Greater Princeton, NJ is a region located in central New Jersey, encompassing the town of Princeton and surrounding areas. It is home to prestigious universities such as Princeton University and Rider University, as well as several research institutions, including the Institute for Advanced Study and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The region offers a diverse range of cultural, recreational, and culinary experiences, including museums, parks, theaters, and restaurants. It is also conveniently located within easy access to major metropolitan areas such as New York City and Philadelphia.
Champaign, IL metro area:
– Median sales price: $189,475
– One-year change: +17.2%
Metros with highest median sales price
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#3. Santa Cruz, CA metro area: $1.1 million
Metros with lowest median sales price
#1. Cumberland, MD metro area: $119,208
#2. Bay City, MI metro area: $119,612
#3. Saginaw, MI metro area: $132,788
Which neighborhoods in our area are seeing the heaviest turnover or rapidly rising home prices? Where are properties selling the fastest? The following chart tracks residential sales for single-family homes, condos and townhouses. You’ll find figures indicating the number of homes sold, average sale price and average days on market in more than 400 neighborhoods in Arlington, Falls Church and McLean from 2017 to 2021. Condo buildings are typically listed as individual subdivisions. The neighborhoods included had at least 15 total sales during the last five years. (However, the totals for each ZIP code reflect all sales in that ZIP code, not just the totals for the neighborhoods shown.) Because subdivisions entered into the Bright MLS database are not required to follow a standard nomenclature, we have expanded the data set to account for misspellings and inconsistencies in many subdivision names. Real estate agents may also enter sales into the database retroactively. As a result, some of the historical data may vary slightly from the data in previous years’ charts. A designation of “NR” indicates that no sales were reported for that year.
Data provided by Bright MLS and MarketStats for ShowingTime as of Jan. 10, 2022. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
About SHOWINGTIME — ShowingTime is the leading showing management and market reporting technology provider to the residential real estate industry. Its showing products take the inefficiencies out of the appointment scheduling process, while its analytics tools help subscribers generate interactive, easy-to-read local market reports.
The two homes sold in one transaction for $13.1 million.
If you think homes in New Jersey are expensive, you’re right. There are now nearly three dozen places in the Garden State where the average home price exceeds $1 million.
Those prices are based on 15% growth statewide in 2021, according to data from The Otteau Group.
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A neighborhood long deemed the next development hot spot has officially emerged as the center of Jersey City’s new cycle of renaissance.
GRID Real Estate recently released their Jersey City Trends Map, the first the company has published since 2019. The company’s trends were gleaned from interviews and discussions with other professionals and developers whose primary market is Jersey City.
The report starts from the infamous date of March 12, 2020, which saw the largest single-day percentage fall of the stock market in decades and could be considered the unofficial beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report notes that the lockdowns stemming from the pandemic had a severe impact, as construction throughout Jersey City was initially halted and slowed.
Recently completed buildings in Jersey City’s emerging markets were hit hard, as vacancy rates rose and rent concessions and other incentives helped fill units. But the report claims that pandemic rent incentives were mostly burned off by the end of 2021, a pattern that follows a national trend as demand came roaring back amid the lack of inventory in the for-sale market.
GRID’s latest report shows a growing number of options for both entertainment and dining in Jersey City, particularly in the Downtown area. The development has created an amenity rich “18-Hour City” in a large area, but the big construction boom is situated further west.
“After years of slow and stalled efforts in the Journal Square CBD, West Side, and Lafayette, we have now seen real growth in these core communities,” says Bob Antonicello, founder and President of Grid Real Estate. “Not surprising, all three of these new growth centers are linked to transit, either light rail or PATH.”
Jersey City’s biggest hotspot, Journal Square, has shown significant growth despite the pandemic. The third phase of Journal Squared recently broke ground just months after the fully leased 704-unit second phase averaged 150 leases per month.
The second hottest development spot in Jersey City was identified as the area around NJCU, which has welcomed new projects like The Agnes and seen massive new proposals like West Side Crossing. Other emerging markets noted in the report include the Marion area, Lafayette near Liberty State Park, and the northern area of Downtown where several new developments are located (we’ll leave the argument about the neighborhood’s name to others).
Developing markets identified in the report include the still mostly dormant Canal Crossing area, Bayfront, and the Bergen Hill neighborhood.
On the flipside, GRID’s report determined that the pandemic has exasperated a precarious affordable housing situation throughout Jersey City. “The spreading gentrification will only increase the affordable housing problems going forward,” the report notes, an issue officials hope last year’s inclusionary housing ordinance will address.
BEIJING — Plowing past global anxieties over the war engulfing Ukraine, China set its economy on a course of steady expansion for 2022, prioritizing growth, job creation and increased social welfare in a year when the national leader, Xi Jinping, is poised to claim a new term in power.
The annual government work report delivered to China’s National People’s Congress by Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday did not even mention Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it took an implacably steady-as-it-goes tone on China’s economic outlook.
The implicit message appeared to be that China could weather the turbulence in Europe, and would focus on trying to keep the Chinese population at home contented and employed before an all-important Communist Party meeting in the fall, when Mr. Xi is increasingly certain to extend his time in power.
