Latest news with #MaddieMcGay
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Still nervous about homebuying in 2025? You're not alone: What buyers said in new survey
Homebuyers and housing experts have tried to remain optimistic about the direction of the U.S. housing market, but the lack of significant improvement in affordability has left people feeling weary. Overall, 92% of people who would like to own a home said they were at least somewhat stressed about buying one in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report's third annual Homebuyer Sentiment Survey. The survey — which collected responses from 1,200 Americans nationwide who are planning on buying a home this year using a mortgage — said these feelings are primarily a result of how expensive housing has become, especially over the last five years or so. So how do homebuyers feel about the current housing market, and what would need to happen for them to buy a home this year? Here's what they said, according to the survey. Homebuyers in America: Mortgage rates stuck in a rut as economy turns gloomy. What's next for the housing market? A majority of the homebuyers surveyed — about 80% — said they are waiting for mortgage rates to come down before buying in 2025. This is similar to the 76% who said they put off buying a home last year due to mortgage rates. With that, 18% said they're waiting for rates to drop below 6.5% while 27% said they're waiting for rates to drop below 6%. Additionally, 30% said they're waiting for rates below 5.5% and 25% are looking for rates below 5%. "About half of homebuyers (48%) are willing to wait between three and six months for mortgage rates to fall, but as of this writing, rates aren't supposed to dip below 6% in that timeline," the survey reads. "For the 36% of those who are willing to wait more than six months, that patience might pay off, but it may not: Forecasting mortgage rates is incredibly difficult even for economists, let along the average homebuyer." When asked to describe their local housing markets, many homebuyers used words like "unpredictable," "expensive," "confusing" and "bad." With this, 37% said they think their local market is more likely than others to worsen over the next three years, while 28% said their local market is less likely to worsen. And about 27% said their market is about the same as others. Despite this perception on a local level, about 57% of respondents said they believe the greater housing market will improve in 2025, but 26% said they believe it will only get worse. Because of the several major natural disasters that took place across the nation over the last year or so, about 63% of homebuyers said that climate risks were a factor they considered when deciding on where to purchase a home. Similarly, 46% of respondents think they will struggle to find affordable home insurance due to climate risks, while 40% think the opposite and 14% said they don't know. Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@ This article originally appeared on People still stressed about buying homes in 2025, survey says Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Jersey's rental market is among the hottest in the nation. How it compares to 2024
Despite experiencing an end-of-year lull, North Jersey has reclaimed its spot as one of the nation's most competitive rental markets at the start of 2025. The region ranked third in RentCafe's early 2025 Hottest Rental Markets report, heating back up after being named the sixth-most competitive market at the end of 2024. North Jersey — consisting of Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Essex, Sussex, Hudson and Union counties in the report — ranks behind No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Suburban Chicago. Compared to its previous rankings, RentCafe added new metrics to determine the hotness for rental markets across the nation. These new metrics include the average length of stay for renters, new lease terms and renewal lengths. With a Rental Competitive Index Score of 85.7, North Jersey is again the most competitive rental market in the Northeast. It is succeeded by No. 2 Philadelphia and No. 3 Bridgeport-New Haven, which ranked fifth and ninth overall, respectively, in the report. The region has about nine prospective renters for every vacant apartment unit, which has remained the same from 2024, according to the report. And available apartments have typically remained vacant for about 41 days at the start of 2025, up from 38 days in 2024. Additionally, about 95.2% of the region's apartments are currently occupied — compared to 95.8% in 2024 — with a lease renewal rate of 71.4%, down from 73.1% in 2024, the report found. With this, renters in North Jersey typically have longer stays, longer lease terms and higher renewal terms than what is seen on the national level. The report said that the average North Jersey renter stays in their unit for about 33 months, or nearly three years, compared to the national average of 28 months. They also sign leases for an average of 14 months, rather than the national average of 12.5 months, and renew their leases for 13 months instead of the standard 12-month term. RentCafe credited the continued competitiveness in North Jersey's rental market to the fact that it offers a better work-life balance for people moving from New York City, as well as communities with smaller and more efficient living spaces. "The area continues to attract professionals looking to stay close to jobs in Manhattan and Philadelphia, while high-income renters from New York City often relocate here for a better work/life balance without losing access to the city," the report states. "At the same time, Millennials and Gen Z renters are drawn to smaller, more efficient living spaces in places like Jersey City, Newark, Hoboken, Union City, Edgewater and Morristown." Other hot housing markets in the Northeast at the start of 2024, according to RentCafe, include Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; Worchester-Springfield, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island. Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@ This article originally appeared on North Jersey's rental market named among the hottest in the nation
