As Economy Collapses, Housing Suddenly Abundant

By on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 6:51 am

The Harbor Lights development in the Powerhouse Arts District is trying to attract buyers by offering loans directly from the developer to help cover the costs of closing and acquiring a mortgage. Dixon Mills, the rental to condo conversion is hosting a restaurant tasting just to attract prospective buyers to the property.

As the market sours, Jersey City’s condominium boom has turned to a glut. Some recently completed towers are half dark at night while construction on other sites like Liberty Harbor North crawls along.

Large rental towers are feeling a hit too. Newport for instance, began heavily advertising online and in subway cars this summer, something the mostly rental complex has avoided. Anecdotal evidence suggests too that Metropolis Towers, another large downtown complex known for traditionally more affordable rents has vacancies rather than waiting lists.

Last year Grove Pointe and 50 Columbus, two of the newest rental towers downtown opened to great fanfare and reports that both towers quickly filled with eager renters providing hope that the downtown market was still solid. It seems a lot has changed in six months as the economy worsens.

The rental market in Jersey City is probably feeling multiple effects. Manhattan rents have actually declined year over year, meaning the handful of renters who still have jobs are moving up. Also, Jersey City’s waterfront workforce is largely dependent on financial firms; many of these workers live in the downtown as well. As the financial employees face uncertain futures, Jersey City is getting hit twice, in the office and the residential markets.

Finally, Jersey City has in recent years become a stop over for recent college graduates priced out of Manhattan or trendier Brooklyn neighborhoods. But without new jobs for recent graduates, many of these potential new residents are probably choosing to make their parents their new landlords.

Small time landlords are beginning to notice that properties that once could easily be rented above the previous year’s leasing price are sitting vacant. Still though, many smaller new construction and rehabilitation projects continue moving forward. Renovations on brownstones throughout the historic neighborhoods continue to progress. New construction on Newark Avenue continues– a crane was recently erected for 215 Newark Avenue, a six story project.

For now, housing has suddenly become a surplus, after years of market driven shortages. Eventually though, the economy will rebound, and the demand for housing will return; the post economic apocalypse surge in demand will certainly drive recently deflated prices above their highs– and beyond.






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