by K.E. It seems long ago, but for many years prior to 2006, the Lakewood real estate market was booming, with continuing price increases, and short time periods from when a home was placed on the market until it went under contract, creating a strong seller’s market.
All that changed in late 2006 when the real estate bubble burst and the real estate market collapsed.
Prices came down over the next few years, and then remained flat. While slightly delayed as compared to the national market, the Lakewood market followed the national trend, especially in areas where investors had bought many homes.
Prices dropped, but buyers did not rush to buy. They figured – correctly – that prices would decline even further. Many investors unloaded their inventories, or lost their homes in foreclosure or through short sales, causing prices to decrease further.
With prices being more affordable, and with investors not competing against them, many first-time homebuyers bought at good prices, improving neighborhoods as they bought many tenant-occupied homes, establishing new younger neighborhoods.
Prices started climbing in early 2013, and after Pesach a year ago, the market came back even stronger. This was driven by very low interest rates (as low as 2.25% for first-time homebuyers), and a glut of homes that had been on the market for extended periods.
While there was a relative slowdown after the summer in 2013 because of rising interest rates and the looming government shutdown, buyers still bought because they feared even higher interest rates and higher home prices. In particular, the prices of new duplex units and larger newer construction townhouses increased substantially.
Recently, in 2014, there are two additional factors that are driving prices higher, especially for lower priced homes and condominiums.
Many prospective first-time homebuyers applied for and received Hurricane Sandy grants, ranging up to $50,000.00. On top of that, the rental market has become extremely tight, driving rental prices up, and causing many prospective tenants to become homeowners. In addition, with rental prices of basements going for as much as $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 for very large, new basements, it has become more attractive to buy instead of rent.
Regarding the current market, Blima Goldberger of Waxman Realty commented, “An additional reason why the market is so strong is because of a lack of inventory in both available homes for sale, an in available rental options. Finding a rental is not only problematic, but has become a crisis that is affecting the real estate market across the board”.
Unfortunately, the volume of newer construction is not keeping pace with the increasing population. With decreased inventory, the growing community has spread further out. Belz and others have bought south of Route 70. Many have moved into Jackson, west of Pine Park towards the Jackson NPGS; others have moved far off Hope Road. On the east, many families have moved to the end of Raintree, all the way down East County Line Road and Lanes Mill Road.
(Thank you P.G. Waxman of Waxman Realty for assisting with background information).
whats the point of this article? very little facts and very uninformative
What happened when this occured in Monsey years ago? The oilam moved beyond Monsey borders. Now all the towns suurounding Monsey have huge amounts of orthodox jews (Airmont, Spring Valley, Wesley Hills, etc.
Yes, people are going to be moving into Jackson, Howell and Toms River. Therer are already tens of yidden who have moved over the border into Jackson. I know I would. They have normal zoning and no sprawl in those towns.
If you are advertising for a specific company i think its only right you let the reader know who paid for this article
why don’t I buy a home in Brooklyn? cause their way overpriced at $900.000 for a 5 bedroom house.
why don’t I buy a home in Lakewood? for many reasons. among them:
1)houses made very bad conditions to last with vinyl paneling that falls apart with a simple wind etc… walls are pure hollow junk without even real studs to keep them up from falling apart after a few years…
2)Prices are not worth the condition of the homes their made in, even as brand new.
3)rates of property taxes are not worth it, unless you NEED to buy a house & will use a full 5 bedroom for your children.
Many other reasons
The only way to get a house at a good price & not made of garbage… is to either buy a piece of land & hire a honest contractor or speak to banks & find out about houses made long ago-when they made them strong…-going into forclosure.
HATZLACHA TO EVERYONE IN LAKEWOOD
Lakewood is not for me
No point here. If the article is suggesting that we build more homes in Lakewood? I will ask you where? Maybe an underground city? Leave the Lakewood residents alone!! We Dont want more densely populated neighborhoods!!
Solomon your lost! You obviously know nothing about construction. Everything is built according to code with strict inspections. Yes old houses were built differently & in some towns where there may be more old houses it may seem that everything is of better quality. Its not. Those houses have more problems than the newer ones being built now. But if you don’t like Lakewood that’s ok bon voyage!
Solomon is partially right. Regardless of codes and inspections, many builders can and do cut corners wherever and whenever they can get away with it and, within the requirements of the code, there is a wide range of quality in materials and methods that will be approved. Put that all together and you can find a good number of the developments that were not built well. I know of one in particular that a family member lived in: the windows leaked freezing cold air in the winter, the air conditioning system froze the downstairs and fried the upstairs, the tile floor cracked in many places, trim work was sloppy, cabinet doors came loose of the hinges and on and on.
I am happy to say that there are some good builders out there and particularly nowadays, the guys who are building the mid-priced single family and duplex homes include some builders who actually have a conscience and care more about having pride in their work than squeezing every last nickel out of their projects.
I’m more concerned about the rental prices. As a renter who is being asked to move so that a landlord who unloaded his investment to a young couple can move into my current home, I have watched the rental prices skyrocket. Where am I suppose to live when the price of rents on a decent house are nearing $2500/month? Some of these outrageous prices are on old homes with fixed mortgages…have some rachmanus and please, charge a “fair” price…why should I never be able to afford my own home because an extra $5-750/month gets given to a landlord who won’t fix anything when it breaks and keep my security deposit when I move because of it?