Obstacles to Home Buying in the Garden State

Nearly all home buyers and potential home buyers across races/ethnicities agree that homeownership is still the American Dream, according to the National Association ofRealtors®’ 2022 Obstacles to Home Buying report released in April. However, current market conditions make that dreamless attainable. According to the same poll results, homebuyers face obstacles such as a lack of homes that fit their criteria, competition with multiple offers, and saving for a downpayment.

For the past few years, even pre-pandemic, the industry has seen a lack of inventory. Paired with higher-than-average prices and inflation, some first-time homebuyers are having a tough time entering the market. According to NJ Realtors® February housing data, there were just 18,679 homes for sale in all categories across the state, a 29.3% decrease over February 2021. While inventory declines, the median sales price continues to rise, clocking in at $400,000 year to date. That’s $35,000 more than the 2021 overall median sales price.

What Realtors® Are Reporting

Members agree that clients are not finding what they want within their price range, and clients are opting to compromise on many of their must-haves, ideal location, and price, according to NJ Realtors®’ latest member poll. The poll also reports that 25% of respondents’ clients have opted to withdraw from the market altogether, and 90% of members said inventory has a huge or big impact on housing prices.

5 Ways the Association Helps You Help Your Clients

1. The Keys to Homeownership Virtual Seminars:

For the past year, NJ Realtors® has hosted virtual seminars aimed at first-time homebuyers to help combat misinformation about the NJ housing market and provide resources to help them enter the market. Visit nj.realestate/find for more information.

2. NJ Realtors® Housing Market Data:

New market data is released every month to help you help your clients understand what the market looks like where they want to buy.

3. NJ Realtors® Member Perks Partners:

Help your clients save on services to prep their homes for sale with savings opportunities on virtual tours, video marketing for listings, cleaning services, and more.

4. We’re advocating for a first-time buyer savings account:

This would help first-time buyers save money towards a down payment with tax benefits.

5. Working with the NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency:

We’ve created relationships with state agencies and are disseminating new information about down payment assistance, grant programs, and more.