New Jersey Real Estate

From The Wall Street Journal Online

The red-brick mansion that just went up for sale in Greenwich, Conn., has about everything a buyer could want. Set on 2.1 lush acres on tree-lined Dairy Road, it has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two fireplaces and a pool. Its $5.2 million asking price is, by Greenwich standards, appealing.

The home has another distinctive feature. The basement is where real-estate developer Andrew Kissel -- who had been renting the home for $15,000 per month -- was found bound, gagged and stabbed to death in April. "To say the broker will need all the luck he can get finding a buyer is an understatement," says Greenwich broker Chris Fountain, who isn't connected with the property's sale.

It's the convergence of two American obsessions: real estate and scandal. In the latest manifestation, tabloids reported last month that architect Peter Cook -- husband of former supermodel Christie Brinkley -- was having an affair with a 19-year-old employee. Shortly afterward the couple, owners of numerous properties in New York's Hamptons, removed five homes from the market, including the $15 million house where the trysts allegedly took place. Separately, in June, the Chicago home of federal judge Joan Lefkow sold for $759,000. That was well below the $900,000 it was listed at a year ago, a few months after Judge Lefkow's husband and mother were murdered inside.

Real-estate professionals call homes tainted by murder, sex scandals or messy divorce "stigmatized properties." While they make up a sliver of the market, they have been the subject of academic research, provided fodder for lawsuits and posed a challenge for brokers. State real-estate agent and appraisal groups regularly include the subject in seminars, and the National Association of Realtors publishes a "Field Guide to Dealing with Stigmatized Property," offering insights on everything from how to market and sell stigmatized homes to dealing with buyer reluctance to own them. One scandal-dampening suggestion from the guide's "tool kit": Enhance the home's facade by painting it or replanting shrubs and flowers.

There are different degrees of stigma, of course. Appraisers and brokers say murder -- in particular, multiple homicides and cult killings -- is by far the toughest kind of notoriety to minimize. Suicides and hauntings come next, followed by illicit sex and celebrity infidelities. When bold-face names aren't involved, hanky-panky appears to have little impact. "If real-estate values were hurt for every house where the owners were unfaithful, we'd have a fire sale out here," says Steven Gaines of East Hampton, N.Y., author of 1999's "Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons."

The 2.7-acre East Hampton estate of Ted Ammon, for example, shows the possible impact of a high-profile murder. Mr. Ammon, a well-known financier who made his mark at leveraged buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., was found bludgeoned to death in the six-bedroom home in October 2001, days before he was to divorce his wife, Generosa. The case attracted coverage in the New York media through 2004, when Daniel Pelosi, Mrs. Ammon's boyfriend at the time of the murder (she later married him), was convicted of the crime. The home has been off and on the market with a $10.5 million price tag since Mrs. Ammon died of cancer in 2003, say local brokers, who add that it is currently being rented for the summer for $250,000. (An attorney for the estate says the home has not been offered for sale since Mrs. Ammon's death.)

"Would you want to live there?" asks Bridgehampton real-estate broker Neil Bersin. "It's a terrific property, but I don't think there's a polite way to tell buyers that a murder was committed here."

Murder Trumps Sex

A pair of examples from Los Angeles in the mid-1990s shows how the taint of murder can exceed that of sexual impropriety. The four-bedroom Brentwood, Calif., home where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994 hit the market the following year with a $795,000 asking price. It sat on the market for more than two years before selling for $595,000, public records show. Meanwhile, the Beverly Hills home of Heidi Fleiss -- the "Hollywood Madame" indicted in 1993 by a Los Angeles grand jury for operating a call-girl ring out of the house -- sold in 1994 for its $1.8 million asking price. (The buyer, dental-products manufacturer Federico Pignatelli, recently had the property appraised at twice that amount.)

Highly stigmatizing events can cut as much as 15% to 25% from the price a home would otherwise fetch, according to appraisers who specialize in such homes. The largest markdowns, they say, are associated with explosive scandals that receive broad media attention. After two or three years, the stigma begins to diminish. "Time passes, people forget," says Frank Harrison, an appraiser in Woodstock, Ill., who has researched and appraised dozens of affected properties.

