The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday that sales of existing homes across the United States dropped 10.5 percent, to their lowest level in more than 18 months. Sales slowed in all regions of the country, and the Northeast market was off 9.2 percent, which ranked the region as second-strongest out of four in NAR’s November numbers. By contrast, markets were mixed around South Jersey. Single-family home sales rose 8.8 percent in Cape May County last month from November 2014, but closings fell by 15 percent on the condos and townhouses popular in many of the county’s beach towns. Sale prices were up for both types of properties, though, according to the New Jersey Association of Realtors. In Atlantic County, the number of single-family sales fell 6.5 percent in November, but the condo/townhouse category rose 27 percent. Prices were also off about 10 percent for stand-alone homes, but up by 18.2 percent for townhouses in the county, NJAR reported.
Elsewhere in South Jersey, single-family closings fell 8 percent in Cumberland County, although prices rose. And Ocean County had by far the strongest results of those four local counties, with single-family sales climbing more than 17 percent and closings on condos going up 13.7 percent. Still, homes in adult communities — a major player on Ocean’s County’s mainland — saw an 8.9 percent sales drop in November. Even such up-and-down local results were much better than the NAR’s national figures. The Realtors group said last month was the worst for the U.S. market as a whole since April 2014. And following the November drop-off, “sales are now 3.8 percent below a year ago — the first year-over-year decrease since September 2014,” the association said Tuesday in releasing its monthly report. For all your Residential and Commercial Real Estate Appraisal needs please contact: James M. Hanson Associates, Inc. Phone: (609) 884-9185 Email: Info@AppraiseNewJersey.com