December and 2010 LBI Real Estate Newsletter

December sales on Long Beach Island New Jersey saw 35 single-family homes sold for an average price of $1,003,785. These homes sold for an average of 93.1% of their asking price and sold in an average of 150 days on the market. This is interesting data because the average price is once again above $1 million and the days on the market have seen a dramatic drop. While the real estate market, like any investment, requires careful consideration, the stability of the past several months shows that there are values to be found in any market. The old advice that, "interest rates are low and inventories are high" do not suffice as a reason to buy. Rather, one must be careful to select the right property and be patient until it comes along.

2010 has come to a close and with it, it is helpful and interesting to review the past year's sale data. 2010 saw a total of 294 single-family homes sold for a grand total of $299,240,691! The average price was $1,017,825 and these homes sold for an average of 92.7% of their asking price while spending 180 days on the market. As a comparison, 2009 saw 287 single-family homes sold for a total of $267,689,216. In 2009, the average single-family home sold for $932,715; almost $85,000 less than 2010! In 2009, single-family homes spent an average of 178 days on the market and sold for 93.1% of their asking price.

 This data is interesting in several ways. First, an $85,000 difference in the average sale price coupled with more homes selling shows that buyers are indeed active in the LBI market and are willing to buy a home that is realistically priced. Second, a closer investigation of the data shows that the homes that are/were overpriced did not sell or sold very slowly. Lastly, it is interesting to note that the average days on the market and the difference between asking price and selling price remained almost unchanged. It is therefore reasonable for sellers to expect this trend to continue, at least in some part, into 2011 and should plan accordingly. All in all it has been a good year on LBI and I am looking forward to 2011. Happy New Year everyone!

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November 2010 LBI Real Estate Newsletter

The LBI sale market has seen some interesting activity over the past month. There are currently 454 active single-family homes listed for sale on LBI. This is one of the lowest numbers I have seen in past months. There are currently 56 single-family properties in pending. For the month of November, there were 22 single-family homes sold for an average sale price of $860,636. This is one of the lowest average sale price since before the start of summer! Of the 22 properties sold, only five were over $1,000,000 which partly explains the lower sale price. Properties sold on average for 94.3% of their asking price and sold in an average of 239 days. This data is very different than the figures we have seen in the past months with average sale prices over $1,000,000 and a shorter length of time on the market. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if this is an anomaly.

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October 2010 LBI Real Estate Newsletter

For the month of October 2010, there were 22 single-family homes sold on Long Beach Island from Barnegat Light to Holgate with an average sale price of $1,034,568. Homes spent on average 163 days on the market and sold for an average of 91.4% of their asking price. These numbers have remained steady for the past few months which shows some degree of stabilization in the local LBI market. For the past several months, the average sale price of single-family homes has been over $1,000,000 while the number of units sold has remained about the same. One reason for this market activity could be changes to our inventory. As is typical for this time of year, there have been many new additions to the listing inventory so buyers may be enticed by the exciting new options on the market. In any case, there are some great homes in the LBI real estate market, especially if you are willing to hold the property.

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September 2010 LBI Real Estate Newsletter

For the month of September 2010, there were 18 single-family homes sold on LBI with sale prices ranging from $500,000 to as high as $2,775,000! The average sale price was $1,115,055 which is the highest average sale price since I began to publish this newsletter! On average, properties sold for 93.4% of the asking price with 3 of the 18 properties selling for over full price. September sales show an average of 171 days on the market with one home selling in only 6 days.

This data continues a trend that has developed over the past few months of slightly lower sale volume with higher average sale prices. I believe that this is indicative of a market where the issue is not a lack of buyers (as clearly buyers are willing to make a purchase) but rather buyers are seeking out, and waiting for, the properties that are priced to reflect the current market. The higher average sale price lends itself to the assertion that buyers are facing more competition for the aggressively priced homes-something I can personally vouch for as 5 of the last 6 deals I was involved in had multiple offers and in some cases, more than one competing offer on the table.

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2010 LBI Real Estate Newsletter

For the month of August, sales on LBI saw a significant drop in activity compared to prior months. There were only 7 closed single-family homes for the entire month whereas past months have seen 20-30 single-family homes closed each month. The average sales price remained very strong with the average price being $1,061,357 and homes selling for an average of 91.3% of their asking price. Both of these figures are comparable with past months. On average, listings that sold in August spent 205 days on the market with one house selling in 48 days and another being active for over 500 days!

While on the surface these numbers may seem troublesome, the LBI market is actually very strong. There are currently 44 single-family homes listed as pending, and in fact, that number is less than the actual amount of pending listings. For example, I was recently showing houses and of the 15 properties initially selected by my clients, five of them had offers or contracts that were not yet noted in the MLS.

The fall is now upon us and with it many new listings should be coming on the market. Fall is typically a time when homeowners consider listing their property as they have collected another summer's rental income and/or enjoyed the property themselves. Now, faced with the winter of carrying costs, many homeowners who are considering selling will put the property on the market. If past trends continue, look for some exciting new listings soon!

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