Housing market of Ocean County growing stronger with homes selling faster

August 2014 showed a continuation of the end of the summer trend. Although the number of closed sales is down, Ocean County is still seeing a rise in home values, and the average number of days on the market is dropping favorably.
For single family homes, sellers reported receiving an average of 95.6% of the original list price—a 1.3% increase from August 2013. The average number of days on the market dropped from 103 days in August 2013 to 96 days in August 2014. Townhouse-condo sales received an average of 97.6% of the original asking list price, a 3.8% increase from August 2013. The average number of days on the market dropped 17.4%, from 121 to 100 days. Adult communities reported a 0.1% increase in the percent of the list price received, from 94.9% to 95%. Adult communities experienced an average of 63 days on the market; a 13.7% decrease from August 2013.
New listings for townhouse-condos increased an impressive 64.3% —from 115 in August 2013 to 189 new listings in August 2014. The number of closed sales dropped slightly from 72 closed sales in August 2013 to 69 in August 2014. Adult communities also saw an increase in new listings by 3.8%, with closed sales dropping from 403 in August 2013 to 327 in August 2014. Single family homes also saw a 13.6% decrease in the number of closed sales, but new listings rose 6.6%, from 1,187 in August 2013 to 1,265 in August 2014.
Although the number of closed sales is down in all categories, there are many reasons to celebrate the statistics for August. All areas of interest reported high percentages of the list price received, and homes are selling faster than they did in August 2013. Demand for homes is still strong, which points to a stronger housing market in the future.
Information provided by 10K Research and Marketing and reflects the statistics for Ocean County.