a sales associate with Coldwell Banker at the Shore said the home at 306 20th St. in Brigantine, above, sold for $1,755,000 after just 24 days on the market

By KEVIN POST, Press of A.C. Business Editor | Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010

Home prices in southern New Jersey increased in the second quarter, as sales statewide surged, driven by the now-expired federal subsidies for buyers.

The median price of an existing single-family home in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties was $224,400, up 2.6 percent from the second quarter of 2009, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Total home sales in New Jersey jumped 30 percent from the prior year’s period to an annual pace of 138,900 units.

On Wednesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said second-quarter prices for home purchases and refinancings in Atlantic County were down 6.7 percent from the year before, while in Cape May County they were 3 percent lower and in Cumberland County, 6.5 percent lower.

The FHFA survey said nationwide, house prices were down 4.9 percent from the second quarter of 2009. The FHFA tracks only mortgages handled by government-supported entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Local real estate professionals said they see signs of stabilization in the figures and in their experience in the market.

“There is some optimism,” said Peter Petridis, 50, of Brigantine, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker at the Shore in that city. “The market is not what we want it to be, but things are going in the right direction.”

Thomas Wissel, director of the Jersey Shore MLS for the Ocean County Board of Realtors, welcomed the firming prices but said sales are still soft.

“Median prices are creeping up, but the actual number of units selling is the tough part,” he said. “Those are way down from what they were years ago, but slogging along at the same level.”

Area Multiple Listing Service figures showed a drop in reported single-family home sales (existing and new) in July, suggesting the spring’s tax credits of $8,000 and $15,000 lured normal summer buyers.

Wissel said the Jersey Shore MLS had 143 closings in July, down from 180 in July 2009.

In Atlantic County, MLS sales dropped to 147 in July from 169 a year ago. In Cape May County (not including Ocean City), MLS sales in July were 152, down from 194 in the month last year.

The Realtors’ 2.6 percent home price increase in the region outpaced a nationwide second quarter rise of 1.5 percent, and came despite a 3.2 percent drop in prices in the Northeast overall.

The median price for the shore region may be benefiting from the sale of high-end homes on or near the water. The National Association of Realtors survey, started in 1979, counts whatever houses sold in the quarter, which vary in value.

Wissel said the Ocean County market is currently dominated by mid-priced and upper-end homes, with 459 of those available this month priced from $250,000 to $500,000, and 252 priced at more than $1 million.

Petridis has noticed the two-pronged market at his agency.

“The regular homes are pushing, going through, and the $200,000 to $300,000 range is a busy market,” he said. “Then there are some upper echelon homes coming through.”

He said the agency recently has sold a few homes for more than $1 million.

Others are looking for even pricier homes.

“We have buyers looking in the plus-$4 million range,” he said, seeking oceanfront property and in some cases sellers are holding out for a better price.

In another sign of slight improvement, homes are taking a little less time to sell.

The Prudential Fox & Roach HomExpert Market Report says houses in Atlantic County spent an average 115 days on the market in the first half of 2010, down from 122 days in the first half of last year.

Mortgage interest rates are also at record low levels.

Freddie Mac, the federally supported mortgage buyer, said the average rate in the second quarter on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was a record low of 4.91 percent.

Wissel said the rates aren’t motivating buyers as much as expected because banks have largely returned to demanding a significant down payment, which is hard to save in the slow economy.

The region’s price increase reversed a drop of 2.6 percent in the first quarter in the Realtors survey. The FHFA’s first quarter survey reported Atlantic County prices down 10.1 percent from the year before and those in Cape May County off 8 percent.

Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, reasserted this week that we won’t know the shape of the housing market until fall, when the distorting effects of the federal tax credits are past.

Wissel said it seems at least that the market has bottomed.

“If nothing else, the bleeding has slowed down and things are reaching a level, and we’ve just got to wait for things to turn around,” he said.

Rt 52 Somers Point circle project

Posted Press of A.C.: Wednesday, September 8, 2010