Berkeley Real Estate Sales Rebounding Slightly

Real estate agents see signs that the long slump that has afflicted home sales in Berkeley Township and elsewhere is lifting.

"We're getting a lot more showings and some more sales in Berkeley," said Josephine Whitleigh, a real estate agent with Eastport Realty in Lanoka Harbor.

"We're anticipating a robust spring season," said Sandy Greig, broker/owner of New Direction Realty in Toms River.

"I'm very encouraged,'' said William Kozlik, ERA American Towne Realty in Toms River. "I think we'll see an upswing. The weather broke and mortgage rates are down."

However, while more houses are selling than at this time a year ago, prices are lower, Whitleigh said.

At this time a year ago, most sales were between $190,00 and $200,000 for the first three months of the year, she said.

Now the houses that are selling are the smaller properties, generally priced between $91,00 and $120,000, Whitleigh said.

"It's all about the price," Kozlik said. "Investors are buying places cheap, fixing them up and flipping them (for a profit)."

"We've had some good spring weather and people are out and about (looking at houses),"  Greig said.

One reason prices remain relatively low is that there are a lot of homes on the market, especially in the adult communities of Holiday City and Silver Ridge, Greig said.

Many sellers in the adult communities need to sell quickly, because they have medical issues and are moving to a nursing home or plan to live with their children, she said.

In these situations, the buyers have the leverage, Greig said.

Homes in the Berkeley adult communities are appealing to buyers because they are priced lower and monthly fees are lower than in some of the other adult communities in the county, Kozlik said.

Many residents have never owned a home before, so simple amenities seem luxurious to them, he said.

The median sale price for a house in the Bayville section was $255,000 between Dec. 10 and Feb. 11, according to www.trulia.com, a Web site that tracks the real estate market. That price is 3.4 percent, or $9,000 lower than it was a month ago and 3.8 percent lower than it was a year ago.

Sales prices have dropped 6.9 percent in Bayville over the last five years. But more houses are selling, Whitleigh said.

Twelve sales were made in the first three months of last year in Berkeley, she said. This year 30 houses sold during the same period.