“In our work this year, we must make economic stability our top priority and pursue progress while ensuring stability,” Mr. Li said.
By announcing a target for China’s economy to expand “around 5.5 percent” this year, Mr. Li reinforced the government’s emphasis on shoring up growth in the face of global uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. That goal is slower than the 8.1 percent rebound in the economy that China reported last year, but higher than many economists believe the country can achieve without big government spending programs.
Mr. Li disappointed anyone who might have thought he would have anything to say about Ukraine. The Chinese government’s annual work reports generally avoid new announcements on foreign policy, and this year’s was no exception. Beijing has sought to maintain its partnership with Russia while trying to distance China from President Vladimir V. Putin’s decision to go to war.
“China will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, stay on the path of peaceful development, work for a new type of international relations,” Mr. Li said in his report — the closest he came to a comment on international developments.
Still, leaders in Beijing also signaled — in numbers, rather than words — that they were preparing for an increasingly dangerous world. China’s military budget will grow by 7.1 percent this year to about $229 billion, according to the government’s budget report, also released Saturday. Mr. Li indicated that there would be no slowing in China’s efforts to modernize and overhaul its military, which includes expanding the navy and developing an array of advanced missiles.
“While economic development provides a foundation for a possible defense budget increase, the security threats China is facing and the demands for national defense capability enhancement caused by those threats are the driving factors,” Global Times, a Communist Party-run newspaper, wrote in a report this week that predicted China’s rise in military spending. “Over the past year, the U.S. also rallied its allies and partners around the world to provoke and confront China militarily.”
In December, the United States Congress approved a budget of $768 billion for the American military. But salaries and equipment manufacturing costs are far higher in the United States, which has prompted some analysts to suggest that China’s military budget is rapidly catching up in actual purchasing power.
The plan Mr. Li outlined suggests that China values economic growth more than trying to make potentially painful adjustments to shift the economy toward greater reliance on domestic consumer spending. Beijing has been trying, with limited success, to move the economy away from dependence on debt-fueled infrastructure and housing construction.
China had managed to reduce slightly last year its debt relative to economic output. It needed to do so because this ratio had climbed, during the first year of the pandemic, to a level that economists regarded as unsustainable.
But meeting this year’s growth target would require more borrowing, undoing most or all of the progress made last year in reducing the debt burden, said Michael Pettis, an economist with Peking University. He said that it was hard to see how China could break its dependence on achieving high growth targets at least partly through heavy borrowing.
Mr. Li acknowledged that the Chinese economy would face challenges this year, pointing to the sluggish recovery of consumption and investment, flagging growth in exports and a shortage of resources and raw materials. By the last three months of last year, the economy was growing only 4 percent.
Part of that economic slowdown reflected a series of government policy shifts aimed at reining in unsustainable expansion in some sectors. Housing speculation was discouraged. Stringent limits were imposed on the after-school tutoring industry. And national security agencies imposed tighter scrutiny on the tech sector.
China’s huge construction industry is stalling as home buyers turn wary, with developers beginning to default on debts. Dwindling revenues from land sales have made some local governments more cautious about building additional roads and bridges. Continued lockdowns and travel restrictions to prevent the coronavirus from spreading have caused a downturn in spending at hotels and restaurants.
Mr. Li gave few clues to whether China might shift away from its stringent “zero Covid” pandemic strategy, which has relied on mass testing and occasional lockdowns. He urged officials to handle local outbreaks in a “scientific and targeted manner.”
He also separately alluded to the widespread public outrage that erupted in recent weeks over the abduction of women and children. “We will crack down hard on the trafficking of women and children and protect their lawful rights and interests,” he said.
The outcry was set off after a blogger posted footage of a woman seen shackled in a windowless hut in east-central China’s Jiangsu Province, who had reportedly given birth to eight children. Official investigators said the woman had been abducted in 1998, a finding that people on social media said exposed longstanding problems with bride trafficking and inadequate protections for women. The woman became a symbol of injustice, and censors have since sought to delete online discussions of her. (Mr. Li did not mention her.)
To bolster the economy, Mr. Li issued a government budget for this year that called for extra spending, and the issuance of more bonds to pay for it.
The central government, which has fairly little debt, will increase by 18 percent this year its transfers of money to provincial and local governments, many of which are heavily indebted. The provincial and local governments carry out much of China’s social spending and infrastructure construction.
Social welfare and education outlays are both set to increase about 10 percent this year. That includes increased central government support for China’s old-age pension funds, which have to support a fast-expanding population of retirees. The budget also includes heavy spending to help rural families and to build more rental housing.
Many Chinese provinces have set their own growth targets at 7 percent or higher, as the Communist Party seeks to reassure the public that economic expansion remains a vital goal, said Feng Chucheng, a partner at Plenum, a political and economic consulting firm in Beijing. “They need to project a picture where the party puts growth targets as a top priority,” he said.
Keith Bradsher reported from Beijing, and Chris Buckley from Sydney. Li You, Liu Yi and Claire Fu contributed research.
