Archive for May, 2010

Good News, More Good News and Some Bad News for the Housing Market in Morris Plains

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal this morning.  It appears that the devaluation of the Euro has had a positive effect for The U. S. housing market.   An influx of of international money looking for a safe haven is pushing domestic mortgage rates to their lowest levels in 50 years. 

Most industry insiders were bracing for a rise in rates when the FED was going to stop propping up the market.  Instead 30 year mortgage rates have fallen once again below 5 percent.  Instead because of all this cash could push 30 year mortgage rates as low as 4.5 to 4.25 percent.

For every one percentage point decline in mortgage rates equvalent to roughly a 10 percent reduction in the home price.  If the rates hold economists predict that this will allow current home owners to sell existing homes with out actually dropping the price of their homes.  A home priced at 300,000 dollars to a buyer a month ago has just become more affordable to a larger pool of buyers.  This higher number of buyers will be competing for the same home.

More Good News is that The National Association for Business Economics report that they expect the country’s Gross National Product will expand by 3.2 percent in 2010 and 2011.  Growth prospects are stronger, unemployment and inflation are lower.  The economy in April added jobs at the fastest pace in four years.  Unemployment is expected to drop from 9.9 percent to 9.4 percent by the end of the year. By the end of 2011 it will drop to 8.5%

Now for the bad news for Morris Plains Home Owners.  The number of homes for sale in town has jumped up to 34.  What’s worse is our absorption rate is now 8 months.  At this level our market for homes are squarely in the buyers range.   How did this happen you ask? 

Well first we saw the first hints of it over the last 2 weeks when I reported that over a quarter of the homes in Morris Plains have been on the market for 6 months to a year or more.  Many have been listed many times over.  Some have been listed over a period of years.  The reason they never sold is very simple weak marketing and they are all over priced.  

Now the problem is that too many people waited to long to put their homes up for sale.  The time to strike was  2 to 3 months ago when there was no competition, when we only had 20 homes on the market.  Now everyone is jumping into the market and the number of homes for sale has increased by 35 percennt.  Compounding the problem is that every home for sale in Morris Plains is over priced by 5 to 10 percent.  Get ready for a slow sales season this summer.  There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the community of caring. 

If you are serious about selling your home give me a call.  We will work together, construct a realestic marketing plan, price your house to the market and sell it.  Remember Real Estate is not magic we do not wish or hope someone buys your home.   I will work to sell it.  

Thanks for Reading My Morris Plains Blog.  The Quote for today is:  “The young rebel the old conserve, together we move forward.”  Robert Leckie

If you are an out of state reader of my blog you do not know about Kyleigh’s Law.  This law is to place additional restrictions on new drivers by requiring new drivers to put stickers on their cars to identify them as such.  I have written one Editorial to the Daily Record stating my views against this law and here is my second one

We should all applaud the Newton High School Students for holding a rally to protest Kyliegh’s Law.  It is comforting to know that there are young citizens in New Jersey that are conscientious enough to stand up for what they believe in and act against the state when they feel that their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States are being violated.  You can agree or disagree with their cause but you must admire their actions.   The forefathers of this country salute you.

Kyliegh’s Law came about due to the death of 16 year old girl who was killed in an automobile accident involving an underage driver and 2 other passengers.  The car involved in the accident was an Audi 2000 tt.  This make of Audi is a two seat sports car made to hold 2 passengers.  There where 2 people more in this car then it can safely hold.  Could this tragedy been avoided if all the occupants where properly seat belted? We have seat belt laws on the books in NJ now. Do we need a new law to put a sticker on the license plates of cars of people who do not wear them?  

Secondly this year and make Audi was known for handling problems it is on the record for having factory recalls for problems with the car’s handling and steering.  Hmm maybe the accident was not due to a young driver’s error but the vehicle’s handling.  Should we pass a law putting a sticker on cars that handle improperly?

