Title Wise
The New Jersey Real Estate News You Can Use
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Greetings!
What is the economic health of New Jersey's real estate industry? Some hard facts: inventory still remains at record low levels. Homeowner equity due to the recent surge in prices during the COVID breakout is still very high. And the number of zombie properties in the state are at record lows.
Finally, the profile of the next generation of real estate buyers may include fewer middle-class buyers due to a number of factors.
Please feel free to email me at ralph@counsellorstitle.com if you have any questions or would like to follow up on any of this edition's articles.
Ralph Aponte
Founder & President
732.914.1400
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Zombie Properties in the Garden State |
New Jersey's rate of zombie properties is 0.41%. The national rate for zombie properties is 1.26%. New Jersey has the fifth smallest percentage of zombie properties.
Some counties in New Jersey have a higher rate of zombie properties than others. Cape May has the highest rate with 1.34% or 1,252 properties out of a total of 93,866. Burlington County has the lowest number of zombie properties with a rate of 0.15% and 221 properties out of a total of 145,038 properties.
Neptune Township Days-On-Market Soar
Another fact seems to cast a shadow on the market is the dramatic increase in the days-on-market for Neptune Township: in 2021 it took only 11 days on average to sell a home. In 2022 the average time required to sell a home in Neptune Township was 31 days, an increase of 184.5% year-over-year.
Zombie Properties Rising
Still, the number of zombie properties is on the rise nationwide.
According to the most recent ATTOM report, 1,264,241 residential properties in the United States still are vacant, representing 1.26% of all homes in the nation or one in 79.
The same report identified 284,423 residential properties in the U.S. that are in the process of foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is up 5.2% from the third quarter of 2022 and up 27.4% from the fourth quarter of 2021.
Though there is an increase in the number of zombie properties, there is not a great deal of concern over this increase since it is a number that is at historic lows.
The states reporting the largest increases in zombie properties include Kansas, Nevada, Connecticut, Georgia and Indiana, with increases of 32%, 25%, 15%, 15% and 13%, respectively. Anecdotally, New York has the highest overall number of zombie homes to all residential properties with 1,995 pre-foreclosure properties, which is followed by Florida, which reported 1,030 foreclosure properties.
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THE ONE THING:
New home sales climbed by nearly 6%
HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau published figures for new home sales in the month of November 2022. The government reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 640,000, which represents an increase of 5.8% from October. These numbers represent usually stronger than expected numbers since the market and many analysts expected that there would be a contraction of new home sales by 4.7% in November. The report also placed the median sales price of new homes to be $471,000, with the average sales price hitting $543,600.
As many of the professionals in the industry have indicated, the real estate market has been in somewhat of a slump, or even at the entry stage of a recession. But these numbers prove that the experts aren't always correct. They attribute the uptick to be the effect of the slip in mortgage rates and home builders being more willing to be very aggressive in their incentives to close deals. Still the median price of a new home rose in November, which is typically a moribund month, with many buyers devoting much of their attention to holiday shopping and family get-togethers.
What some economists believe is that builders are more willing to work through their existing inventory by offering good deals and even cuts in prices, to avoid being stuck with any high-priced inventory.
Still the number of new homes for sale on the market are greater than the typical supply that most in the industry are used to: with 461,000 new homes available for sale, this represents an 8.6-month supply.
January will prove to be a very interesting month, stay tuned.
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Can the Middle Class Afford to Own a Home? |
In 1970, adults in middle-income households accounted for 62% of aggregate income, a share that fell to 42% by 2020. Meanwhile, the share of aggregate income held by upper-income households has increased steadily, from 29% in 1970 to 50% in 2020. Part of this increase reflects the rising share of adults who are in the upper-income tier; another part reflects more rapid growth in earnings for these adults.
The share of U.S. aggregate income held by lower-income households edged down from 10% to 8% over these five decades, even though the proportion of adults living in lower-income households increased over this period.
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Download Your 2023 Breakthrough Bookmark |
GOALS ARE NECESSARY
Goals should not be emotional bullies that keep you from doing your best. A good goal challenges you to keep focused and celebrates the things that you have accomplished.
If you are having trouble staying on track with your biggest goals, you might take advantage of this tool.
It's called the Breakthrough Bookmark.
It will help ensure that you don’t fall behind on your most important goals.
With this free bookmark, you can:
- Utilize advanced strategies to keep progress.
- Print it off and use it inside your Full Focus Planner.
- Create a daily reminder for progress.
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Counsellors Title is initiating this feature of Title Wise called Life Quotes.
Oftentimes we are so busy doing that we forget the reason(s) why. Life Quotes are those mental speed bumps that we will occasionally come across and insert, just to rehearse the important things in life.
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A.S.A.P. Attorney Settlement Assistance Program
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Our real estate secretarial services are able to assist you in every aspect of the sale, purchase, refinance or loan closing process. We will directly communicate with all the parties involved in the transaction and coordinate and obtain all the items necessary to bring the matter to closing.
Our ASAP services can be individually customized to fit your needs. These services include:
- Documentation Preparation
- Disbursement of Funds
- Attendance at Closing
- HUD Preparation or
- Post-Closing Matters
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Our Commitment to Excellence |
Counsellors Title Agency wants to thank you for the opportunity to work with you and your clients to grow your business. Please feel free to click the link above or here to leave us a review on Google. We appreciate your business. |
Sales: Leading NJ title insurance agency seeks experienced licensed salespersons to help expand its market share throughout the entire state. Benefits include health insurance, 401k with an employer match, flexible spending account, expense account, & marketing support. Send resumes by fax: 732-914-8898 or ralph@counsellorstitle.com
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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. CTA'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.
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Handy Guide to Real Estate Sources |
Here are some of the most widely used governmental websites for the real estate industry.
I look forward to being of service to you, providing you with outstanding real-time information and some humor to make doing business a pleasure.
Sincerely,
Ralph
Ralph Aponte
Counsellors Title
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Counsellors Title Agency, Inc. specializes in providing title insurance, title search services and loan closing services serving attorneys, Realtors, banks and various mortgage companies throughout the State of New Jersey. CTA offers full search and insurance capabilities within all 21 counties of New Jersey for commercial, residential and new construction purchases in our Toms River, Freehold, Chatham, and Union locations.
CTA is equipped with the latest digital technologies to ensure a complete and timely transaction.
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Mr. Ralph Aponte
Our Office: 504 Hooper Avenue,
Toms River, NJ 08753
Phone Number: (732) 914-1400
Fax: 732-914-8898
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