It may still feel like winter, but agents say the spring real estate market has already arrived.
The spring market usually starts the week after the Super Bowl. It’s the season when more homes will be listed and more buyers will begin their search.
“I’ve been very busy today getting the listings ready for release,” Emily Wilkins of Goldcoast Sotheby’s International Realty in Ocean City told NJ.com on Monday.
In the parts of the state hardest hit by last month’s snowfall, the season may start a little later.
“People don’t want to show their homes because of how cold it is,” said Michael Read, principal at Bridgeway Mortgage & Real Estate Services in Morristown. “We need a week or two of thaw and birds chirping.”
Rates on a 30-year mortgage have recently fallen to around 6.1% from a high of 7.8%.
“Every 1% drop in mortgage rates feels like a 9% reduction in the purchase price for a buyer,” said Jeffrey Otteau, Managing Partner & Chief Economist at Otteau Group, Inc. and Managing Broker at Otteau Realty Advisors.
Falling mortgage rates make buying more affordable, even when home prices stay the same.
House prices rose 5% last year – a slowdown from growth of 9% in 2024 and 12% in 2023.
“House prices are barely going up this year,” he said. “About 2%, compared to a peak of 18% in 2021.”
Inventory remains at historic lows but is growing. Interest rates have crept down and prices are not rising as much as they used to.
Statewide inventory also rose, rising 14 percent in January from a year earlier, though still well below what is considered a normal market. Otteau says these changes should give buyers more options and more say in negotiations.
But for now, agents say, they’re still seeing bidding wars.
A home in Parsippany received 16 offers last week. Another small Cape Cod in Rumson, which was listed for $1.2 million, received 17 offers, and Sharon Shahinian of Brown Harris Stevens said her clients bid $1.7 million and lost.
“We will have a market similar to what we have,” she said. “It’s going to be robust. Eager buyers with all their installments lined up will compete for tight stock.”
So what should buyers do to get ready to buy a home this spring? NJ.com asked real estate agents across the country. Here’s their advice:
An experienced agent can help you navigate the market, negotiate and flag red flags.
“I’ll point out more things I don’t like than I like,” said Tyler Pontier of Howard Hanna Rand Realty, who works primarily in Morris, Essex and Bergen counties.
The agent you choose should be familiar with the area in which you are shopping. And the agent should be yours, not the one who listed the home you’re interested in.
“If I’m the listing agent and someone brings me an offer and another agent brings in an all-cash offer, you’re going to accept the all-cash offer because I try to do everything I can for the sellers,” Shahinian said.
Your agent can also access your homes before they hit the open market. “We did a lot of off-market offers,” Wilkins said. “It’s definitely a plus” for shoppers because they face less competition.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage — not just pre-qualifying — makes your offer more attractive to a seller because you’re further along in the mortgage commitment process with your lender, agents say.
“Things move fast, so you have to be ready to make a quick trade,” Read said.
The lender can also give you a breakdown of the numbers.
“So you know what your monthly payment is going to be — principal, interest, taxes and insurance —,” Pontier said.
Cash is the most attractive because it eliminates certain contingencies, such as the home appraising at or above the sale price, and can lead to a faster closing.
If you are a cash buyer, have your proof of funds documents ready to share.
And you’d better have a lawyer ready for your closing, agents say.
Patience and persistence are required, as buyers will likely have to place offers on several homes before securing one, Pontier says.
At the same time, buyers aren’t as desperate, said Deirdre Good of Weichert Realtors in Sparta.
“Buyers used to worry a few years ago that the $400,000 house they were looking at would be $450,000 in a few months,” she said. “Therefore, there was more urgency.”
That frenzy contributed to the enormous increase in prices. “Finally, people are saying they’re not paying $600,000 for $400,000,” Good said. “Buyers like to feel like they’re getting a good deal.”
Buyers should develop a wish list and decide which items are must-haves.
“If you have to have three bedrooms because of the size of your family, obviously you shouldn’t give that up,” Shahinian said. “But if you want an acre of land and you find something that’s on half an acre, that might be something you’re willing to give up.”
And if you’re not willing to compromise, expect to pay top dollar.
“There are buyers who tell me they only want this neighborhood in this town. They’re only going to buy on the waterfront. They only want an east-facing home,” said Deborah James of Serhant New Jersey, who focuses on Monmouth County.
“If they’re going to get exactly what they want, they’re going to have to pay fair market value,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of highly desirable single-family homes with water views, and there are multiple offers in a day or two.”
People who have waited a while are seeing interest rates come down and feel more confident that the market won’t crash, Wilkins said.
“Why wait,” she said. “People who have been sitting on the sidelines are starting to say, ‘Why spend all this money renting every year. It’s time to buy.’
March, she said, is usually the busiest month in her area because shoppers want to close before Memorial Day weekend.
The market for homes under $3 million has been particularly busy, even in December and early January, which is typically slower.
Wilkins recently listed an apartment on the Gold Coast for $1.35 million and received three offers in the first weekend.
“When a house comes up and it’s priced well, it’s going to go fast,” she said.
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