above 6.5% since May, to around 7.25% now in September and October, and recently look at these helpful recent national statistics ending in August this year:

 The real estate market nationally hitting a two-decade high in August, according to Freddie Mac.  As a result, existing-home sales have continued to slow nationwide, dropping 2.2% month-over-month as of last measure, with sales down 16.6% compared to the same time last year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). Single Family Closed Sales were down 33.0 percent to 4,965.  Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 37.5 percent to 1,544.  Adult Communities Closed Sales were down 24.9 percent to 555. Single Family Median Sales Price increased 13.0 percent to $565,000. Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 21.9 percent to $414,500. Adult Communities Median Sales Price increased 7.9 percent to $356,000. Falling home sales have done little to cool home prices by the end of August 2023, however, which have continued to sit at record high levels nationally thanks to a limited supply of homes for sale.

 According to National Association of Realtors, there were 1.11 million homes for sale heading into August, 14.6% fewer homes than the same period last year, for a 3.3 months’ supply at the current sales pace. The shortage of homes for sale has boosted competition for available properties and is driving sales prices higher, with NAR reporting a national median existing-home price of $406,700, a 1.9% increase from last year of the same time.

September has seen a slight slow down with the recent rate increases in certain market segments, but the demand is still strong on the mainland areas of Atlantic County, Cape May and Cumberland County for homes in good condition in the price range of $425,000 and below. The second home market has slowed down in the beach communities in the $600,000 and over market.  I notice homes that need paint, repairs, are not selling as fast as they were one year ago, actually taken three times longer to sell in certain towns. So if your thinking of selling soon, pricing your home soon to sell on the market, listing at the correct price is very critical.

Atlantic County–  Single family homes–New listings–down 23.5% Closed sales-down 23.2%, Median Sales price up 2.1% from $328,000 to $335,000. The big winner in the last year were homeowners selling in 55 plus communities–new lisitings were up 38.1 % and the demand to buy was strong with a 39.9% increase. Median sales price there rose from $297,000 to $320,800 up 8%. With condos and townhouses in Atlantic County the inventory was down 15.5% from last year but the average sales price rose to $202,000 that is up 13.8%. So limited quality of homes for sale, keeps the prices up.

Cape May County- Single family homes–New listings–down 17.6%  Closed sales–down 14.4%, Days on the market until sold increased 43.2%, however median sales price rose 8.6% to $499,450.00.

Condos-Townhouses down 11.8% and again due to low inventory the average median sales price rose up 1.2% to $612,500. 55 plus-adult community sales are up 7.4 %.

Cumberland County-  Single family homes– New listings–down 22.4% and closed sales down 22% because of smaller inventory, median sales price is up 2.9% despite the interest rates rising to $226,450.00.  The Townhouse-Condo market here had a 30.1% positive increase in the median sold price year to date to $203,000. Adult community sales jumped up 34.7% more with a median sales price of $184,500. Happy to say as well, that our HomeSmart office will have a branch office soon on Landis Ave in Vineland, NJ opening.

Speaking of interest rates going up before, I was talking to Jim Malamut recently, owner of Greentree Mortgage in Atlantic county, (See more info on Jim if you like, on the finance page on my helpful real estate website http://www.GarySimmens.com).

Jim just had a closing with us in our office and he was excited about the new guidlines released here for USDA which will help many buyers now:

USDA allows for $0 down payment in rural areas. They have expanded their eligible areas to include Absecon, Brigantine, all of Egg Harbor Township. The income limit is $115,150 for 1-4 person family and $152k for 5+ person family.