How do you know if your housing market has reached the bottom?

November 20, 2008

All markets are different. During the next few years, some housing markets will turn around faster than others. How do you know when your particular market has reached its bottom? If you wait until others pick over the great deals, you'll miss the bottom.

Keep a track of how many properties are listed from month to month. Once you start to see a reduction in inventory then that may mean that buyers are starting to buy. There could be two reasons whey inventory is reducing – overpriced homes may be taken off the market and sales volume could be picking up. You can find out this information from your local real estate agent.

Keep reading national and local newspapers. If your local media reporters are now starting to interview experts in your market and asking questions like, “Have we reached the bottom?” then that might be a sign that there may be a shift.

Talk to your friends and co-workers. How are they feeling about your local economy and housing prices? Are they more optimistic now than they were 3 months ago, or even last month?

Consumer confidence will be a big part in the housing market turning around.

Be on the lookout for mortgage interest rates stabilizing and mortgage companies start to ease lending restrictions.

One of the biggest indicators is when prices have stopped dropping. The secret is to buy before they start to inch back up again!

I’m not suggesting that you wait till the absolute bottom of your market to buy. You have to look at a home as a place to live, not an investment. Only you can determine what an affordable monthly payment is relative to the value of the home you are purchasing. There are individual homes for sale that can be bought at the bottom of your market, even if homes in general have not reached that mark.

Talk to a trusted real estate agent – we can help!

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Local Information for Toms River, NJ

Latitude: 39.97927 -- Longitude: -74.167512

Other Area Cities: Crestwood Village Toms River Bay Head Beachwood Brick Lakewood Point Pleasant Silverton Forked River

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Toms River is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated area located within Dover Township and is the county seat of Ocean County, New Jersey. The area is named for the Toms River, whose estuary flows through the community and empties into Barnegat Bay. "Toms River" can refer to the village of Toms River, a Post Office address, or to the census-designated place; it is not an incorporated municipality. It is common practice, however, for residents to refer to all of mainland Dover Township as "Toms River." Dover Township and Toms River (CDP) are not co-extensive but are centered on the county seat of Ocean CountyGR6. In addition to Toms River, Dover Township includes two small CDPs: Dover Beaches North (2000 Census population of 1,785) and Dover Beaches South (1,594). Thus, as defined by the Census Bureau based on 2000 Census data, over 96% of Dover Township's population is located in the Toms River CDP. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

New Jersey 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Toms River	New Jersey	United States
Population	86,327	8,414,350	281,421,906
Median age	39.7	36.7	35.3
Median age for Male	38.2	35.5	34
Median age for Female	41.1	38	36.5
Households	31,674	3,064,645	105,480,101
Household population	84,390	8,219,529	273,643,273
Average household size	2.66	2.68	2.59
Families	23,475	2,154,539	71,787,347
Average family size	3.11	3.21	3.14
Housing units	34,375	3,310,275	115,904,641
Occupied units	31,674	3,064,645	105,480,101
Vacant units	2,701	245,630	10,424,540

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