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-- Real Estate - Overview

Real estate
*  Overview  ​*  Government Regulation  ​*   Associations

PictureBuilt between 1638 and 1641 by Finnish settlers in colony of New Sweden, log home claimed to be oldest existing log building in US and oldest standing wooden structure in the Western hemisphere located in what is now Gibbstown section of Greenwich Township in Gloucester County. Image: Wikimedia Commons
-- Historical overview
     
 
       Since its first settlement by Europeans, real estate has been at the center of New Jersey's economic and political evolution. Both the Dutch and the English used land grants as incentives to attract settlers to their colonies, and for many years as a Royal colony disputes over land titles provoked conflict--and occasional violence--dividing those within its towns and villages and sparking opposition to its rule by agents appointed from abroad.

​        In the first half of nineteenth century, the state's strategic location between New York City and Philadelphia fueled its growth, leading to the development of industry and housing along the corridor connecting the fast-growing cities. Following the Civil War, New Jersey's position at the gateway for European immigration sparked further expansion and development into the next century. With the introduction of the automobile, communities outside the older cities began to emerge as what would become the pattern of New Jersey suburbanization, later spurring the surge in housing for the new families formed after the end of World War II. More recently, the impact of a densely-populated state and concerns for protecting environmental resources, have produced sharp debates on the use of increasingly limited available land and the consequences of its high costs of development and taxation.

--Value and total construction

       In 2018, New Jersey had a total aggregate value of real property exceeding $1.063 trillion, according to annual data published by the New Jersey Division of Taxation. As of February 2019, the national real estate site Zillow.com reported that the median home value in New Jersey was $325,000, with values increasing by 5.3% over the past year. The median list price per square foot in New Jersey was $182, and the median price of homes currently listed in the state was $319,000, while the median price of homes that sold was $277,300. The median rent price in New Jersey was $1,950.

       In 2017, a total of 25,464 housing units were authorized for new construction. Building permits in New Jersey peaked at nearly 40,000 units in 2005, before experiencing a steady decline over the following years.
estimated cost of new construction authorized by building permits The estimated cost of new construction authorized by building permits issued in 2017 was $16.5 billion, comprised of $4.9 billion in new residential construction; $4.2 billion in residential additions and alterations; $2.5 billion in nonresidential new construction; and $4.9 billion in nonresidential additions and alterations. .

       In 2017, New Jersey’s construction industry averaged 155,000 in total employment, a 1.7% gain from 2016’s average.  In 2016, the construction industry’s average salary was $71,150.  Over the 10-year 2007-2017 period, the construction industry had an overall decline of 17,300 jobs, after peaking in 2006 with 174,900.  
*  Table of Equalized Valuations by County 1998-2018, New Jersey Division of Taxation
*  Building Permits Yearly Summary Data, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
PictureHome under construction in Princeton. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com
   

   -- Office leasing and construction

       After the downturn of the recession, office leasing in the state has recovered to reach a statewide vacancy rate of approximately 15% in 2018, its lowest level since 2011. The strongest markets were near New York City, with demand highest for offices for legal, computer and financial services tenants.
*  N.J. Office Rents Rebound with Third-Highest Asking Rate of All Time, 7/24/2018, Transwestern.com
* 
The Future of New Jersey Office Space, Dickstein Real Estate Services

--  Home values and prices

 
       
         For the 2018 calendar year, the New Jersey Association of Realtors reported that the average sales price of a single family home in the state was $392,693, with 83,152 closed sales during the year and 29,954 homes remaining listed for sale at the end of the year.

       Towns with the highest median home value over the five-year 2011-2015 period were, according to the US Census Bureau:
  1. Alpine and Mantoloking $2 million (tie)
  2. Spring Lake $1,175,200
  3. Stone Harbor $1,160,300
  4. Sea Girt $1,135,700
  5. Allenhurst $1,121,300
  6. Bay Head $1,103,400
  7. Millburn $1,021,700
  8. Avalon $1,003,900
  9. Harvey Cedars $997,800
  10. Englewood Cliffs $994,300

*   Building Permits: Yearly Summary Data, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
*  New Jersey Home Prices & Values, Zillow
*  Monthly Indicators, New Jersey Association of Realtors


-- Mortgages

      Mortgage rates in New Jersey are available from individual lending institutions, along with averages posted online by national web sites such as LendingTree.com, BankRate.com and Zillow.com.
​*  Mortgage Lenders in New Jersey, Zilliow.com
*  The Mortgage Reports
​

- Rental market

       New Jersey had slightly under 1.1 million renters in 2018, making up  nearly 36% of New Jersey households according to a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The median monthly fair market rent price in New Jersey for a two-bedroom unit was was $1,465, which required a monthly income of $58,603. Median monthly gross rent as a fraction of median household income was 20% in the state, according to the Census Bureau.
*  Out of Reach 2018, National Low Income Housing Coalition

*  New Jersey Home Prices & Values, Zillow


-- Foreclosure
            
       When a homeowner fails to make a mortgage payment, the mortgage is delinquent and the lender may initiate the steps in the foreclosure process. A foreclosing party must send a notice of intention to foreclose, by registered or certified mail, to the borrower 30 days before filing a foreclosure lawsuit.      

