Home prices in South Jersey? Which direction they going? (Newark: real estate, houses)

[NatasNJ]

I am trying to get a solid grasp of real estate in the South Jersey area. (Haddonfield, Collingswood, Haddon Township area mainly) I was wondering if anyone in the area knows much about the prices and where they were a few months ago and how they are now? I am workign with a realtor but sometimes their perception is different than the people of the area, etc...

From what I have gathered prices are coming down but not sure if they are just asking 2007 prices and that causes the drops or what. Any advice or comments on the pricing would be welcomed.

[NJ987654]

flat or maybe slightly downwards. South Jersey has many pockets that have been stable yet some are down. The ones that are down the most are the ones that were up the most during the boom.

[Lusitan]

Can't help but believe that prices there will be moving in the same direction as the rest of the country: most likely down, best case scenario flat.

[solibs]

This is really subjective but I'd say that the prices along the PATCO line are stable to slightly up. That goes the same for most of Camden County west of 295.

If you're working with a realtor he/she should be able to show you the trends over the last year/2 years in the county and/or the town you're looking in. The MLS puts out quarterly data for a lot of different categories and you should be able to make sense of it on a macro level.

[Lusitan]

Here's a link that will show you housing prices in the NY-metro area (for NJ, look at the "Newark" and "Edison" groups, which include counties that make up much of NJ).

Hard to look at that graph without thinking we're in for a price decline or flat at best.

New York OFHEO Home Price Appreciation Tracker


Edited to add: Just realized that the Philadelphia-metro graph may be more appropriate for your query ...

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFH...dAtlantic.html

[solibs]

You really can't compare some overvalued market like Edison to an historically undervalued market like Collingswood. I bought my first house in Collingswood in 2001 for $64,000. It's a 3 bed/1 bath twin at about 1200 s/f it's half a block from the shops and restaurants on Haddon Ave. and 3 blocks to the train station. Today it's probably worth about $175k-$225k depending on what sort of improvements the last owners made to it.

The prices rose dramatically because Haddon Ave. improved drastically and because there was a renewed sense of confidence in the borough when an intelligent and progressive gov't took the helm. I don't think $200k is too much to pay for a house like that, in a location like that.

My guess is that a similar house in Woodbridge or Metuchen would cost you double, at the very least. But you don't get paid double.

[NatasNJ]

Originally Posted by solibs

You really can't compare some overvalued market like Edison to an historically undervalued market like Collingswood. I bought my first house in Collingswood in 2001 for $64,000. It's a 3 bed/1 bath twin at about 1200 s/f it's half a block from the shops and restaurants on Haddon Ave. and 3 blocks to the train station. Today it's probably worth about $175k-$225k depending on what sort of improvements the last owners made to it.

The prices rose dramatically because Haddon Ave. improved drastically and because there was a renewed sense of confidence in the borough when an intelligent and progressive gov't took the helm. I don't think $200k is too much to pay for a house like that, in a location like that.

My guess is that a similar house in Woodbridge or Metuchen would cost you double, at the very least. But you don't get paid double.

I found a nice property in Collingswood that I am considering but I fear it is priced at the TOP of the Collingswood area. (Around $400k) So I may have to pass on it since it is on the high end of the area where the swings will surely hit harder than the lower end houses.

[MoorestownResident]

In Burlington County the market is soft, the two towns taking it worst are Lumberton and Hainesport. They skyrocketed on the upside and are paying for it now. Schools are an issue in each town, that's contributing to the downside. Places with good schools but very high taxes like Medford are not doing as well as expected but in Medford's case it is also location, not being in a prime commuting location to Philly or the major roads. Moorestown seems to have held up best locally but it is still a strong buyers market in town, although houses are selling. I suspect similar trends in Camden County, Haddonfield doing the best, the Patco train towns doing OK but much softer in areas where high taxes and schools are a problem.

[Lusitan]

Just for clarity with respect to the charts I posted, understand that the names "Edison", "Newark", etc. are just category names, which include the following counties:

"Edison, NJ Metropolitan Division"
Middlesex County, NJ
Monmouth County, NJ
Ocean County, NJ
Somerset County, NJ

"Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division"
Essex County, NJ
Hunterdon County, NJ
Morris County, NJ
Sussex County, NJ
Union County, NJ
Pike County, PA

"New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division"
Bergen County, NJ
Hudson County, NJ
Passaic County, NJ
Bronx County, NY
Kings County, NY
New York County, NY
Putnam County, NY
Queens County, NY
Richmond County, NY
Rockland County, NY
Westchester County, NY

"Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division"
Burlington County, NJ
Camden County, NJ
Gloucester County, NJ

"Trenton-Ewing, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area"
Mercer County, NJ

"Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division"
New Castle County, DE
Cecil County, MD
Salem County, NJ