With all the negative economic news ( is there any other kind reported?) qualified buyers often become paralyzed with fear. Yet it is exactly at that time that people should buy. Historically, buyers who purchased real estate in desirable locations such as the jersey shore during a recession or even the Great Depression have created wealth for themselves which far exceeded wealth equity created in other “good times”.

Even though it can be extremely difficult emotionally to move forward with purchasing real estate when others are not, it is important to look at the real facts to determine whether or not real estate would be a wise purchase. I have been in the business of selling and renting jersey shore real estate for almost 28 years, and during that time I have experienced several economic recessions. And without fail, the people who had the money, tuned out the nay sayers, and purchased then were considered geniuses a few years later when the economy recovered and appreciation ran rampant once again.. They had become wealthy.

In 1929, just as the Great Depression began, my grandmother purchased Whitelock Realty in Lavallette, and changed the name to Schlosser Real Estate. Tuning out the media and focusing on business was easier for her. There was no television, no Internet, only radio, snail mail, newspaper, and some bad telephone service. The people who purchased real estate and those who were able to hang on property already owned, well… I’m sure you know… came out way ahead when the economy recovered.

If you can tune out the negative voices, the reasons the Jersey Shore continues to fare well are obvious and numerous. A tangible investment used for pleasure… Gorgeous white sand beaches…70 miles of ocean coast line…70 miles of bay coast line….close proximity to the two major metropolitan cities of Philadelphia and New York City…and high area standard of living are just a few of the reasons. And it is very important to note that the jersey shore real estate market of the past and present has remained predominately dominated by true second home buyers who purchased or are purchasing with substantial money down or have paid or are paying all cash. Thus, the Jersey Shore market has been spared the speculative frenzy and bad lending practices which occurred in Florida , the greater Las Vegas area and other markets, and which collapsed like pyramid schemes.

Although the appreciation rate has slowed or remained flat at the shore, for the most part and for the reasons stated above, values have held and in some areas even appreciated a little giving sellers the opportunity to sell at or near the all time recent highs and buyers the opportunity to catch their breath, pick out a great property, negotiate a little and take advantage of great interest rates.

All in all, it’s a fine time to make your jersey shore move!

Andrea Schlosser

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am and is filed under Market Conditions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.