       Unlike several other states, New Jersey mandates that foreclosures go through the state court system, which substantially increases the time and costs of the process. In 2014, the federal housing arm Freddie Mac estimated the time in New Jersey for completing the foreclosure process from filing the notice to sale of the property at 450 to 600 days, tied with Florida as the lengthiest in the nation.


       Foreclosure actions are filed in the clerk's office of foreclosure of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, General Equity Part in Trenton. New Jersey has a statutory right of redemption, which allows a party whose property has been foreclosed to reclaim that property by making payment in full of the sum of the unpaid loan plus cost within ten days after the foreclosure sale.
*   Top Foreclosure States, Bankrate.com
​*   Foreclosure Trends, RealtyTrac.com
*   Summary of New Jersey Foreclosure Laws, Nolo.com

                                   
-- Affordable housing

        In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in its decision of Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township that he state Constitution prohibited municipalities from using their planning and zoning powers to prevent the development of housing affordable for low and moderate income families. After a series of subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court and lower courts, in 1985 the legislature enacted the Fair Housing Act creating an agency, the Council on Affordable Housing, directed to establish the number of affordable housing units required for each municipality and how the goal could be satisfied. More recently, after Governor Christie stated his unwillingness to enforce the affordable housing program, the state Supreme Court directed that the lower courts again assume jurisdiction in implementing the goals of the Mount Laurel decision.  
*  Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township


-- Property taxes

       All real property and tangible personal property located in the state of New Jersey is subject to property tax unless specifically exempted by statute. Real property taxes are assessed and collected by the assessors and collectors of the respective municipalities  but are subject to appeals to the county boards of taxation.

       New Jersey's average residential property tax bill, already the highest in the nation, grew in 2018 to $8,767, 1.9% above 2017, and up from $8,354 in 2015, according to annual data released by the state Department of Community Affairs. The counties of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Union all had average tax bills above $10,000. School taxes accounted for 52.6% of the statewide property tax levy. Towns with the highest average taxes were Tavistock ($31,128); Millburn; ($23,327); Loch Arbour ($22,323): Alpine ($20,910): Tenafy ($19,866), Mountain Lakes ($19,775): Rumson ($19,146); Glen Ridge ($19,045); Mendham ($18,752); and Essex Fells ($18,743).

       In 2013, the median US property tax bill was $2,132, according to an analysis published in April 2015 by Zillow, the real estate website, using the most recent data available. The report also found that seven of the ten counties in the nation with the highest median property tax bills for single-family homes were in New Jersey, with Bergen at $9,546 ranked third (behind New York's Westchester at $13,842 and Rockland at $10,550). Other counties in the state on the national top ten list were #4 Essex ($9,288); #6 Passaic ($8,978); #7 Union ($8,926); #8 Morris ($8,549); #9 Hudson ($8,407); and #10 Hunterdon ($8,392).
*   Average Property Tax Bills 2009-2017, New Jersey Division of Taxation
*   Property Tax Information, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
*   Table of Equalized Valuations by County 1998-2014, New Jersey Division of Taxation
*   Highest and Lowest Property Taxes by County 2013, Zillow.com
*   New Jersey Taxes, Bankrate.com

-- Homeless

        In 2018, a federal report found that there were 9,398 homeless individuals in New Jersey, up from 8,536 in 2017 (based on a count conducted on one day in the year).
* U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report
.
-- Residential Developers
      
        New Jersey's residential housing market features a diverse variety of builders, from national firms to individual builders constructing single family homes. The state's largest homebuilder is Hovnanian Enterprises founded in 1959 by the late Kevork Hovnanian, which also has operations in 15 other states, including New York, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and California; it  ranked as the seventh largest homebuilder nationally with over $2.1 billion in 2014 revenues, according to annual rankings published in May 2015 by Pro Builder magazine. Toll Brothers based in Pennsylvania--the fifth largest US builder with just under $4 billion in 2014 revenue--is also active in New Jersey, specializing in upscale single-family homes and multi-family condominium projects. Lennar
, one of the nation's largest builders, has ten communities in New Jersey as of 2015.

*  New Jersey Builders Association
*  Monthly Housing Market Statistics, New Jersey Association of Realtors
*  Guide to Affordable Housing, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs

-- Nonresidential developers

       In 2018, approximately $7.4 billion in new or expanded nonresidential construction was approved by building permits in New Jersey, slightly less than half of total construction spending. The market in New Jersey for new and expanded office and industrial development was adversely impacted by the fiscal crisis which began in 2008, and has struggled to regain the level of activity it had attained prior to the recession. Cutbacks in financial services, pharmaceuticals and information services have been particularly severe, while areas of strength continue to be mixed-use office and residential projects.

       Major nonresidential developers and real estate investment trusts include
SJP Properties; Matrix Development Group; Advance Realty; Hampshire Companies; and Mack-Cali Realty Corp.

       The leading trade group representing the interests of the nonresidential building industry is
NAIOP-New Jersey, the state chapter of the national commercial real estate development association. The New Jersey Alliance for Action is a coalition of construction industry, labor unions, financial services firms and others which supports economic development
 through the promotion of capital construction and infrastructure investment. More specific interests include the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey, which represents firms in heavy, highway, site, utility and environmental remediation construction; Labor unions supporting construction include the New Jersey Laborers Union; Heavy & General Construction Laborers Local 172; and Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters.
*  Estimated Cost of Construction Authorized by Building Permits, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
*  NAIOP-New Jersey
*  New Jersey Alliance for Action
*  Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey


      
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