A broader examination of scandal-tinged homes shows the impact may, in many cases, be minimal. In a 2000 study, James Larsen, a finance professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, surveyed more than 100 stigmatized homes, including those associated with sex scandals or murders, or deemed to be haunted. The homes sold for just 3% less than those not associated with scandal, yet stayed on the market about 45% longer. A key factor affecting sales price: the length of time between the incident and when the home went on the market. In some cases, the study reported, it took between five and seven years for the effects of some scandals to subside.

Brokers say that the effect of scandal can also be mitigated by a strong real-estate market, and sales data show that homes located in desirable areas tend to sell well. But currently, the cooling market may pose an additional challenge to sellers of stigmatized homes, as buyers have their choice of more properties. Total housing inventory levels rose 3.8% at the end of June to 3.73 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 6.8-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 4.4-month supply in June 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In the case of the Cook-Brinkley properties, the attorney for Mr. Cook, Norman Sheresky, would not speculate on why the homes were taken off the market. The couple's broker declined to comment. Among their holdings: a 20-acre main residence in Bridgehampton that most recently listed at $26.5 million.

But if similar scenarios are any guide, the values of the Cook-Brinkley homes may not ultimately suffer. In 1997, newspapers reported that Michael Kennedy, a son of Robert F. Kennedy, had had an affair with his children's teenage baby sitter in his home in Cohasset, Mass. Six months after Mr. Kennedy's death in December 1997 from a skiing accident, the home sold for $2.3 million, more than double the $874,000 that he and his wife had paid for it six years earlier, public records show.

Toxic Waste

Historically, properties deemed stigmatized were those that were close to toxic-waste sites and other environmentally compromised areas. The AIDS epidemic was lumped into this category in the 1980s and 1990s, when brokers began fielding more questions from buyers who worried that the health of a previous owner could affect them. Though there was no evidence to suggest that these properties were dangerous, prospective buyers were "psychologically impacted" by these factors and were less likely to purchase the home, according to research by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, which has studied the effects of phobias on housing values. Now, as sensational criminal cases receive non-stop coverage on cable-television shows and Web sites, the general definition of tainted real estate is expanding, industry professionals say.

"Heightened media coverage of an event allows people to know much more about a property's history," says Randall Bell, an economist and appraiser in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Mr. Bell began specializing in stigmatized property after appraising the home of Ms. Brown Simpson following her 1994 murder.

Currently, 34 states and the District of Columbia require a mandatory property condition disclosure -- known factors that can affect the value or desirability of a property. Yet these disclosure laws don't always require the selling broker or owner to reveal events such as heinous crimes or suicides. Instead, disclosure laws typically require a seller to notify a buyer about a home's physical condition, material defects or major repairs that might affect a buyer's decision to purchase the home. In the study conducted by Prof. Larsen of Wright State University, real-estate brokers who didn't disclose a home's past often sold the property quicker and closer to its asking price.

Stigmatized or psychologically affected properties have cropped up in the courts over the years. In 1983, a California appellate court upheld a buyer's right to rescind a purchasing contract after she discovered that a family of five had been murdered in the house. In a 1988 case, a buyer attempted to void a purchase contract after learning that the previous owner died of AIDS; that claim was refused by a New York court. But in 1991, a New York appellate court allowed a purchaser to rescind a contract on a property when the buyer later discovered that the new house was widely reputed to be possessed by ghosts.

Jack's Place

One sure way to avoid problems with selling a home that has been tainted by scandal is to keep it, as actor Jack Nicholson has shown. In 1977, his Hollywood Hills home became embroiled in scandal when director Roman Polanski was accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl there. Mr. Polanski eventually pleaded guilty to charges of having sex with a minor and later fled to France to escape imprisonment. The Mulholland Drive home quickly became a must-see site for gawkers and continues to be listed on dozens of star maps.

Mr. Nicholson, who has never put the home on the market and continues to live there, has gone on to acquire more properties with unique backstories: Last year, he bought the house next door, which for years was owned by Marlon Brando. It was there that Mr. Brando's son, Christian, shot and killed his half-sister's boyfriend in a dispute; he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. "It's hard to find a place on Mulholland that hasn't been in the papers at some point," says Beverly Hills real-estate broker Mark Wollman. "But Jack's real-estate sense is pretty good. ... With or without the scandal, that home is probably worth five times what he paid for it."

