South Jersey Homes Continue to Decline According to Federal Survey

From the Press of Atlantic City, 2/25/2010, Kevin Post, Business Editor.

Home prices in southern New Jersey continued to decline somewhat faster in the fourth quarter than those nationwide, the Federal Housing Finance Administration said Thursday.

In Atlantic County, prices for homes purchased or refinanced fell 1.6 percent in the quarter, leaving them down 9.6 percent for 2009, the FHFA survey said.

Cape May County prices were down 0.8 percent for an annual decline of 5.2 percent.

Nationwide, prices for houses purchased or refinanced were 0.7 percent lower in the quarter and down 4.7 percent for the year.

In Cumberland County, among smaller areas tracked by the FHFA for which quarterly data is unavailable, home prices were down 8.4 percent in 2009.

That decline turned five-year home price appreciation negative for Cumberland County, with a 0.4 percent loss in value.

Atlantic County home prices are still up 6.8 percent in the past five years, while Cape May County's have risen 9.4 percent, despite the deep housing slump.

The FHFA picture of the region's residential market is slightly gloomier than that presented in the National Association of Realtors survey released earlier this month.

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