Fall 2020 Market in Review

As the pandemic continued to be ever present as we progressed from summer into the fall season, the real estate market in suburban residential areas sustained its demand for homebuyers to buy and homeowners to sell. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported October pending sales decreased from the record-breaking numbers in August and September but were still higher than home sales in October 2019. With the holiday season upon us, we may start to see a slowdown in the buying spree that was synonymous with the past six months. Adding to this reduced activity may be the affordability factor that is now affecting buyers as bidding wars and competition have driven up home values. In areas near the shore, where mass relocation has been apparent, inventory continues to be sparse which is effectively inflating home prices beyond normal averages. On the other hand, these record shortages can be advantageous to homeowners ready to sell their beach homes for a profit.

Luxury beach towns like Spring Lake and Sea Girt have exhibited incredible home values for the months of September through November. Statistics showed the average list price in these two towns started at $2,401,181 and ranged up to $3,289,541. An average of ten homes sold each month for both Spring Lake and Sea Girt at an average sale price of $2,012,466.17. The average days on the market for Sea Girt was less than one month and for Spring Lake was between three and four months. There were consistently between 25 to 40 active listings for sale during September, October and November.

For the smaller neighboring shore towns like Belmar and Lake Como, homebuyers are searching for more affordable beach homes under the one-million-dollar price point. The average list price for Belmar ranged from $800,000 to $1,000,000 while Lake Como was in the $600,000 range. The average Belmar home sale price was mostly in the $500,000 range, similar to over the summer, but went up to $780,936 in November. The average Lake Como sale price jumped to the $600,000 price range, which was higher than the summer months. Lake Como also showed a decreased in the average days on the market to less than one month in September and October while Belmar averaged about a month and a half. There were consistently between 10 to 30 active listings for sale.

Back in the spring, we expected the real estate market to take a serious hit as the uncertainty from COVID-19 created fears and concerns that affected us all. We now have seen and experienced how the demand from homebuyers created a housing market that actually outperformed anyone’s expectations despite these difficult times. One can hope that the strength of real estate will continue to prevail as we move into the new year.

This information was obtained through MORR Flex MLS and according to their service, it is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.