And as researchers have found, time softens most stigmas. Case in point: the Boulder, Colo., home where 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled 10 years ago. Despite an avalanche of sometimes gory press accounts, the home has sold three times since 1996, appreciating 60% over the three transactions, public records show. That is nearly three times Boulder's rate of appreciation in that period, according to Colorado real-estate data. The home's current owners, Tim and Carol Milner, paid $1.05 million for the 6,866-square-foot Tudor-style property in 2004. The couple is relocating to California and recently put the home back on the market for $1.7 million.

"There's no doubt that some people will be put off by the home's history," says Mrs. Milner. But it is easy enough to get over, she adds: "I really believe that, like we did, the people who ultimately buy this home will simply appreciate the property and not worry too much about all the headlines."

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From The Wall Street Journal Online

Home prices in some parts of the country are falling. Builders are scaling back. Bubble or not, the biggest housing boom in recent U.S. history is coming to an end.

Now here is the big question: How bad will the aftermath be? At this point, most economists expect a "soft landing," a gradual decline that won't derail the nation's economic expansion, now in its fifth year.

But there is a good chance they are being too optimistic. The boom has depended heavily on the upbeat psychology of consumers, builders and lenders. As moods swing, the landing could be very hard indeed.

"We could be underestimating the dark side," says Mark Zandi, chief U.S. economist at Moody's Economy.com and among the first to seek to quantify the housing boom's broader effects. "Euphoria could turn into abject pessimism very quickly."

With each passing data point, signs of the housing slowdown grow stronger. In June, total single-family-home sales fell 8.7% from a year earlier, to an annualized rate of 6.9 million -- the sharpest year-to-year drop since April 1995.

The government's report on second-quarter real gross domestic product, the inflation-adjusted value of the nation's output, showed that fixed investment in housing by companies and individuals declined at an annual rate of 6.3% in the quarter. That was a sharp change from a year earlier, when it was increasing at an annual rate of 20%. As of Friday, futures markets were predicting about a 5% drop in house prices by May 2007.

Still, judging by most economists' forecasts, the fallout from a slowing housing market doesn't look all that unpleasant. Typically, they expect the decline in housing -- and housing-related activity -- to shave about a percentage point off inflation-adjusted GDP growth in 2007, compared with the estimated one percentage point the sector contributed to growth in 2005. If business investment and exports accelerate as expected, that would bring inflation-adjusted GDP growth to about 2.8% in 2007, down from a forecast 3.5% this year.

Economists, however, have few clues on which to base their predictions. Today's housing boom differs radically from its predecessors. For one, it has been bigger and longer-lived. House prices are still more than twice the level of 1991, when the boom began. Even after the recent decline, June's rate of home sales is 40% above the 20-year average.

Much of the recent increase has been driven by an unprecedented flood of cash into U.S. capital markets. Global demand for U.S. mortgage bonds, competition among big national lenders and the advent of exotic loans have made it easier than ever to borrow money to buy a house -- and to turn rising home values into cash.

Because the market has risen so far, economists worry it has the potential to fall much harder than their main forecasts would suggest. As Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, put it in a speech last week: "We can't ignore the risks of more unpleasant scenarios developing."

One big question is how much the housing slowdown will affect consumers, whose spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy. If house prices plateau or fall, homeowners will feel poorer, and thus less willing to go out and buy more cars, boats and refrigerators. Typically, this "negative wealth effect" would be only about three to five cents of spending for each dollar of wealth lost.

But modern mortgage finance has magnified the effect of home values on spending, says Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs in New York. He estimates that when people take cash out of their homes through home-equity loans and refinancings -- which they were doing at an annualized rate of $558 billion in the first quarter -- they tend to spend about 50 cents of every dollar. If house prices merely stabilize, people's diminished ability to use their houses like automated-teller machines would subtract about 0.75 percentage point from annualized GDP growth in 2007, Mr. Hatzius says.

Another question is how fast home sales, and consequently home building, can fall. Even after the second-quarter decline, investment in residential construction accounted for about 6.1% of the economy -- close to a 50-year high. If, as some economists expect, housing investment merely returns to the long-term average of about 4.6% over the next two years, the decline also would shave 0.75 percentage point from annual real GDP growth.

But there is reason to believe home builders will have to pull back more sharply. That is because the leveling off of house prices changes the equation of homeownership. When mortgage rates were less than 6% and house prices were rising at about double that rate, people could reasonably expect to make more on their house's appreciation than they would pay in interest on their mortgages. Now, though, inflation-adjusted mortgage rates -- the interest rate on a typical 30-year mortgage minus the percentage rise in home prices -- are on track to turn positive for the first time since 2001.

