What a wacky month March was. Our hearts go out those affected by the Japanese tsunami. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished March as the strongest Q1 since 1999.
We saw Spring come and Winter leave, but not without a fight. As we sit here in the midst of April showers, waiting for our lawns to turn green and our hydrangeas to begin blooming, let's take a look back at the month of March in terms of Monmouth County real estate, and The Grande at Colts Neck more specifically. We'll start broad and drill our way down.
252 homes sold in all of Monmouth County during March, up from 212 the previous month. An additional 491 homes were listed for sale in March. This is typical as the Spring Market for 2011 is underway and those home-sellers looking to take advantage of the increased buyer demand during these months have decided now is the time. Going one layer deeper let's look atthe town of Colts Neck. 4 homes were sold in Colts Neck during the month of March. An additional 13 homes came on the market, leaving the months of inventory left to sell in Colts Neck at 25. That is not much of a change from February. First-hand I can tell you that Spring Market buyers are out there. March open houses saw definite increases in traffic. Consumers have begun loosening their spending habits as signs of the economy's recovery seem to be all over the news.
These are the stats for Monmouth County as a whole for the past 12 months. Take note of the line graph below and the increase in sales activity that occurred at the beginning of 2011 and has continued. Click to enlarge.
So, now on to The Grande at Colts Neck. March was a quiet month. It began with 2 homes on the market and we added 1 more: 2 Exeter Pass. Just yesterday, although it counts for April, 14 Blacksmith Pass also came on the market. Below is a look a the current inventory as of today. No homes sold or were put under contract in March.
18 ARMISTEAD KY, COLTS NECK, NJ - $504,500
14 BLACKSMITH PASS, COLTS NECK, NJ - $535,000
2 EXETER PASS, COLTS NECK, NJ - $539,900
12 NICHOLSON KEY, COLTS NECK, NJ - $539,900
Click here to see all homes for sale in The Grande at Colts Neck
Sales in The Grande are largely driven by relocations. We are a cul-de-sac community with 3 and 4 bedroom homes laden with families and lots of kids. As a REALTOR I often highlight The Grande as a great community for working professionals with a family, who are relocating to Monmouth County. Job growth is being experienced nationwide and unemployment rate has reduced modestly. I would not be surprised to see at least 1 of the homes currently listed in The Grande go under contract during the month of April and 1 more before the end of May.
Thank you for staying up-to-date with us and we hope you found this useful. Check back here every month for new update on real estate in The Grande at Colts neck. In the meantime, if you or anyone you know is in the market to buy or sell a home in Monmouth County and more specifically The Grande, please check out www.ATCproperties.com or give us a call at 201-315-9157. Thank you have a great March.
- D.J. Ten Hoeve
This post is written specifically for my family and friends, but applies to anyone in a similar situation.
Hey renters! Yes you! If you are currently renting and do not own a home you should make buying a home the #1 item on your 2011 New Year's Resolutions list. While the real estate market has not garnered front page attention for positive reasons in many many months here are a few important reasons why you cannot afford not to buy in 2011.
Here is a unique excerpt from Seth Godin's blog that I link mirror's the situation I'm trying to explain. Are you a "browser"? :
The problem with browsers is that they rarely buy anything.
The prospect who walks up to the salesperson and says, "I'm looking for a pinstripe suit in size 38" is a lot more likely to walk out with a suit than the one who mutters, "No thanks, just looking."
Which is relevant to your quest for a new product or business or job or mate or project worth working on...
If you're still looking around, making sure you understand all your options, getting your bearings or making sure you're well informed, you're most probably browsing.
You missed the first, second and third waves of the internet. You missed a hundred great jobs and forty great husbands. You missed the deadline for that course and the window for this program.
Quit looking and go buy something already.
I know there are many of you out there that this article applies to. And, the majority of you will probably see some insight here, but continue on your current path and not take action. You may buy a home during the next upswing of the market and still make a good profit eventually. But, could you have acted earlier? It is impossible to know whether or not you timed the market "right" until you have acted. You will not know if you bought at the bottom of the market or sold at the top of the market until that point has actually passed. Owning a home is still likely the largest investment of your life and you should not take it lightly. You should at the very minimum get more information on the market you would like to buy in and understand the dynamics currently at work there.
Call one of us on The ATC Properties Team and we can show you exactly what's going with the real estate market in any town in New Jersey and whether it's in your interest to act. Wishing you a Happy New Year.
-D.J.
In New Jersey, you might think we are a state of predominantly farmland if you were to look at the number of properties in the state qualifying for the Farmland Assessment. Based on the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, property owners may apply for and qualify for a 98% tax break on that property. For example an owner with 10 acres that would otherwise be taxed at the local municipal rate, potentially 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars, depending on whether that land is in Rumson, NJ for example or Millstone, NJ, would pay more like 2% of that tax amount so long as he/she can prove a bare minimum of $500 in sales. Some of the biggest names in New Jersey take advantage of this tax break; politicians, nationally recognized home builders, and celebrities alike. Here's a link to the actual Farmland Assessment application. So, is it illegal or just a clever loophole of tax planning? That's for you to decide.
