Sales Sizzle at the Jersey Shore as the Weather Cools
Sean Morrisey October 28, 2020
Sean Morrisey October 28, 2020
According to data from New Jersey Realtors, the state arm of the National Association of Realtors, inventory of single-family homes for sale in Cape May, Atlantic and Ocean counties in August dropped year-over-year by 40.7%. Ocean saw the highest drop, at 56%, followed by Cape May at 41.5% and Atlantic, which is down 24.8%.
“There’s no inventory,” said Jack Vizzard, managing broker at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services’ Fox and Roach Realtors’ Avalon office. “Everything we had is gone.”
The number of homes for sale in the Shore counties has been steadily declining for the past five years, according to New Jersey Realtors, usually dropping between 9% and 11% annually before accelerating in 2020.
In Cape May County, just 792 homes were available to buy in August. During the same month five years ago, there were nearly 1,900. Given the shortage in high-demand areas like Cape Island, home to West Cape May, Cape May City and Cape May Point, buyers have extended their searches to beyond the usual borders.
Now areas like North Cape May are seeing increased interest, since they offer buyers the ability to have more space and land but remain within close driving distance of attractions like the Delaware Bay, wineries and breweries. Even places like the Villas, a typically lower-income area that’s home to mostly locals, is in demand. In August, Harron listed one house there at 11 a.m., and had an offer in her email by 7 p.m., sight unseen. “It’s driving up prices all over,” she said.
The median sale price for a single-family home in Cape May County was up 31% year-over-year to $365,000 in August, the highest in the three-county region. In Atlantic County, the median price rose 26.8% to $260,000. Ocean County saw the most modest increase, up 11.8% to $369,000. Depending on the type of property and county, some median sales prices hit 10 year highs in 2020. The median sale price of townhouses and condos in Cape May reached roughly $545,000 in February, the highest in a decade. Later in July, the median sale price of single-family homes in Atlantic County reached $266,000, the first time it surpassed $250,000 in more than 10 years. Ocean County saw a similar trend. The median price for a single-family home was $369,000 in August, another high for the decade.
Home sales across New Jersey were up year-over-year in August, when the median single-family home sale price rose 17.1% to $410,000. The statewide increase isn’t a surprise given the spike in demand for suburban homes amid Covid, and the fact New Jersey is home to both New York and Philadelphia suburbs. Alan Dechert, a broker and co-owner of Ferguson-Dechert Real Estate in Avalon, said his friends in the industry in North Jersey and suburban Philadelphia have both been “busy as heck,” especially with working-from-home professionals looking for a better quality of life. It’s not surprising to him then that as people retreat to suburbia, they’re also flocking to the suburbs’ top retreats.
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