When housing took a similar turn in the 1970s, new-home sales quickly fell to their long-term norm. This time around, that would entail about a 50% decline in sales, says Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at consulting firm High Frequency Economics. He estimates that the resulting decline in residential construction would subtract about 1.5 percentage points from annual GDP growth in each of the next two years. "It's a 15-year bubble unwinding in two years," Mr. Shepherdson says. "It's going to hurt."

If Messrs. Hatzius and Shepherdson are both right, the effect of the housing slowdown on construction and consumer spending alone would subtract more than two percentage points from economic growth in 2007, bringing it well below 2%.

But that isn't all. Economists can't quantify some risks, including the biggest: the chance that a sharp drop in house prices -- what economists call a "disorderly downturn" -- would leave many homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. If that led to a wave of foreclosures and losses on riskier mortgage-backed securities, banks and investors could get spooked and cut back on all kinds of lending -- a move that could snuff out economic growth.

"For me, the risk of a disorderly downturn is the greater one," Mr. Hatzius says. "That's a scenario that people would worry about a lot, because typically recessions are the result of a general unwillingness to lend."

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The home builder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said Friday third-quarter earnings will come in below its previous targets, as the housing slowdown is leading to weaker sales and higher cancellations.

For the fiscal quarter ended July 31, the Red Bank, N.J.-based company expects to earn $1.10 to $1.20 per share, compared with its prior guidance of $1.40 to $1.50 per share.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of $1.41 per share.

Earnings for fiscal 2006 are now pegged at $5 to $5.75 per share, below a previous range of $7.20 to $7.40 per share as well as the average consensus estimate of $6.46 per share. Estimated land-sale profits of $12 million for the fourth quarter came in below targets, Hovnanian said.

Home deliveries are expected to total between 19,600 and 20,500 in fiscal 2006, including 2,000 to 2,300 homes in unconsolidated joint ventures.

"Our anticipated financial results for the remainder of 2006 continue to be negatively impacted by a slower sales pace, high cancellation rates on contracts in backlog that were projected to close this year, and more pronounced use of concessions and incentives, particularly on the resale of those homes which have experienced contract cancellations," said Ara Hovnanian, president and chief executive.

Hovnanian is the latest in a series of home builders to pare back their financial outlooks in the face of what from all indications is a slowing U.S. real-estate market. Lennar Corp., Pulte Homes Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. have cut their profit forecasts after a weaker-than-expected spring sales season.

The home builder said it is renegotiating a "significant number" of its land options contracts, which is expected to result in walkaway costs. Hovnanian is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings in the first week of September.

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From The Wall Street Journal Online

SL Green Realty Corp. agreed to acquire Reckson Associates Realty Corp., two publicly traded office real-estate investment trusts with a sizable New York-area presence, for $6 billion in cash and stock, including about $2 billion in debt.

Under the terms of the agreement, SL Green will buy Reckson's outstanding stock and operating partnership units for $31.68 in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.10387 share of SL Green common stock per share and unit. Based on SL Green's closing stock price of $112 on Aug. 2, the transaction represents $43.31 per Reckson share. Reckson stockholders will own approximately 15.2% of SL Green.

SL Green, with a market capitalization of $5.2 billion, is already one of the New York City's largest landlords with full or joint ownership in more than 18 million square feet of property. Reckson, based in Melville, N.Y., has a market capitalization of $3.6 billion and owns 101 properties with 20.2 million square feet of office space, including five properties in New York City.

The deal was approved by the companies' boards and is expected to close in January pending shareholder approval.

Under a secondary deal, SL Green said it plans to sell some assets of Reckson to an investment group led by existing Reckson management and Marathon Asset Management for $2.1 billion. The investor group will acquire all of Reckson's Long Island real-estate assets, Reckson's 14 property Eastridge portfolio in New York's Westchester County, 711 Westchester Avenue in White Plains, N.Y., Reckson's 20 office properties and three development parcels in New Jersey. The sale is expected to close simultaneously with the closing of the acquisition of Reckson by SL Green. It has been approved by a committee of independent directors of Reckson.

After the completion of the sale, SL Green will own 28 million square feet of office buildings of which 24.5 million square feet will be in Manhattan. The transaction extends SL Green's standing as the largest public owner and operator of office properties in New York City, the company said.

