The Hoboken Condo market Update for February 2012

The Hoboken condo market has made some significant moves, many may be in your favor.

Personally, I have been able to get 13 properties into contract during the first two months of this year.  Although the market has been very competitive as of late, most of my buyers have been able to secure the homes that they had targeted as their first choice!  I'm excited to be able to get many of them into their first homes and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship :)

First, there's something I have to get off of my chest.....

The market is on SALE!  

Prices have been beaten down the last couple of years.  Rents have been going up, the population is increasing and new housing starts have not been keeping up with the historical averages.  For the last 20 years, new housing starts have averaged 1.4 million units per year.  The last 4 years we've only averaged 663K.  That's less then half of the 20 year average! This means less inventory!

Will there be increased demand?

There are 63 million Echo-boomers, the children of the baby-boomer generation, that are between the ages of 17 - 32 that will begin to form families in the next 5-10 years.  After every downturn in the market (see chart below) real estate has eventually gone UP!  Interest rates have been at a crazy low amount (less the 4% for loans equal to or less than $417K in my market)!

Will real estate prices start to move up?  

Hmmm.......... What the heck are you waiting for????

Now here's the update......

Here are the market highlights:

1. Inventory sits at a low level of just 238 units for sale
2. 74 condos went into contract in February 2012 which is a 28.3% increase over the same period last year
3. The current absorption rate, the rate at which all condos in the market would be "absorbed" by the current pace of sale (in this case we're using the 74 units under contract in February) is now at  just 3.2 months.  Dare we say "sellers market"?  I can't believe that's what I'm seeing!!
4. Interest rates remain at historic lows with 30 Year Fixed Conventional Conforming Loans (loans less than or equal to $417,000) at 3.875%/ 3.965% APR - from Pinnacle Mortgage 3/9/12
5. Average selling prices are up 15% from same period last year (mostly attributed to the high level of luxury property buyers in my opinion)
6. List-to-sales-price-ratio is at 95.7% which indicates that at the moment, buyers still may have some flexibility on asking prices

Here are the actual stats I complied for you using the Hudson County Multiple Listing Service:

Current Active "For Sale" Condo Inventory  as of 3/13/2012:   238

Average asking price: $539,365   

Median asking price: $489,000

Average days on market: 63

February 2012 - New Condo Listings: 74

Average asking price: $589,684

Median asking price: $549,949

February 2012 - Under Contract:  74 ( This is a + 28.3% increase to the 53 units that went under contract in February 2011)

Avg asking price: $522,348           

Median asking price: $441,000    

Avg days on market: 52                 

February 2012 - Sold:  57   (This is a +33.3% increase to the 38 condos that sold in February 2011)

Average asking price: $544,492

Average selling price: $521,266    (+ 15% compared to $442,855 avg selling price in February 2011)

Average days on market:  81       (- 7.6% difference compared to the average days on market of 70 days in February 2011)

** Average List-To-Sales-Price-Ratio (LSPR) : 95.7 % of asking price which translates into an average buyer discount of approximately 4.3% **   (96.7% LSPR in May 2010) 

Remember, I'm always around should you have any questions or need anything.... I can also put together any statistics that will fit your specific property.  Just let me know!

Your REALTOR,

Eddie

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at201.344.2886.