Standard and Poor's Case/Shiller National Home Price Index vs. South Jersey Home Prices

This past Tuesday, the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index reported that the price of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 14.1% in the first quarter when compared to the same time period the previous year. Since this was a record on their index, I thought that I should research certain South Jersey real estate first quarter numbers of 2008 just to see how they compared with the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index. The numbers that were used to determine the percentage change in South Jersey were provided by the Trend Multiple Listing Service's Economic and Marketwatch Report. This is what I found:

• Burlington County - The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2008 was $255,200. The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2007 was $279,000. This was a decline of 8.53% ($-23,800). When compared to the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index, Burlington County actually performed better by about five and a half percent.

• Camden County - The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2008 was $200,700. The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2007 was $209,600. This was a decline of 4.25% ($-8,900). When compared to the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index, Camden County actually performed better by almost ten percent.

• Gloucester County - The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2008 was $226,300. The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2007 was $236,900. This was a decline of 4.47% ($-10,600). When compared to the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index, Gloucester County actually performed better by over nine percent.

• Salem County - The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2008 was $199,000. The average sales price of homes which were sold in the first quarter of 2007 was $178,000. This was an INCREASE of 10.55% ($+21,000). When compared to the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index, Gloucester County actually performed much better by over 24%.

In summary, three counties (Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester) had average home sales price declines in the first quarter of 2008 when compared to the first quarter of 2007. However, the home sales price decline was significantly less when compared to the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index. Salem County was the big winner because the average home sales price actually increased over 10% when comparing the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2007. In addition, Salem County performed significantly better than the Standard and Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index. The following stats prove once again that real estate is LOCAL.