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Office recovery in Miami is ahead of the national pace, according to a new report, which found that although the Miami metro area had a vacancy decline in 2021, progress is expected to be made as leasing and buying activity stays healthy.
The 2022 Marcus and Millichap U.S. office investment forecast found that offices in the suburbs have done better in the pandemic than those in central business districts, which is due to more flexibility for employees as more households move to suburban areas.
Trenton, NJ metro area:
– Median sales price: $326,875
– One-year change: +11.4%
Metros with highest median sales price
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#3. Santa Cruz, CA metro area: $1.1 million
Metros with lowest median sales price
#1. Cumberland, MD metro area: $119,208
#2. Bay City, MI metro area: $119,612
#3. Saginaw, MI metro area: $132,788
By Louis Greenwald
I still clearly remember the day my wife and I purchased our first home. It was in Cherry Hill and it was a place where we decided to plant seeds and build our life together. The joy we felt in that moment is something I will never forget.
Every family deserves the same opportunity my wife and I had to purchase their own home.
Yet the dream of homeownership is becoming more and more unattainable for countless New Jerseyans. Our state has an affordability crisis that is making it difficult, if not outright impossible, for many of our residents to purchase their first home. For years, young people saddled with college debt have struggled to become homeowners — especially in states like ours with a high property tax burden.
Homeownership is also a significant issue for people of color, who own homes worth far less than their counterparts. The inability of working families to accumulate generational wealth due to this lack of homeownership has led to the ongoing racial disparities we see in housing today.
Now the housing boom New Jersey is experiencing as a result of lower interest rates, expanded remote work capabilities, and shifting priorities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is pricing even more residents out of the housing market. Real estate prices increased by 12% in 2020 and 15% in 2021. They are estimated to increase by at least 5% this year.
If we cannot provide residents with affordable living options, we risk losing even more of our top talent to neighboring states like New York and Pennsylvania, as well as further expanding racial disparities. We cannot afford to leave more New Jerseyans behind.
As such, I intend to prioritize affordability in this session. Key to my affordability agenda is legislation I sponsored to help more residents purchase their first home.
The New Jersey Homebuyer Tax Credit Program aims to counteract the inaccessibility of homeownership due to rising real estate prices and costly property taxes by offering first-time homebuyers a tax credit of up to $15,000 or 5% of the purchase price of their new home.
My goal is to help families build generational wealth by ensuring this credit goes to the residents who truly need it. The program would specifically benefit low-income and middle-class families under the income and property value guidelines specified in the bill.
The house ‘flipping’ trend is yet another factor contributing to residents being pushed out of the market. The bill specifically excludes those investors and focuses on everyday families by requiring homebuyers to use the house as their primary residence for at least three years after purchasing it to be eligible for the tax credit.
We need programs and incentives like this one now more than ever if we want to give more residents the financial means to buy their first home in New Jersey, rather than having to seek housing opportunities outside of the state.
I will work toward advancing this and other legislation to make the dream of owning a home attainable for every resident so that our state can be a place in which our residents want to and can continue to live.
Majority Leader Louis Greenwald is an assemblyman for the 6th Legislative District, representing residents in Camden and Burlington counties.
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By Cathy Rowe
Housing is the biggest investment most of us will ever make — our home is not just a building; it is where we build our lives and memories, a place we can call our sanctuary. As such, the “where” and “how” we live are among the most important decisions we make.
Research indicates that most adults 50 and older want to remain in their homes and/or communities as long as possible, with a sense of independence and connection. How realistic is that in New Jersey today?
Currently, nearly 17% of our total population is over 65. New Jersey is seeing a shift in demographics with a growing number of older adults and increased longevity — a trend that will continue for the next 40 years.
What does this mean for New Jersey?
Housing issues have been an imperative for New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW) since our founding in 1998. We recently completed a Housing Series for older adults that examined strategies to enable them to stay in their homes through modifications options for getting help in the home, downsizing and when assisted and supportive living becomes necessary.
The questions and feedback from the hundreds who attended produced a framework for priorities to meet the housing needs of not only older adults, but all New Jerseyans. The series provided lessons for both policymakers and residents.
An aging population needs not only official “affordable housing” programs but options that are just plain affordable and appropriate. We are optimistic that with the growing age-friendly movement at municipal, county and state levels, communities will commit to being more accessible and inclusive for older adults.
Legislators and other government officials can help support or ease an older adult’s journey to find affordable and appropriate housing in the following ways:
For older adults, the lessons focused on expanding their options to age where they choose:
NJAAW will continue to work with its partner organizations to ensure that New Jersey is a great state in which to grow up, grow old, and enjoy every phase of life in between. We remain dedicated to fighting for housing options that meet a range of needs, income and abilities. For us to achieve this, we ask that you consider for a moment — how and where do you want to live as you age?
Cathy Rowe, DrPH, is the executive director of New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well. She also serves on The Age Friendly NJ Statewide Collaborative Steering Committee and the Local Accelerator group, Assisted Living Program Coalition, NJ Medicare Partners, Senior Medicare Patrol Advisory Committee and the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ Grant Leadership Council.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Here’s how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox.