Ocean Grove beach: the number one asset affecting home prices, but will future home sales rise as they should?   Recent Asbury valuations have risen nearly 3 times as high as OG. Paul Goldfinger photo ©

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

On August 16, 2017, Rev. John DiGiamberardino (OGCMA) issued a statement about permit parking.  And in that statement, besides threatening to sue the Township over parking permits, he said,   “I believe the plan also will negatively affect property values.”

That provoked a local realtor, “Susan,” to say,    “As a full-time realtor for more than two decades, I can tell you that resident permit parking will help, not hurt, home sales and thus,values. It is precisely the gamble of whether or not a person will be able to find a place to park that dissuades people from buying in Ocean Grove.

“On weekends, they know it’s a losing proposition. It’s the #1 deterrent for OG sales and rentals, in my experience. People don’t want to deal with it, they just buy elsewhere.”

Now, the CMA remains in firm opposition to the permit plan, and I am interested in pursuing the topic of what factors influence the selling prices of our homes in the Grove.

Of course, we know the usual suspects that are mentioned including location, comps, the economy,  interest rates, and others.  But since we are in the Grove, we also know that our town is unique and has beautiful historic architecture. We know that our porch culture,  neighborliness , quality of life and diversity—including the fact that we have a vibrant gay community here—- are all positives in the marketplace.  The proximity to an erupting  Asbury Park is a mixed bag for OG buyers.

But let’s consider the negatives that potentially drag down our home values, and this is not necessarily a judgement of those factors, but simply an analysis of what might pull our home valuations in the wrong direction—this is fact-based economics:

a.    We have a dominant religious presence in the Grove, and that will turn off some buyers, and those buyers are increasingly secular.   And if potential buyers dig deep, they will see that the CMA can sometimes be quite arrogant—as in the recent threats to sue and the recent unpredictable acceleration of some lease fees.

Then add on the CMA fight against permit parking, a policy  which buyers would  likely support, and their concerns might multiply.

b.   Potential buyers are turned off by the chaotic parking  and congestion situation.   How many buyers will love the idea that our town has monster events that bring thousands of tourists to town?  Year round congestion in the Grove is becoming progressively worse to the detriment of residents and their quality of life.

I know two couples, each living here for many years,  who sold their homes because they had become exasperated by the constant battle to find parking and constant bumping into tourists—something that is becoming year round.

c.  We have shopping in town, but most of it is for tourists. Home buyers  like the idea of a town with shopping, but it would be quality of life shopping, not T shirts and gifts.

d. Quality of schools is a huge factor for some home buyers. The Neptune test scores would be a turnoff.

e.  Access to parking.  Home buyers will reject a house without a garage or even a driveway.  But maybe they would be tempted if the current trend towards increasing parking distress were turned around. But developers, business people, Neptune Township and the CMA have shown no interest in finding solutions to the issues raised by homeowners. And I’m not convinced that the Committee is sincere about permit parking.

f.  Supply and demand.  It is our understanding that the high taxes here are discouraging young families, senior citizens and middle class buyers. Those high taxes for Grovers are out of proportion to the services which we receive.

And if the negativity and indifference  towards residents  continues on the part of Neptune Township, it will discourage investors in buying homes here.

And that negativity includes disinterest in our history and our quality of life. We wonder if the Township is intentially trying to weaken the Historic Preservation Commission and even wanting to rid the “historic district”  of its historic designations.

There is no organization in town that represents residents. Unless you pay money and join  you cannot vote at the HOA, and renters are excluded.   The HOA is an ineffective institution here in terms of quality of life for all residents.

If the town wants home values to go up, it should become a historic, culturally rich, genuine community where residents are the top priority and where an activist group stands up for the people.

g.   Other negative factors include dumping dirty water into our lakes, crime/drugs around the corner,  developers who want to increase congestion without providing parking,  a Township Committee which promotes a “cash cow” culture towards the Grove including ignoring our master plan and favoring zoning changes that will pull the town away from being a single family residential community.

For those of you homeowners who are indifferent to social, political, environmental, and cultural issues in town, maybe you would reconsider if you were to think about your home valuations.  And you could begin by supporting the permit parking plan.

KIP MOORE: