Real Estate Fun Facts To Start off 2017

[Jessica Zolotorofe]

Here are a few fun facts to start off 2017 strong:

• According to the WSJ, the number of investors who flipped a house in 2016 reached the highest level since 2007. About 1/3 of the deals in the third quarter were financed with debt, a percentage not seen in eight years.
• The market for house flipped in the US is expected to reach about $48 BILLION in total sales volume this year, the highest since 2006, according to ATTOM (RealtyTrac).
• NJ home values have gone up 4.7% in the past year and Zillow predicts that they will rise another 1.9% in 2017.
• According to the NJ Realtors Report, average DOM in 2016 had decreased almost 5% as compared to 2015.
• And finally, the median foreclosure discount in NJ is presently 61.9%!

[Kevin Hill]

Locally here in North Jersey, the bottom of the market was the first quarter of 2011. You are right though, the growth has been much slower than we saw during the last bubble where you bought a house and it went up by 30 grand in a month. I read conflicting information on the predictions for the market. Until the job market really gets strong, I don't see values increasing. A lot of home owners are still under water in NJ. Almost all the ones I see underwater bought during the height of the market. Interesting to see once Trump becomes president what effects his administration has on the market.

When I researched the New Jersey MLS (which serves mainly Bergen County), median home price are up 9% from 2011, but average price is only up 2% for single family homes.

When I compare the height of the market in 2008 to 2016 in Bergen County, the median home price is down 5% and the median is down 9%, so we aren't back to those inflated levels. It was way too easy to get a mortgage during the height of the market.