WOW! What a difference a year can make. Last year at this time our market was at a stand still due to the unfortu-nate left hand turn of ‘Sandy’. One year later, the LBI real estate market is buzzing along. In 2012, the year ended with 369 closed residential units. This year ended with 306 closed residential units. What is amazing is that we lost most of the last quarter of 2012 which directly impacted our closed business numbers for the first quarter of 2013. We also lost new business in the first quarter of 2013. Our market didn’t start picking up until the beginning of the 2nd Quarter. That’s almost 6 months of lost business and yet we are only 17% behind

last year.

The average sales price has also shown resiliency. In 2012, the average sales price for single family homes was $939,150. For 2013, the aver-age sales price came in at $904,813. This is a 4% de-crease. Although we had a fair amount of ’land value’ only sales of damaged storm houses this was balanced out with sales of higher end oceanfront properties in Love-ladies and North Beach. Actu-ally, we saw a fair amount of sales across the whole spec-trum of pricing. For the last 5 years, we have had more sales under $1M. This year is the first year we have had more sales over $1M (51% over - a good trend to see). It had been thought that we would see a larger influx of low end damaged homes enter the

MarkeTrends Newsletter for the LBI real estate marketplace

SAND DOLLAR REAL ESTATE WINTER 2014

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Market Statistics 2

SOLDS Analysis 3

LBI RE Seminar 4

Hello from the Beach! 5

Free Offerings 5

market and the resultant ’land pricing’ would bring our aver-age sales price down. So far, this has not happened. There are storm damaged homes available at very good prices and the market is absorbing these fairly fast. ‘Builders’ to tear down and rebuild and those buyers that aren’t afraid of putting in sweat equity to own their piece of paradise at a price never before available to them. Inventory remains low - on January 3rd we had 386 single family homes on the market. Usually at this time of the year we would have about 75 to 100 more units available. Some owners are still trying to decide what to do with their property but mostly no one appears to be running away from their LBI home. There are

Our ‘CRYSTAL BALL’ LBI Real Estate Forecast

LBI

RENTAL MARKET Update

Sand Dollar Real Estate ended the 2013 summer rental season 18% behind in revenue and 17% behind in number of book-ings. We certainly faired better than some of our other counterpart:, especially those on the south end of LBI, who had to deal with more damaged properties and have reported closer to being 25 to 30% behind. This year is starting off fairly well, we are seeing a rise in inquiries over the last week and this should continue to increase as we head towards our traditional Presidential kick off weekend. We know that last summer many of our summer visitors headed further south for their vacation. The Outer Banks in North Carolina was one of the ‘hot spot’s for Jersey Shore transplants. The question this year will be: will they come back to New Jersey or take another year or two exploring OBX. The prices in the Outer Banks are substantially lower then LBI across the board. Many homes are fairly new and offer a lot of amenities such as private pools and hot tubs. The big draw back is the amount of time it takes to get there, particularly from North Jersey. And they do not have the

wonderful white sandy beaches that can only be found on LBI.

Continued on page 4

YEAR Units Pending Total Units

Sold

Avg. Sales Price

(ASP)

New

Listings

Average Days

on Market Sold as % of List Price

2005 Not available 451 $1,129,906 1207 119 95%

2006 48 291 $1,156,435 1248 153 94%

2007 45 385 $1,077,626 1034 158 93%

2008 34 298 $1,090,744 949 169 92.5%

2009 34 285 $934,629 797 178 92%

2010 34 297 $1,020,659 763 180 92%

2011 44 301 $951,498 825 194 93%

2012 62 369 $939,150 766 176 93%

2013 55 306 $904,813 804 157 93%

MarkeTrends Data from 2005 through 2013 (all data below is based on the single family market)

09/06 01/07 06/07 01/08 07/08 12/08 07/09 01/10 09/10

838 749 578 514 531 588 581 533 579

Inventory Levels: (Single family & condo)

