NJ real estate pros look for signs of recovery

New Jersey real estate professionals are searching for any signs of housing recovery after a recent report by Zillow.com showed that Garden State home prices have fallen 9 percent in the last year. Sales, inventory and foreclosures are still in free fall and experts are now predicting that they may not reach rock bottom till 2013. Zillow also reported that New Jersey first-quarter median home prices had fallen 3.3 percent in 2011, a step up from the 6.6 percent cited by an Otteau Valuation Group.

Real estate professionals say there is some hope. Jersey Shore rentals in Avalon and Stone Harbor are up for the summer season, interest rates remain low and homes are affordable. Dominick Paragano of D.L. Paragano Homes in Stanhope says he’s seeing slight increases in home prices in New York City and Philadelphia, which could in turn help New Jersey. “From our perspective, that’s a great indicator,” Paragano said. “We get the castoffs. When you start to see and get to feel that things are getting better, it spins what people will do with their income and their housing needs.”

The number of construction permits issued in New Jersey also increased in 2010, for the first time since 2005. [Asbury Park Press]