But still what is the most troubling is the profiling aspect of this law.  It signals to everyone that is within the distance to read a license plate that the person driving this car is a new driver.   Don’t think for a moment that the profiling has not begun.  Just look what happened at Morris Catholic and Morris Knolls High School.  There the police where stopping citizens and giving warnings to get the stickers.   How did the police know they where under age drivers?  Was cause given by these citizens to be signaled out? Were these vehicles being operated in an unsafe manner?   Were tickets issued for speeding or careless driving?  Was a ticket given out for not wearing a seatbelt? 

My understanding is that all underage drivers are to have the sticker.  My question is if a car does not have a sticker how does one know if the driver is underage or not?   My understanding is that if a car has a sticker and a police officer takes note of that a car and it  has what appears too many passengers in it, it may be pulled over.   That was not what was happening the other day at Morris Catholic and Morris Knolls High Schools.  Now we should not find fault with the police they are just doing their job to enforce the laws of the state.  Do we really need our police baby sitting young adults?  These are the same young adults we pay to watch our children, work in our stores and businesses, that volunteer in their communities and churches, that in a year are going to vote, go on to college and have the right to serve their country? 

Lastly the one argument we all as citizens should all have against Kyleigh’s law is that the State has no right coming into our homes and telling us how to raise our sons and daughters.  I call for the Legislature of the State of New Jersey   to repeal this law and leave the raising of our families to us the parents of this great state.

Thank You for reading my Blog Morris Plains Homes NJ, please support the repeal of Kyliegh’s Law. 

Here is the quote   “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”  George Bernard Shaw

What’s going on in the Market in Morris Plains?  Starting off we have 29 homes for sale  in the month of May.   In April we had 12 homes go under contract and six have been sold.

  What is really interesting is that of those 29 homes that are on the market, over 25 percent are not new listings.   These 8 homes have been on the market for over 6 months some have been on the market for over a year.  Morris Plains has an absorption rate for homes priced under 500,000 dollars of 2 months.   For those homes priced over 500,000 it is 4 months.   This statistically means that that a home on the market in Morris Plains will go under contract in less the 3 months.  Now wait a minute why have these homes not sold in over 12 months?  The reason they have not, is that they are over priced. 

What is  interesting is that Morris Plains still has a Sellers Market Absorption rate of three months.   This means that homes that are well priced have sold so fast that they have off set the fact that 25% percent of the homes listed in town are overpriced and have not sold.   

One of these homes was originally priced at 629,000 this home was on the market for almost 8 months.  It eventually sold at 502,500.  There is another home in the Hill Section of town. It has been for sale a total of 1,274 days.   It first went up for sale in 2006 priced at 899,000 it is still for sale at 699,000 today.  This house is the perfect example of a home that is completely out of touch with the market.  Homes in the same neighborhood same style and have sold for between 550,000 and 670,000 dollars.  Price your house right.  Price your house right.  Price your house right.  If you don’t all you are doing is having a party put not inviting anybody to attend. 

Now that the Tax Credit is finished we may see a slow down in first time home buyers looking for a houses.  With this we are seeing buyers asking for sellers concessions at closing.  Buyers are asking the seller to pay their closing costs or points on their mortgage.  Some sellers are actually offering to pay closing costs up to 8,000.00 and adding that information to the listing to encourage more buyers into their home.  This has been a very popular feature in selling homes in the Midwest and Western sections of our country.  It will become more and more popular with buyers and sellers in the months to come.  

I have also had a buyer request the seller to pay for half of the home inspection.  I have seen sellers offer home warranties to buyers.  As the housing market continues to recover, both buyers and sellers will see more and more concessions from sellers to market their homes to a more educated buyer that has many options to consider.

Hey in closing congratulations to the Morristown High School Boys Lacrosse Team and their run in the Morris County Tournament.  Good Luck against Mountain Lakes.

Thanks for reading my Blog Morris Plains Homes and here is the quote:  “The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age”  Lucille Ball