Bradley Beach Real Estate Sales Statistics – August 2008

The level of home sales is expected to show little movement in the months ahead, according to the latest projections by the National Association of Realtors^®. 

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, fell 3.2 percent to 86.5 from an upwardly revised reading of 89.4 in June, which had risen 5.8 percent from May. The July index remains 6.8 percent below July 2007 when it stood at 92.8.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales continue to edge up and down. “Pending home sales are oscillating month-to-month, with the long-term trend essentially flat,” he said. “Overly stringent lending criteria imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the past month no doubt held back contract signings.” 

Let’s take a look at the Monmouth County and Bradly Beach sales statistics of single family homes for August 2008 to see how the local real estate market looks: 

Monmouth County Real Estate Sales Statistics:

Monmouth County real estate sales decreased by 21 percent in August 2008 compared to August 2007. The average sales price decreased 2 percent to $561,531 and the median sales prices decreased 3 percent. Market times increased 3 percent, 94 days vs 91 days in August 2007.

Monmouth County	Sold Listings	Average Sales Price	Days On Market	Median Sales Price
August 2008	426	$561,532	94	$465,000
August 2007	541	$574,819	91	$479,000

Bradley Beach Real Estate Sales Statistics:

Bradley Beach real estate sales decreased by 33 percent compared to August 2007. Market times also decreased by 38 percent with homes selling in an average of 74 days vs 119 days in 2007. Both the average sales price and median sales price declined, 45 percnet and 50 percent, respectively.

Bradley Beach	Sold Listings	Average Sales Price	Days On Market	Median Sales Price
August 2008	2	$355,000	74	$355,000
August 2007	3	$646,144	119	$710,000

Learn more about Monmouth County and Bradley Beach real estate by visiting PatrickParkerHomes.com or giving us a call, 201-788-6162.

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Is Renting Your Jersey Shore Vacation Home For You?

One of the biggest decision Jersey Shore second-home buyers must decide is whether or not to rent their property when they are not using it. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one-half of all second-home owners leave their home unoccupied for more than 330 days a year. The question becomes, will your vacation home be a financial burden or a financial cow with the rental income is can generate, thus paying for itself

Renting does have its pros and cons. Some owners don’t like the idea of ‘strangers’ in their home. Others don’t want the hassle of being a landlord, especially a long distance landlord. And then there is the decision to give up the prime vacation season for rental income. The flip side is renting your vacation home provides a stream of easy money.

EscapeHomes.com offers advice and tips when considering a Jersey Shore vacation home purchase and deciding whether renting out that home is right for you:

Jersey Shore Second-home Sellers Pay For Tax Credits

Jersey Shore Second-home Sellers Pay For Tax Credits

You have probably heard, last week President signed into law the Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. This is the most comprehensive housing bill to be enacted in over a decade. The bill is designed to help more buyers of Jersey Shore real estate realize their dreams, as well as, boast the struggling housing and mortgage markets.

One of the biggest benefits, and probably one of the most talked about provisions in this legislation, is the $7,500 tax credit to first time home buyers. Tax breaks are all well and good, but they have to be paid for somehow. While first time home buyers are getting a break, second home sellers will be paying for the $15.1 million dollars in tax cuts.

Up until the new legislation went into effect last week, homeowners could exclude up to $250,000 taxable profit on the sale of their home if they’re single taxpayers and $500,000 if married filing joint returns. The catch being, they had to live the in house as their primary residence for two of the five years before it is sold.

Many Jersey Shore second home owners took advantage of this by moving into a property that was once a rental or vacation home, live there for two years prior to selling and benefiting from the tax-free profit.

With the new legislation, owners selling on or after January 1, 2009 will have to factor out the period when the property was still a rental or vacation home and pay taxes on that portion of the profit.

Here’s an example courtesy of BankRate.com:

Jim and Joan are in their 50s and next January buy a vacation home for $200,000. Ten years later, they retire, sell their old principal residence and make the vacation home their new principal residence. Fifteen years after that, Jim and Joan, now in their 80s, move to an assisted-living community and sell the vacation-turned-primary-residence for $700,000. That nets them a gain of $500,000.

Under pre-housing bill statute, Jim and Joan wouldn’t face any tax on the entire $500,000 gain.

The new law, however, means that Jim and Joan can exclude only 15/25, or 60 percent, of the gain. That would give them $300,000 of nontaxable property sale profit and $200,000 upon which they would owe long-term gain taxes.

As you can see, the new legislation significantly affects second home owners and their retirement strategies. The second home market has remained strong in the last few years, but this may change dramatically in the near future….something congress may not have intended.

If you own Jersey Shore real estate and are in the middle of converting your second home to your main residence, you could be out of luck. If you don’t have enough time left in 2008 to meet the two year lived-in rule and sell the property, when you do sell next year, you will pay.

If you need to sell your Jersey Shore home before January 1, 2009, give us a call at 866-222-0158 #550. We will help you get the highest price for your Jersey Shore real estate before the end of the year!

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Jersey Shore Home Buyers Can Be Choosers

Buying a Jersey Shore home is one of the biggest investments people make, and the process usually begins with choosing a real estate agent.  

According to the 2007 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 79 percent of recent buyers used a real estate professional, while only 7 percent bought the house directly from the owner. When choosing an agent, 43 percent of all buyers relied on friends, relatives and neighbors for referrals; that percentage jumped to 54 percent among first-time buyers.

 

Nearly eight of 10 first-time buyers said the most important benefit of a real estate agent was helping them understand the process. Agents also help buyers become more educated consumers – almost half of all buyers said their agent pointed out unnoticed features/faults with properties they were considering.

The relationship between a Jersey Shore home buyer and his or her buyer’s agent must be based on trust, mutual goals and understanding. The buyer entrusts the buyer’s agent with putting his or her interests first and foremost. Here are some things to consider when choosing a Jersey Shore real estate agent, compliments of LendingTree.com.