The Farmland Assessment of 1964 was originally passed to preserve agriculture in New Jersey. With property owners taking advantage of this loophole to reduce property taxes, the buck is merely passed on to the rest of the town's residents. That amount is not purely wiped away. The town still needs "x" number of dollars for next year, then decides the proposed tax rate to reach that number based on each property's taxable assessed value. When certain larger properties qualify for the Farmland Assessment, that now leaves the rest of the town to pay the remainder of their property taxes, in essence.
In recent days, this issue has garnered attention in the press. Read Andrea Clurfeld's article in the Asbury Park Press. Governor Christie has had the issue brought to his attention and other state legislators have vowed to have the program's entry criteria altered, increase inspection frequency, and impose more fines for fraudulent practices.
I choose not to take a side on this issue, especially at such an important point in the economic recovery of New Jersey, and the U.S. as a whole. As a real estate agent focusing in the eastern part of Monmouth County, specifically Rumson, Fair Haven, Shrewsbury, Little Silver, and Red Bank I know the value to decreasing property taxes to both increase family household available wealth and also to make certain towns that have high taxes more palatable for some. On the other hand I understand the trickle down effect that happens by giving the most wealthy tax breaks to feed more money into the system which in turn creates more jobs.
How will this play out? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Until then visit our website at www.atcproperties.com to get a full analysis of all of the towns in Monmouth County including schools, income, taxes, etc. and free MLS searching.
-D.J.
Living in Colts Neck, NJ carries with it a certain amount of panache. During the most recent real estate boom market (2004-2007) the average home in Colts Neck sold for just under $1 million. During the most recent market regression that average home price has fallen to just over $800k marking quite a bargain for some New Jersey families.
Located in Monmouth County, NJ with easy access to Rt. 18, the Garden State Parkway, and Route 9, Colts Neck offers larger lots with more open land than most of the eastern Monmouth high-end towns like Rumson, Shrewsbury, Fair Haven, and Little Silver. Typically considered "horse country" Colts Neck has a quiet subtle presence that feels more like Kentucky than New Jersey. It's also home to one of Donald Trump's nine U.S. golf courses, Trump National Colts Neck.
For a long time most middle-class New Jersey families were priced out of the Colts Neck market. That was until 1994 when The Grande at Colts Neck was constructed. A housing development of 276 single family homes situated on 1/3 acre lots, The Grande gives you the 07722 address, the great Colts Neck public school system, numerous Monmouth County parks like Dorbrook Park for right around the $500k price tag. The Grande also has public water and sewer unlike any other part of Colts Neck, which is all septic and well. With a community pool, playground, and basketball court, snow and trash removal, the Grande is hard to overlook if you are single, have a young family, or are retired and looking to downsize. No matter how you look at it, the Grande is pure value.
Year to date in 2010, 6 homes have sold in The Grande leaving only two homes on the market at the writing of this post. Come take a drive through the neighborhood and see what all the talk is about. While you're here grab a pie from the famous Delicious Orchards. Since I live in Colts Neck, I'd be happy to give you the real tour.
-DJ
In a recent seminar, with who some consider the guru of New Jersey real estate, I had the pleasure of listening to Jeff Otteau deliver a presentation on housing market trends. While his delivery is swift, concise, and in depth, the overall mood was somber at best as he delivered blow after blow indicating a slow painful recovery to NJ home sales and declining sales in Monmouth Co.
While the Otteau Valuation Group delivers market trends and static driven presentations I recall a segment that had the ear of every attendee in the room, especially Realtors and more specifically, listing agents. The comment spoke directly to sellers who didn't make the cut last spring and still marketing their property near or close to the original listing price. 
'If your having the conversation with your sellers about holding out till next spring's market or dropping 5-10% from last last spring's listing price...I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't do but if you encourage those over-priced sellers, who don't have to move, to come off the market because they're only adding further distortion to the market and the blotted inventory... you might be having a quality conversation'
Like I said...he had the entire audience's attention. But do we all have what it takes to do it...? Let's be honest, it's a tough conversation to have with your sellers and what's more who wants to have fewer listings to lay claim. But at some point we have to be honest with ourselves, our clients and the economic indicators. If you couldn't sell you home last April with the momentum of the extended tax credit at your back, probably weren't just 5-10% over priced.
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The ATC Properties Team is a group of 3 professional Realtor Associates based in Monmouth County, NJ focusing on selling homes in Rumson, Shrewsbury, Little Silver, Red Bank, and Monmouth Beach.
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