Ocean County Listings Surge

CounsellorsTitle.net

March 7th

Title Wise

Title Tips & Tactics for Today's Real Estate Professionals

Well, Jeff Bezos may have bolted, but Queen Latifah, a native of Newark (Essex County), is putting her money back where she began. Finally, the project to revitalize Newark's Springfield Avenue got its go-ahead from the planning board. The other piece of GREAT NEWS for Ocean County was the surge in new listings: 25%. It all points to a very promising spring selling season for the Garden State.

Please feel free to email me at [email protected]

if you have any questions or would like to follow up on any of this edition's articles.

Ralph Aponte

732.914.1400

NJ January 2019 Sales

Ocean County

Single Family January 2019
Key Market Metrics 2018    2019   Change
■ New Listings:     1,001   1,254    +25.3%
■ Closed Sales        477       534 +12.2%
■ DOM*                         86          87      +1.2%
■ Median Px          $295K    $295K +0.0%
■ % of Px Rec'd     95.5%    96.2% +0.7%
■ Inventory             3,901      3,764    -8.3%
■ Months of Inventory 6.0       5.3 - 11.9%
* Days on Market Until Sale

Monmouth County
Single Family January 2019
Key Market Metrics     2018    2019    Change
■ New Listings             804      841     +4.6%
■ Closed Sales        452      444    -1.8%
■ DOM*                             74        65     +3.2%
■ Median Px              $400.0K $417K   +4.4%
■ % of Px Rec'd         96.5%    96.8%    +0.3%
■ Inventory                 2,647    2,254    -14.8%

■ Months of Inventory 4.4 3.8 -13.6%
* Days on Market Until Sale

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Queen Latifah Invests in Newark Development

BlueSugar Corp., in which Queen Latifah is a private investor, received approval to go forward with its development along Springfield Ave, Newark.

It will be a joint effort between BlueSugar Corporation and GonSosa Development [GS Development]. Queen Latifah, AKA Dana Owens, is investing in a Newark neighborhood through BlueSugar Corp., which was founded with the mission of redeveloping and revitalizing neighborhoods across the country.

Queen Latifah is a silent investor in this project, which is a joint project in concert with GS Development. BlueSugar Corp. looks to assist neighborhoods that have experienced economic downturns.

The location of the project is in the area of Springfield Avenue and South 17th Street. The approval is for the development to convert 18 lots, and a total of 76 units are planned for 650-656 Springfield Avenue and several neighboring properties along 19th Avenue, South 16th Street, and South 17th Street. Plans call for:

■ The construction of 20 three-family town homes to be rented at market rate

■ A three-story building featuring 16 affordable housing units

■ A fitness center for residents

■ It will also include a mixed-use building of 1,900 square feet of commercial rental space on the ground level to be leased to nonprofits serving the community

The press release issued estimates that rentals will start at around $1,800, with pricing for affordable housing varied and income-based. Construction will be completed in three phases with the 60-unit development scheduled for completion by December 2020, and the 16-unit, mixed-use buildings in December 2021.

According to information regarding GS Development, Alberto Goncalves and Ricardo Sosa have developed or rehabilitated more than 1,000 rental and condominium units and one million square feet of commercial properties throughout the Northeast. Construction is expected to begin by August of 2019, with the townhouses slated to be completed by December 2020, and the 16-unit building is set to be finished one year later.

The project has changed from the time it was first proposed. Initially it was expected to consist of two mixed-use buildings with a total of 115 apartments and plenty of "affordable housing." The change was due to the inability to access a state tax credit that was originally applied for.

Queen Latifah joins another celebrity, Shaquille O'Neal, in her decision to invest in Newark.

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Leading Cause of Home Fires

The ranking of fire causes can vary from year to year. The rankings here are based on the annual average percentage of fires and losses in 2012-2016. The likely severity of a reported fire can be measured in deaths or injuries per 1,000 fires and average loss per fire.

Causes for Most Home Fires
Leading causes of home structure fires: 2012-2016
    40% - Cooking Equipment
    15% - Heating Equipment
    10% - Electrical Lighting and Distribution
    8% - Intentional
    5% - Smoking

When Do Most Home Fires Occur?

Not surprisingly, home structure fires are more common in cooler months when people spend more time inside and in the hours when people are awake in the home. In 2012-2016, 47% of home structure fires and 56% of home structure fire deaths occurred in the five months of November through March.
Cooking was the leading cause of reported home structure fires and civilian fire injuries and the second leading cause of fire deaths. Cooking activities caused an average of 172,100 home fires per year. These fires caused annual averages of 530 civilian deaths, 5,270 civilian injuries and $1.1 billion dollars in property damage.
Cooking was the leading cause of fires in both one- or two-family homes and apartments or other multi-family homes, but caused a much larger share of fires in the latter (72%) than in one- or two-family homes (38%).
While cooking was the leading cause of fires and fire injuries, it ranked lower on the casualties (3 deaths and 31 injuries) per 1,000 reported fires and last among the major causes in average loss per reported fire ($6,600).

Other statistics on fires:

There were 1,342,000 fires reported in the United States. These fires caused 3,390 civilian deaths, 14,650 civilian injuries, and $10.6 billion in property damage.
475,500 were structure fires, causing 2,950 civilian deaths, 12,775 civilian injuries, and $7.9 billion in property damage.
173,000 were vehicle fires, causing 280 civilian fire deaths, 1,075 civilian fire injuries, and $933 million in property damage.
662,500 were outside and other fires, causing 85 civilian fire deaths, 650 civilian fire injuries, and $1.4 billion in property damage.

The information in this post was published by National Fire Protection Association.

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Free Online Title Insurance Calculator

Counsellors Title Agency announced its updated Title Calculator for New Jersey home purchases & refinances at: Title Calculator

Loan officers, real estate agents and home buyers can find out how

much title insurance will cost for purchases made in New Jersey.

Easy-To-Use Functionality
This online tool includes many of the endorsements involved in calculating the cost of a title policy in New Jersey. Counsellors Title's Title Calculator is a great tool for real estate salespersons, loan officers, attorneys and those who are buying or refinancing their home.

It calculates the cost of title insurance based upon the purchase price of the home, the loan amount, and the various endorsements that can accompany the loan. The calculator provides the user the scalability of selecting the various endorsements involved in the transaction.

Counsellors Title Closing Services for Attorneys

Counsellors Title provides its Attorney Settlement Assistance Program [ASAP] with the real estate attorney in mind.

The Counsellors ASAP program offers secretarial services to assist in the process of a sale, purchase, refinance or loan closing.

Counsellors will even communicate directly with all the parties involved in the transaction to coordinate and obtain all the items necessary to assist in the close.

ASAP includes: