Good Time to Buy in the Wildwoods
The old adage in real estate is “location, location, location”. But in the latter half of 2007 and now 2008, I believe the phrase should be “price, price, price”.
The media, while finally admitting that real estate trends are “localized”, isn’t exactly beating the drums to announce that the real estate market here at the southern New Jersey shore has rebounded. The reason is clearly price.
That’s especially good news for first time home buyers, who were shut out of the market back in 2003 when prices wildly escalated. In our market, sales prices rose 3% per month in 2003 and 2004. That’s a whopping 36% a year! So a home priced at $200,000 in 2002 jumped to $270,000 a year later and $360,000 in 2004. Young couples just couldn’t afford it. Neither could many families contemplating a second home in the Wildwoods.
In the first half of 2005, prices rose another 1% per month. So by July, that home was now $380,000. With so many folks looking to cash out at these higher prices, plus people trying to buy new condominiums and flip them for a profit, the market suddenly had too much inventory. The rest is history.
Prices stabilized in the second half of 2005, then dropped in 2006, although many sellers didn’t want to admit that the market had changed so they stuck to their high asking price …. and didn’t get it. Their properties just sat on the market - few lookers, even fewer offers.
In 2007, reality appeared to set in. Sellers dropped prices again and again, in increments of $20,000 or more each time. That home we talked about that went from $200,000 up to $380,000, had now dropped back to a more respectable $260,000. At that price, buyers got off the fence and started buying again.
We have seen a big increase in business since mid-2007. The phones are ringing again. Buyers are walking through our doors. Our fellow realtors are reporting the same upsurge in business.
So before prices start to creep up again, don’t you think it’s a good time to buy? The price is right!
- Mountain Man
To learn more about our real estate market here in the Wildwoods and Cape May County, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com