"The portfolio we have acquired is a perfect fit for us -- in one transaction we have added five outstanding buildings totaling over four million square feet in our core market of Manhattan, obtained key properties strategically located in the neighboring submarkets of Westchester and southern Connecticut, and expanded our highly-profitable investment platform," said Marc Holliday, Chief Executive of SL Green, in a statement.

Goldman Sachs and Greenhill & Co. served as financial advisers to the independent directors of Reckson, while Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz served as legal counsel. Citigroup served as a financial adviser to Reckson. Merrill Lynch acted as financial adviser to SL Green and Clifford Chance US LLP served as legal counsel.

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From The Wall Street Journal Online

First, do no harm.

As soon as you graduate and land a job, you are supposed to move quickly to build up an emergency reserve, buy a house, fund your employer's 401(k) plan and open an individual retirement account. Worthy goals? Certainly. Realistic? I don't think so.

My advice: If you're just out of school, don't worry too much about saving for retirement and buying a house -- and instead strive mightily to stay out of debt.

Piling up trouble. I am not saying all debt is bad, and I am not arguing that folks in their 20s, if they have the money, shouldn't purchase homes and fund 401(k)s.

But it strikes me that, for most of us, our initial working years are about learning to live within our means, pay the bills on time and stay out of financial trouble. How do you know you are succeeding? If you aren't piling up credit-card debt and taking on big auto loans, you're probably on the right track.

Make no mistake: Debt is a big issue for folks in their 20s. According to the College Board, an association of schools, colleges and universities, 73% of graduates from four-year nonprofit private colleges had student loans outstanding, with $19,400 typically owed.

Once kids get into the work force, this debt can cause a heap of financial stress. New York's AllianceBernstein Investments recently surveyed college graduates between ages 21 and 35. Among those who graduated with debt, 42% said they were now living paycheck to paycheck, versus 24% of those who graduated debt-free.

And the problem isn't just caused by student loans. Almost a quarter of undergraduates have credit-card balances of $3,000 or more, according to a study by Nellie Mae, the college lender in Braintree, Mass. After graduation, those credit-card balances can easily balloon, as kids struggle to get by on skimpy paychecks. Tack on a car loan or lease and you could be looking at big trouble.

To be sure, adults under age 35 are carrying less debt than folks in their 40s and 50s. But they also have smaller paychecks, so meeting their monthly obligations can be tough.

Consider some data from the Federal Reserve's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances. The Fed asked families with debt whether they had been at least 60 days behind on any of their payments over the prior year. The answer was "yes" for 13.7% of households headed by someone under age 35, up from 8.7% in 1995. Older adults, by contrast, were less likely to report difficulty making their debt payments.

Staying in shape. With any luck, your post-college financial struggles will ease as you approach age 30 and start getting some decent salary increases.

Indeed, this is when you should be looking to buy your first home and start seriously saving for retirement. And, no, you won't be late to the party.

The typical first-time home buyer is age 32, according to the National Association of Realtors, based in Chicago. Similarly, surveys by the Investment Company Institute in Washington suggest people typically start investing in mutual funds in their late 20s or early 30s, with their first investments often made through 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plans.

But if you're going to buy the house and start funding the 401(k) in your late 20s or early 30s, you've got to reach that age in reasonable financial shape. What does it take? Here are five tips.

Don't expect to live like your parents. It took them 25 or 30 years in the work force to achieve their current standard of living. If you're eating out as often as they do or taking equally extravagant vacations, you're probably spending too much.

By leasing or borrowing, you could likely drive a car that's almost as fancy as your parents'. Moreover, the tab might seem pretty manageable, with a 48-month $20,000 auto loan costing maybe $480 a month.

Problem is, you will be setting yourself up for big insurance bills and you will be lavishing all this money on a depreciating asset. A better strategy: Buy the clunker -- and put the $480 a month toward a house down payment.

Handle credit cards with care. I aim to put everything on my debit card, partly because I get cash back on my purchases. Using a debit card also makes me a more careful spender, because I know the money is coming straight out of my checking account.

What if you prefer to use a credit card because you earn, say, frequent-flier miles? Try this trick: Every time you use your card, subtract the sum from your checking-account balance. That way, when the monthly credit-card bill arrives, you know you will have enough to pay off the entire bill.

While carrying a credit-card balance is foolish, don't necessarily rush to pay off student loans. The interest rate may not be that steep, and the interest should be tax-deductible. Instead, if you have spare cash, put enough in your employer's retirement plan to get the full matching contribution and then earmark the rest for a house down payment.