P AGE 2

1/13 7/13 12/13 7/11 1/12 7/12 1/11

392 414 441 562 512 526 513

YTD 2013

$ Volume was 18% from 2012

Bookings were 17%

from 2012

2012 was 30% in units closed over 2011 YTD 2013 was 17% in units closed over 2012

2013 was 4% in ASP over 2012

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

2011

2012

2013

RENTAL COMPARISON -

P AGE 3

January 1 to December 31, 2013 - Total ‘SOLDS’ by Town/Area Single Family Homes

HOLGATE (12 Units)

Total

Sale $: $9,014,000 High: $1,337,500 Low: $352,500 Median: $695,000 Average: $751,167

Days on

Market 212

BEACH HAVEN (29 Units)

Total

Sale $ $23,265,100 High: $2,900,000 Low: $300,000 Median: $715,000 Average: $802,245

Days on

Market 167

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP - SOUTH (92 Units)

Total

Sale $ $71,339,750 High: $2,300,000 Low: $260,000 Median: $650,000 Average: $775,432 127

Days on

Market

SHIP BOTTOM (35 Units)

Total

Sale $ $17,399,900 High: $1,145,000 Low: $111,000 Median: $487,500 Average: $497,140

Days on

Market 161

SURF CITY (38 Units)

Total

Sale $ $26,372,600 High: $1,950,000 Low: $350,000 Median: $594,550 Average: $694,016

Days on

Market 146

NORTH BEACH (11 Units)

Total

Sale $ $23,445,000 High: $7,350,000 Low: $560,000 Median: $910,000 Average: $2,131,364

Days on

Market 166

BARNEGAT LIGHT (29 units)

Total

Sale $ $21,044,000 High: $1,650,000 Low: $395,000 Median: $642,500 Average: $725,655

Days on

Market 188

HARVEY CEDARS (28 Units)

Total

Sale $ $31,145,000 High: $3,200,000 Low: $490,000 Median: $974,000 Average: $1,112,321

Days on

Market 175

HIGH BAR HARBOR (3 Unit)

Total

Sale $ $2,795,000 High: $1,220,000 Low: $685,000 Median: $890,000 Average: $931,667

Days on

Market 122

LOVELADIES (24 Units)

Total

Sale $ $46,228,800 High: $6,050,000 Low: $730,000 Median: $1,175,000 Average: $1,926,200

Days on

Market 223

P AGE 4

certainly still some unknowns that will have an impact on our market. On the down side are the new flood regulations. There is a large question mark as our Government seems unsure of where to go with the new elevations and higher premiums. FEMA did downgrade many areas on LBI from ‘V’ zones to ‘A’ zones and lowered some Base Flood Elevation (BFE). Flood rates will be higher, however, not as high as initially an-ticipated. It may be a while before

this issue is fully settled.

On the up side, LBI is scheduled for beach replenishment. Initially the project was to start in mid-May, more recently it has been stated that the start date will most likely be in Sep-tember. Good news on two accounts, the project will not effect the 2014 rental season and adds another layer of security against future shore storms. Our little Island has man-aged to handle whatever is thrown in it’s path. Whether financial or physi-cal, LBI weathers it all and remains a

special place for many.

“LBI REAL ESTATE SEMINAR” Updated with the latest LBI market statistics and real estate market trends. Well received by both Buyers & Sellers who want a more in-depth knowledge of the LBI real estate marketplace, especially in light of Super Storm Sandy.

Topics Include:

LBI Sales Market - Review of 2013, Current Market Stats, ‘Sandy’ Effect and 2014 Forecast

LBI Rental Market - Rental Stats, Vacation Trends, How to Improve Your ‘Rent-Ability’

Tax Advantages - Second Home versus Investment Property, Review of New Tax Laws

Financing/Flood Information - Storm Financing, FEMA Update

1031 Tax Exchange - Perfect Time to Trade Up & Save on Taxes.

Local/State/Federal Regulations- What You Need to Know before you Buy or Sell.

Question & Answer Period - Always a Lively & Informative Exchange.

