Real Estate in New Jersey

Real Estate in New Jersey is a very valuable commodity.  Whether you are referring to North NJ, Central NJ or South NJ; real estate in New Jersey has a tremendous amount of value.  This is if you are interested in selling or buying.

This is from a recent article from northjersey.com

Build with caution

 

Thursday, April 27, 2006

By PRASHANT GOPAL
STAFF WRITER

It's a time of transition for New Jersey home builders.

The real estate market appears to be cooling from the peak levels of 2004 and 2005, as cautious buyers are less willing to bid up prices. Vacant land is disappearing. And New Jersey's environmental regulations make it difficult to build on what land is available.

Builders are responding by finding ways to boost both new home supplies and demand. Some developers are focusing on housing for senior citizens, many of whom might otherwise retire outside the state. And builders are redeveloping former industrial zones in urban areas.

Still, developers should prepare for the possibility of a market pullback, said Patrick O'Keefe, CEO for the New Jersey Builders Association.

"Builders are advised ... to manage their levels of activity with an eye toward the future, rather than assume the trends of the past," O'Keefe said.

O'Keefe's cautious tone comes as his group hosts the three-day Atlantic Builders Convention, which opened Wednesday in Atlantic City. It also comes as nationwide data present a mixed picture on the new-home market.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes rose 13.8 percent last month from a disappointing February.

But last week the National Association of Home Builders reported that builders' confidence in the market – while still relatively high -- dropped this month to its lowest level since November 2001 because of rising mortgage rates, the accumulation of unsold homes and falling demand from investors.

And the pace of housing starts -- an important forward-looking measure -- dropped 7.8 percent last month to an annual rate of 1.96 million, compared with 2.13 million in February, the Commerce Department said last week.

At the Atlantic City convention -- which is expected to attract 13,000 people from throughout the Northeast, including builders, architects, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers and other industry insiders -- the mood and the agenda reflect a combination of uncertainty and pragmatism.

Topics include: "The Future for Environmental Policy - A Dialogue with the DEP Commissioner," "Learn from Leaders in the Active Adult Housing Industry," "Case Studies -- Ways to Comply with 'Smart Growth/No Growth Regulations' " and the "Politics of Redevelopment."

Several talks focus on age-restricted housing, which is typically limited to people who are at least 50 years old. Half of all housing built in New Jersey last year was age-restricted, O'Keefe said.

Builders are not just drawn to such projects because of demand. It's often easier to get approvals for these subdivisions because municipal leaders welcome new taxpayers who don't have schoolchildren.

These developments are often packed with resort-like amenities such as clubhouses and golf courses and tend to have open floor plans that do not require much stair climbing. They also are designed to spur plenty of social interaction and often have full-time social coordinators on staff.

Not all builders say the future of senior housing is in elaborate clubhouses with card rooms and billiards tables.

Many retirees these days are "younger-minded buyers" and would rather have lower association dues than have a clubhouse, Stephen Hovnanian of Mount Laurel-based J.S. Hovnanian & Sons said during a panel at the builder's convention.

Hovnanian also said today's active adult residents want high quality fitness centers and party rooms, where they can have anniversary, wedding and surprise parties.

They also want developers to put emphasis on kitchens, family areas and storage, he said.

"Clearly the trend is that today's adults are getting younger," Hovnanian said.

"They focus on fitness, and their lifestyle is significantly different than when we started building these communities in 1983."

Dennis Zakar, owner of Tenakill Developers in Englewood, said New Jersey active adult developers who previously built along the Jersey Shore are looking for opportunities in north and central Jersey.

They're finding that many homebuyers want to stay close to their children and grandchildren, said Zakar, who is building 70 age-restricted units in Cresskill.

"I think the demand is there,'' he said. "I just don't think there's enough product because of the cost of land here."

Demand also has grown for urban developments where residents are only a short walk or drive from shops, schools, offices and mass transit.

And more of these projects are getting built, in part because state officials – eager to cut down on traffic and protect open space – are making it more difficult to build elsewhere. Last year, just over 50 percent of all housing starts in New Jersey involved redevelopment, O'Keefe said.

Mary Boorman, vice president of marketing and strategic planning for Pinnacle Companies in Chatham, said young families like urban projects because they offer excitement and convenience.

Redevelopment has accelerated on the Hudson River Gold Coast in recent years as commuters and empty-nesters compete for condos and co-ops all the way from Jersey City to Fort Lee.

Among the most prominent Gold Coast projects is Maxwell Place, about 800 condos being built by Pinnacle and Toll Brothers on the site of the former Maxwell House coffee factory in Hoboken.

Hovnanian Enterprises of Red Bank, another traditional suburban developer, has also moved into urban development with projects in Edgewater, Jersey City and West New York.

Building high-rise and midrise projects require developers to learn different skills, Boorman said.

"The building process is different," Boorman said.

"And selling them is different. It's harder, for example, to have model homes because the project doesn't get built until most of it is sold."

She said developers have to maximize skyline views and find creative ways to make smaller urban kitchens and bathrooms attractive.

Jeffrey Mathieu, vice president of Daibes Enterprises in Edgewater, said the state could do more to accommodate urban development.

"We find that the state is very aggressive in regulating where we can't build and what we can't build," Mathieu said.

"What we'd like is to see an equal amount of enthusiasm to help us streamline the process in areas where they would like us to build."

Mark Manewitz, a Newark attorney who represents builders, said if the state wants to encourage urban development, it should change its requirements to make brownfield cleanup less expensive.

"Many think an emphasis on a more stringent standard would be a step back to a prior era in which redevelopment was not supported by the DEP," Manewitz said.

Tip #23

Home Buying Tip, Big Ticket Items:
Before you buy a home you should avoid buying any big ticket items.  When this is found out during the credit process or reporting it can make mortgage banks nervous.

Even if you will be able to get a loan, you might not be able to get the best available interest rate.

 

Tip #24

Home Selling Tip, Listing Right:
A common mistake when people list their house (especially in a buyers’ market) is list the house at a high price that they don’t anticipate to sell it at.  They figure that if they get it then GREAT but if not they can always lower the price.

This is not a good practice because what mostly happens is it will stay on the market for a while and make potential home buyers nervous because it’s been on the market so long.