Mooch off Mom and Dad. Moving home for a few years after college may crimp your lifestyle, but it should also bolster your bank balance.

In fact, make sure your parents know just how thrifty you are. Maybe that will elicit some parental admiration -- and maybe also a little help with the down payment on your future abode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Author: Margo Harvey

West Deptford is a great place to live, work, or operate a business. Strategically located along the Interstate 295 corridor, almost halfway between New York and Washington D.C., West Deptford is approximately 20 minutes by car to both downtown Philadelphia and the airport. West Deptford Township was incorporated in 1871. It has 15.90 Square miles of land area and 1.86 Square miles of water area.

West Deptford is located along the Delaware River and is home to such leading companies as Sunoco, Johnson- Matthey, and Checkpoint Systems. Due in large measure to their great location, skilled labor pool, and business- friendly environment, West Deptford is a smart investment!

The community enjoys stable, balanced growth and their neighborhoods are among the most livable in South Jersey. The township's infrastructure is in great shape and municipal services are excellent. Property taxes compare very favorably to other municipalities. West Deptford is a community with a proud past and a promising future.

The town prides itself on providing an exceptional quality of life, great neighborhoods with a friendly atmosphere, a strong school system, and parks and recreational facilities that are the best in New Jersey. Their "smart growth" plan seeks to balance open space preservation and economic development. While they pride themselves on being a business-friendly township, their foremost goal is the preservation of their community's character and quality of life.

The RiverWinds Community Center is owned by the Township of West Deptford and operated for the benefit of the residents. The 111,000-square-foot facility is open year-round, with the following amenities and services: Aquatic Center, Fitness Center, Aerobics/Dance Studio, Rock Climbing Wall, Two Gymnasiums, Wrestling Gym, Locker Rooms, Arts & Crafts Room, Childcare Services, Multi-Purpose Room, Birthday Party Packages, Teen Room, Senior Room, and Amphitheater. For more information about RiverWinds Community Center, please visit www.riverwinds.org or call (856) 251-0990. For room rentals or birthday party information, please call (856) 251-0990.

For more South Jersey Town information, visit our South Jersey Town News page.

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Author: Alexandra Hayes

Atlantic City’s population and economy are growing steadily, and with it, the housing market is growing. Sandy Schramm found her family’s second home in Ventnor Heights after talking to her realtor about locations - and costs. “The price had something to do with [choosing here]. It was the best bang for the buck,” Schramm says.

According to the National Association of Realtors, Atlantic City single-family homes have seen double-digit price increases for the last four years, making it one of the most-attractive housing markets in the country.

Eileen Raynes, a realtor with Rosenthal Realtors in Margate, says all types of families are moving into houses in the Atlantic City area. "It used to be people with children. Then they moved into condos (as their kids got older). Then came second-home buyers. Now [the original buyers] are selling their condos and buying houses."

The Numbers

In the first quarter of 2005, Atlantic City showed the strongest boost out of all metropolitan areas in the Northeast, according to the NAR's annual "Real Estate Report" of 130+ metro areas.

This year, the outlook continues to look good.

For the first three months of 2006, Atlantic City stacks up well compared to some much bigger cities. The median sales price per single-family home is now nearly $252,000. That represents a 15.8% increase from the previous year, and a whopping 27.2% increase from 2004 figures.

Since all this math can be confusing, economists with The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey put the data into a simple Top 15 list. Luckily for Atlantic City realtors, New Jersey's entertainment capitol makes the grade as the 12th 'hottest' area (Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ tops the list, Orlando, FL is third, Miami, FL is ninth, and Washington, DC rounds out the Top 15).

Realtor Raynes was hardly shocked by the ranking. She says it is no secret. “For the past 10 years or so, Absecon Island has been the best bargain around."

Gary Gottenberg bought his family vacation home in Margate two years ago, and he says his property's value has nearly doubled since then. "The price was a fair price. The market has just gone nuts."

So, What’s the Draw?

Second-home buying, some analysts suggest, could be a reason why the Atlantic County market is doing so well. Why did the Gottenbergs choose AC? "We've been going to the area for years, since we were kids," Gottenberg says.

"My wife's grandparents had a summer house there. We always wanted a shore house, plus we have a lot of friends and family in the area. It's a great place to be." Raynes likes to mention two big highlights to prospective buyers: "We have the best beaches. We have the boardwalks in Atlantic City and Ventnor."

