This man just spent a lot of dough on a house In the Grove. Now the prices will really go up.
Jan 5, 2023. In today’s Coaster, on page 18, a rookie reporter posts a piece about Ocean Grove’s real estate situation, and that article is full of unsubstantiated nonsense.
The main theme of the brief piece is that the OG real estate market is “hot.” But that’s not news. And, yes, prices in town are bloated, but that is true up and down the Jersey Shore.
But all the rest of the discussion regarding taxes, valuations, “apologizing brokers,” Airbnb party time, demographics, OG “traditions,” and that B&B’s and inns are being driven out of business, are mostly incomprehensible gibberish.
The reporter’s source for the piece is a resident of OG named Barbara Burns who has no real estate or market expertise and who is biased since she is a homeowner in the Grove. How about interviewing some real experts?
Also, the piece offers some sleight of hand as it distinguishes Ocean Grove’s tax situation from its “host municipality” when OG and Neptune Township are subjected to the same rules and tax rates.
Are we part of Neptune township or are we not? Aside from this Coaster cockamaimie assessment of the Grovarian real estate scene , do any of you want to comment?
I have reached out to a few local realtors, and maybe they or others will send us opinions about all this muck and mire.
Please get a copy of this Coasterican sturm and drang on page 18 and send us an email. (Blogfinger@verizon.net) or click on “comment” at the end of this hot mess written by me.
Paul Goldfinger Editor Blogfinger.net 1/5/23
SOME MEDIA COMMENTS:
NJ.com
In 2017, NJ.com described the rising prices in the Grove and gave credit to the Asbury Park success and the attractiveness to gays.
NJ 101.5: July 2022:
“What we are seeing is five to 12 offers on any given property in certain markets, and $20,000 to $50,000 over that asking price.”
“For 2023 sellers are still in the driver’s seat before and during a transaction, but they may not have as much power as they did one year or one season ago.“
Neptune Twp avg 2022 tax bill : $7,363 | 1-year change: +5.3%
In December 2022, Robert Gardner from Nationwide said house prices are likely to see a modest decline in 2023 of around 5%. He said there would need to be a significant deterioration in the labour market to generate the double-digit price falls that have been suggested by some forecasters. Dec 30, 2022.
But actually jobs are increasing now.
Ocean Grove, NJ Housing Market
The median listing home price in Ocean Grove, NJ was $639K in November 2022, trending down -17.8% year-over-year. The median listing home price per square foot was $517. The median home sold price was $549K.
I am an OG realtor and I find a lot of anger out there among buyers and sellers. The former run into price wars with other buyers who compete for the limited inventory. Realtors are often blamed for the tumult. Most purchases these days are for second homes.
Yearly appraisals are wrong and do stress the finances of home owners, especially seniors with old properties that keep being assessed upwards on a yearly basis. They were supposed to be done every 5 years, and these yearly appraisals are done by computer analysis. I agree that this is unfair.
Bringing up the Airbnb issue should not have been included in this discussion. That is an entirely different topic.
It is true that operating bed and breakfast businesses are difficult to make money with, and some are for sale, but selling them can be difficult. Running a B&B is not as romantic as it once was.
Turning such properties into condominiums is currently difficult to make happen and are rare to find. The Aurora was the most recent.
For 2023, price increases will slow down. ? If prices will actually drop.