TIME: 3 - 4 pm DATE: Saturday, February,15th PLACE: N 3rd and LBB, Surf City

Reservations: To make online reservations click here or call Pat at 609-494-1130

Forecast (continued from page 1)

Bill Delays Some Flood Insurance Hikes - 1/14/14

According to an Associated Press report a provision included in a current govern-ment wide funding bill would give some relief to primary home owners. This provision blocks through the September 30th end of the budget year the ability of FEMA to prepare for scheduled premium increases on people whose homes are not currently considered to be in a flood zone but are deemed to be flood prone under new FEMA

maps.

However, premiums for businesses, second homes and frequently flooded homes will remain in place, as well as a new rule blocking homeowners from passing insur-ance on to the new buyers. These rates are scheduled to rise by 25% a year until

their premiums reflect the true risk of flooding.

Premiums are not scheduled to take effect until October 2014.

The broader bill that will be debated later this month in the Senate would effectively delay the 2012 reforms for four years. This would annihilate the bill because the 2012 law expires in 2017. Also the broader legislation would allow sellers to transfer

the subsidy when they sell their home.

As mentioned in the article to the right, this will be a long story as the Senate and Congress grapple with the negative impact these new flood rates are having on the real estate market in all coastal and lake/river areas. There has been bi partisan sup-port to take a closer look at the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act. Af-

fordability is the key word. Stay tuned.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Did You Know? Beach Replenishment: All areas of LBI that had not received beach replenish-ment are now scheduled for this year Initially, the project was supposed to begin in mid May, as of this week (1/6/14), the start date has been moved to Septem-ber. You can follow up on the progress of this project at: http://www.nj.gov/dep/ec/lbi_project.htm

PAGE 5

The days are getting just a bit longer and although we have much of winter to go, we are in full swing with our summer rentals. Requests have really picked up. Just read this morning in the Atlantic City Press how other shore areas are reporting over a 50% increase from last year at this time. Gee, really. LBI may be 100% bet-ter than last year at this time, but seriously the rental market is looking good so far.

Sales are doing even better. This was a very good year for Sand Dollar Real Estate. We sold homes priced from $490,000 to $6,050,000. We covered the broad spectrum of type and location giving us one of our best years in quite a few. Large and small from Beach Haven to Barnegat Light.

We invested heavily in internet advertising this past year and it paid off - attracting more than 50% of our buyer leads that resulted in a sale. We will continue on this path with both our sales and rental marketing programs to continue the successful path we started on last year.

This year, as in previous year’s, I will be giving my LBI Real Estate Seminar on Saturday of President’s Weekend. It will be jammed packed with the latest information on those items that affect real estate value on LBI. If you are down, I invite you to attend. They are always well received and just about everyone learns some-thing new. Even me, I enjoy the Q & A period, as this is my ‘market research’ to understand what is on our owner’s and buyer’s minds and how to tailor my programs to meet these needs.

A new year is here and I’m glad that the old one is gone. Sandy still effects us - as many are still trying to re-build and understand what is the best course of action for them. It’s a confusing time and I don’t see any quick answers however, if any of you have questions about the real estate market, please feel free to ask.

Happy New Year

May this year bring all that you wish

Hello from the Beach!

Pat Sepanak, Broker/Owner

Direct: 609-290-5360 Email: patonlbi@att.net

Online Market Evaluation

EARLY BUYER’S ALERT LBI Neighborhood

Tracker

(click on icon for more information)

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Answer a few questions about your property and be emailed back a detailed report full of information about the LBI market, an analysis explaining your

property’s price range of value, with detailed informa-tion about your competition: for sale, under contract and recent sales. A must for every homeowner who

wants to stay on top of their LBI investment.

Fill out a brief form with your preferred buying pa-rameters and you will be emailed detailed informa-tion on every new listing that matches your criteria along with price changes and status changes as

they happen. Automatically dropped into your own ‘shopping cart’. Keep or delete, you choose. Be “in

the know“ immediately!

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