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Property taxes in NJ are still the nation's most expensive. See the country's lowest taxes
Property taxes are a thorn in the side of homeowners. While many of us wish we didn't have to pay them, we don't have a choice. Just how much you pay depends on where you live, as taxes fluctuate from state to state and from town to town. In the Garden State, property taxes are significantly higher than those in the rest of the country. In fact, New Jersey has the highest real estate tax rate in the nation, according to a recent report from WalletHub. With an estimated effective real estate tax rate of 2.23% and a median home value of $427,600, the report found that New Jersey residents pay an average of about $9,541 annually in property taxes. WalletHub — which ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia by their real estate tax rates — placed New Jersey in the report's 51st spot. In case you missed it: Reno among worst in the nation for its share of young adults buying homes Story continues below photo gallery. Keep in mind that the amount residents in New Jersey pay in property taxes vary based on the price of their home and the municipality they live in. And while you may find yourself paying more or less than what is cited in the report, one thing is still certain: New Jersey is expensive. Source: WalletHub Illinois has the second-highest real estate tax rate in the nation at 2.07%. Homeowners there pay about $5,189 in property taxes annually on a home with a median value of $250,500, according to the report. Ranking third, Connecticut has a real estate tax rate of 1.92%, with homeowners paying about $6,575 on a home with a median value of $343,200. New Hampshire and Vermont round out the remaining top five states, at 1.77% and 1.71%, respectively. The report found that Hawaii has the lowest real estate tax rate in the nation at 0.27%. For a home with a median value of $808,200, homeowners pay about $2,183 in property taxes. Alabama (0.38%), Nevada (0.49%), Colorado (0.49%) and South Carolina (0.51%) were also among the top five states with the lowest real estate tax rates in the nation. "Americans who are considering moving and want to maximize their take home pay should take into account property tax rates, in addition to other financial factors like the overall cost of living, when deciding on a city," said WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo. Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@ This article originally appeared on Does New Jersey still have the nation's highest property tax rates?
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York metro leads nation in expected office-to-residential conversions for 2025
From a mostly vacant office park being transformed into a thriving mixed-use development in West Orange to an all-inclusive rental community for residents 55-and-over built on a dilapidated office site in Fair Lawn, we've seen firsthand how empty office space can be revitalized into something new. So it might not come as a surprise that with all of the unused office space in our region, the New York metropolitan area leads the nation with the most office-to-residential conversions to be completed in 2025. This is according to a recent report from RentCafe, which analyzed figures on adaptive reuse projects in 20 metro areas using data from its sister company, Yardi Matrix. The report focused on projects that would contain 50 or more residential units when completed. Nationwide there are a record 70,700 apartment units set to be created from unused office space in 2025, up from 55,300 in 2024. This accounts for about 42% of the total share of future property conversions and is a 28% year-over-year increase, according to the report. The New York metropolitan area accounts for 8,310 of these total office conversions, which is a 59% year-over-year increase in the region from 2024. These office conversions also make up 53% of the total conversions expected to be completed in the region this year, which is 15,710 units. "It's worth noting that NYC, in particular, boasts North America's largest office market with nearly 730 million square feet of space. And Manhattan alone contains more than 80% of the Big Apple's office space," the report reads. "Plus, more than 305.4 million square feet out of the available office space in the area (or almost 46% of the metro's total office inventory) holds the potential for more office-to-apartment conversions." Washington, D.C. (6,533), Los Angeles (4,388), Chicago (3,606) and Dallas (2,725) rounded out the report's top five. And other regions in the Northeast to make RentCafe's report are No. 13 Bridgeport, Connecticut (1,473); No. 17 Pittsburgh (1,250); No. 18 Philadelphia (1,232); and No. 19 Boston (1,167). With a total of 4,808 residential units slated to be created from adaptive reuse projects in New Jersey in 2025, 1,562 —or 32% — will come from office conversions. Piscataway and Newark lead the state in office-to-residential conversions, according to RentCafe, contributing 616 and 495 units, respectively. Trenton, Elizabeth, East Orange, Paterson, Atlantic City and Millville all contribute to the state's total number of units from office conversions, with less than 300 units expected in each location. Here's RentCafe's full breakdown of office-to-residential conversions expected across the nation in 2025: Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@ This article originally appeared on NY metro leads US in office-to-residential conversions for 2025
