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Health & Fitness

A Good Time to Buy a Home in Fair Haven?

If you’ve been thinking about buying a home in Fair Haven, now might be a good time to be looking. While home prices nationwide have increased by more than 10%, the median price of a home in Fair Haven has actually decreased by 3% compared to a year ago.

Homes in Fair Haven still are expensive- the current median price is $645,000. However, with its excellent schools, Navesink River location, and proximity to the train, high-speed ferry and the Garden State Parkway, Fair Haven is a very desirable town. I’ve lived here since 1975.

Let’s look at Fair Haven’s 8 month year-to-date statistics, focusing on the 4 key objective real estate indicators (items in bold font are good news for home sellers, but bad news for home buyers; items in underlined italic font are bad news for home sellers, but good news for home buyers):

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Sales: 64 in 2012, 69 in 2013 (+8%)

Listings: 40 in 2012, 31 at the end of August 2013 (-23%)

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Median Sales Price: $662,250 in 2012, $645,000 in 2013 (-3%)

Absorption Rate: 6.3 months in 2012, 3.6 months now (stronger Demand vs. Supply)

As you can see, 3 of the indicators (more sales, fewer listings and a shorter real estate absorption rate) are good for home sellers, and are predicting higher home prices; the current lower median sales price may represent a “window of opportunity” for buyers. If you aren’t familiar with the real estate absorption rate, take a look at last month’s blog post.

Traditionally there's an upswing in the number of home sales between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and then a relatively quiet real estate market until early spring. If you're thinking of buying a home in Fair Haven, look now while there's still a good supply of homes on the market. If you find a home you like, you'd be wise to lock in a mortgage interest rate before the rates go up again.

Currently the least expensive home in Fair Haven is listed for $335,000 for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath Cape. There are 5 homes listed in the $500 - $600 thousand dollar range (Capes and older Colonials), and 4 more in the $600 - $700 thousand dollar range, including one home that’s new construction.  Navesink River waterfront homes start at $1,800,000.

Remember, if you find a listing for a home in Fair Haven you like, DON’T CALL THE LISTING AGENT. The Listing Agent works for the Seller, and has a fiduciary responsibility to get the highest price. You want to work with a REALTOR® whose undivided loyalty is to YOU, and who will negotiate the LOWEST price.

I'd be glad to help you find exactly what you're looking for in Fair Haven- just call, text or email me and I'll get right back to you.

Len

Leonard “Len” Dunikoski, GRI

REALTOR® Associate

Diane Turton Realtors – Rumson Office

8 West River Road

Rumson, NJ 07760

(732) 239-0739  (cell)    (732) 530-6686 (office)

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