We are taking a closer look at the residential market activity for Burlington County in each price range over the last 12 full months. These figures are taken from a report generated by Trend MLS from Jan 2005 to Dec 2005. Current inventory is for today 1/14/06. I am posting the break down for December 2005 so we can track how the market progresses each month in 2006.

Homes listed at $1 million + :
There were 119 homes listed, with 28 homes sold, the average days on market is 119. The average number of homes sold per month in this price range is 2. As of today the number of homes available is 52, that gives us an inventory of 26 months.

• Strong Buyers Market

Read more

The Gloucester County 2005 Median Sales Price experienced almost a 16% increase for single family homes and an increase of 15% for Gloucester County condos. Here is the data as reported by Trend MLS on 1/12/2006

2005 Single Family Home Median Sales Price: $210,000 with 3651 sold

Homes with 0-2 Bedrooms Median Price: $146,900 with 456 sold
Homes with 3 Bedrooms Median Price: $190,000 with 1854 sold
Homes with 4+ Bedrooms Median Price: $285,000 with 1341 sold

Read more

The median sales price for Camden County single family homes for 2005 had an increase of 16% over 2004, while the median sales price for condos experienced almost a 22% increase over the median sales price in 2004. Data for 2005 as retrieved from Trend MLS on 1/12/2006

2005 Single Family Homes Median Sales Price: $185,000 with 7231 homes sold

Read more

2005 brought good news for home sellers. The Burlington County Median Sales price for single family homes increased by 12% and condos increased by 17%. Here are the figures for 2005.

2005 Single Family Homes Median Sales Price: $246,500 with 6354 sold
Read more

The normalizing market is evident as we look at the fourth quarter residential real estate sales for Burlington County. The following graph shows how 2005 compared to the 2 years prior.

The seasonal decline is as expected, however December 2005 reached the lowest number in home sales we have seen since 2002.

The fourth quarter sales data for 2005 had a very similar trend. To get the whole picture I added in the new listings for Oct - Dec. and compared 2001 through 2005. You can see the inventory in Burlington County had consistantly increased from year to year during the 4th quarter. However, the number of homes sold in 2005 declined by 12% to 1619 compared to the sales in the 4th quarter of 2004 which totaled 1841.

These figures only include the residential properties listed and sold through real estate agents and would change slightly if the figures for private sales etc., were added into the equation. Regardless, the shift from a seller’s market to a more balanced market is evident in the fourth quarter as seen in the growth of inventory and the decrease in sales.

This story was submitted by Stacy Hunt who is a local loan officer for Equity One Mortgage Company located in Marlton, NJ

Mr. and Mrs. Santos had just found their dream home, but little did they know the nightmare that awaited them. After finding the “lowest rate” on the internet, they applied for their mortgage. What they didn’t know was that these “discount” lenders usually have discounted service also.

It began with the incorrect spelling of their name, as Mrs. Santos found out when talking to the representative. Mrs. Santos was not sure if she was being understood correctly, but the employee was just the phone receptionist and not very proficient. The appraisal was ordered late and when it was received it came in lower then the sales price. There was no experienced loan officer to help them understand their options and to facilitate the situation. If the Santos’ wanted this property they would have to come up with the difference or the seller would have to lower the price. The sellers would not amend the sales price, but the buyer agreed to pay the difference.
Read more

The real estate market statistics for Gloucester County New Jersey showed an increase in overall activity in Gloucester County compared to 2004 for both buyers and sellers due to the market activity in the first half of 2005. The second half of 2005 experienced the same decline in activity as both Burlington and Camden Counties .
Read more

The market statistics show 2005 was another good year for the residential real estate market in Camden County New Jersey.

Read more

The Burlington County New Jersey real estate market data for 2005 shows a strong first and second quarter for real estate sales. The second half of 2005 shows the steady decline in homes sales from August through December.

Burlington County Jan - Dec 2005
11069 residential properties listed 7580 sold
The average number of homes sold per month for 2005 was 632 and the average days on market was 50. We entered January 2006 with 2122 homes on the market. Based on the average sold the current inventory is aprroximately 3.4 months.
Read more

I posted previously The Prep Steps for placing your home on the market. I did neglect to mention that exterminating pests should also be a high priority. By pests I mean any type of bug, insect, rodent, etc. that is invading your home.

I was showing houses to a client one day and we came to the third property she had wanted to see. The house looked very well maintained from the exterior. We entered the home and started to tour the property. My client was very pleased with the price, location, and layout of the first floor. We were in the kitchen, and she decided to check the cabinets and closets for storage space. She opened the pantry door and a mouse ran out of the pantry, past her feet, and under one of the nearby cabinets. Once she saw the mouse she shrieked and ran out of the home. Needless to say based on the client’s reaction, the mouse eliminated that house off our list of possible homes for my client.
Read more