Upscale dining, entertainment, and shopping seem to be attracting younger–and wealthier–home buyers. Compared to twenty years ago, there are more spas in the area, more golf courses, and more high-end stores and restaurants. These amenities are attracting people from Philadelphia and New York who want to buy a shore house to skip the often-higher prices of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

But Raynes and other realtors know the draw of the Atlantic City area is that it's not just a part-time destination. "The wonderful part about Margate, for example, is that it’s not a summer resort. It's a seashore community. There's enough to keep people drawn here year round. There are community functions, libraries, social events, religious centers. And that's the difference."

Choices, Choices

In addition, recent development means there awaits a big selection for potential home buyers. Large-scale, national real estate developers are seizing the opportunities the Atlantic City area affords. Kara Homes, K. Hovnanian, and Ryan Homes have built several developments in the area consisting of several dozen homes each; on average, the houses start around $300,000 for 2,500 square feet of living space.

Egg Harbor Township and Pleasantville are the locales, billed on the brochures as 'enclaves' within a 'luxurious shore lifestyle.' The ads for these developments are aimed at young families looking for affordable space and many amenities. The companies call their most recent projects 'sophisticated,' 'attractive,' and 'upscale.'

Lower- and middle-income housing opportunities are also out there. The Atlantic City Housing Authority operates more than 1600 units, with a recent focus on single-family dwellings. The Authority has even teamed up with local builders and contractors in hosting first-time homeowner 'fairs.' The expos promote homeownership within city limits, and link prospective buyers with realtors, title companies, lenders and credit counselors. The ACHA was instrumental in the late 1980s redevelopment in the Northeast Inlet section of the city. The waterfront reinvestment project–financed with casino money–saw the construction of hundreds of single-family town homes, detached houses, and duplex structures.

"The inlet is the hottest part of the city," Raynes raves. "The houses that were put up a dozen years ago have tripled in value, and they're helping to revitalize the area. Plus, you're directly across the bay from Trump's Casino and Harrah's. Every scrap of land that was virtually worthless five years ago is now just incredible."

The Chelsea section of the city is also under a renaissance of sorts, says Raynes, as homeowners are fixing up old, stately structures. Walt Molony, of the Washington, DC-based NAR, says the record-setting national real estate boom is starting to subside as more homes are getting built. Previous problems with low inventory (simply, not enough houses to go around) translated into rapid increases in prices.

"That's why you're seeing many people bid on the same house," Molony says, and why many cities saw such upswings in home prices. Molony adds, "As inventory picks up, sales are starting to slow.

In the last four to five years, it was a seller's market. Now it's more of a buyer's market." With lots of homes to pick from, Molony says, "Now, people can take their time to make decisions. It makes it much less stressful."

Call Your Broker!

Couples with the salaries to afford waterway living often ventured north to Monmouth County. There, buyers might mortgage many millions to live on the ocean. But not in Atlantic County.

Looking up home prices on the internet, you will find hundreds of options within Atlantic City borders. On the high-end, you can find three-million-dollar mansions with every amenity you could imagine. But there are also moderately priced homes, like two-bedroom, one-bath bungalows with $1200 estimated mortgages. These homes come with price tags near the $200,000 range, and there are dozens upon dozens from which to choose.

Have a larger family, and need even more space? With a $15,000 down payment, a new home buyer can grab a $300,000, five-bedroom home and still be able to make the mortgage payments every month.

A standard 30-year, six percent mortgage rate would net a monthly mortgage of less than $1800. Try finding that in Philadelphia or Manhattan. You can even buy a four-bedroom, waterfront property for around $700,000. You might not be able to touch the Atlantic Ocean with your toes from your bedroom deck, but Atlantic City's numerous inlets, bays and lagoons allow for many listings with "waterviews."

Eddie Pressman and his wife moved from outside Philadelphia to Margate a few years ago. Pressman said the decision to move east was easy: "This was our summer home. We decided to sell in Pennsylvania and move down here (permanently)."

Raynes is a buyer success story herself. She moved to Margate from the City of Brotherly Love 17 years ago. She loves the area–personally and professionally.

"Everything above us and below us shuts down in the winter. Long Beach Island and Ocean City shut down. But we don’t. And it's not just the casinos." Sandy Schramm agrees, "We love the beach. We love the location. We love everything about it."

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