Monmouth County Real Estate

I pulled the numbers for sales on single family homes and townhomes in Asbury Park, Long Branch, and Red Bank (aka the TriCities) and want to share them with you. The number of sales are lower than June. June was supposed to be the month that all homebuyers qualifying for the tax credit had to be closed so all over the country we are seeing higher June numbers and then what seems like a sudden drop in July. If you take June out of the mix because of the homebuyer tax credit’s expected expiration, May and July are level. Analysts are expecting another spike in the numbers in September since the closing date for qualifiying home buyers for the tax credit was extended to September 30th.

Take a look at these numbers right from the multiple listings service –

July 2010 (Single Family Home Sales)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
ASB 5 $1,125,900 $225,180 $182,000
LON 3 $745,000 $248,333 $275,000
RED 7 $4,901,760 $700,251 $182,000

June 2010 (Single Family Homes)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
LON 20 $7,225,300 $361,265 $298,500
RED 9 $3,440,000 $382,222 $405,000

May 2010 (Single Family Homes)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
ASB 6 $1,058,850 $176,475 $139,950
LON 5 $1,377,000 $275,400 $250,000
RED 6 $2,292,000 $382,000 $307,250

July 2010 (Townhomes)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
ASB 6 $1,515,000 $252,500 $227,500
LON 7 $3,559,000 $508,428 $390,000
RED 1 $325,000 $325,000 $325,000

June 2010 (Townhomes)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
ASB 9 $2,491,500 $276,833 $250,000
LON 13 $6,232,500 $479,423 $410,000
RED 3 $780,000 $260,000 $225,000

May 2010 (Townhomes)
Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales Median Sales
ASB 3 $766,000 $255,333 $218,000
LON 13 $6,026,500 $463,576 $460,000
RED 3 $750,000 $250,000 $189,000

Local charity Move For Hunger presents its 2nd annual Surfside Food Drive this August, to benefit the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties in Neptune. Patrons of participating beach clubs and local businesses from Sandy Hook to Seaside are asked to donate unopened, non-perishable food items to be distributed to food-insecure families in need throughout our community.

“More than 125,000 people in Monmouth and Ocean Counties alone are at risk of going hungry every month – forty-percent being children,” says Adam Lowy, executive director of Move For Hunger. “We really need events like this that bring the food drive to the people. Even the smallest donations go a long way. ”

As the summer closes, we ask that instead of throwing away your unwanted food items, “please think of all those in need, and place it in a Move For Hunger box,” Lowy says.

Beginning August 15, collection boxes will be conveniently located at each donation location, courtesy of Lowy’s Moving Service, which will also deliver the donations to the food bank. “We love to be a part of these community events,” states Chris Quinlivan, manager of Surf Taco in Belmar. “It’s something we strive to do all year round, and this food drive is a really brilliant idea”.

This 3-week food drive will wrap up with a live-music event, located on the Asbury Park Boardwalk this Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 4-6). For a complete list of donation locations and details, please surf our site at www.MoveForHunger.org or contact info@MoveForHunger.

Move For Hunger is an organization that works with moving companies across the United States to collect unwanted, non-perishable food from those who are relocating and deliver it to local food banks. Founded by the Lowy family of Lowy’s Moving Service in Neptune, this one-year-old non-profit has already collected nearly 40,000 pounds of food nationwide. To date, Move For Hunger works with over 90 moving companies in 30 states, relieving those most desperate for help.

Oil from the Gulf oil spill is unlikely to reach the Jersey Shore, experts on the New Jersey Gulf Spill Task Force told an environmental summit on July 26.

Bob Connell of the Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), shared positive news with the audience gathered at Monmouth University for an environmental summit organized by Sen. Sean Kean (R-13th District).

“The take-home message is: it would take a series of unlikely events for us to see a Gulf oil impact on the Jersey shoreline,” he said.

“Having said that,” he continued. “we already saw a couple of unlikely events happen; no one back in April thought that this spill would have gone on as long as it did.”

Connell said that no oil has yet been detected passing through the Florida straits or entering the Gulf Stream.

“If it does get through the Florida Straits and into the Gulf Stream,” Connell said, “these are some of the fastest surface ocean currents in the world. It could be at Cape Hatteras, [N.C.] in about two weeks.

“The good news is that when it gets to Cape Hatteras, the Gulf Stream heads east into the ocean and it would take most of the Gulf oil with it.”

Connell elaborated on the next unlikely event that would be required to get oil to the Shore.

“If, in that Gulf Stream flow, an eddy pinches off and that eddy also contains some of the oil, those eddies tend to head back toward the mid-Atlantic states so they could bring the oil with them.”

According Josh Kohut, professor and oceanographer with Rutgers University, the oil would encounter yet another hurdle.

Kohut said that the ocean is 6,000 feet deep where the eddies form and the continental shelf along the Jersey Shore is only 300 feet deep.

“These eddies are way deeper than 300 feet, so it would be like if I was an eddy and I’m just bumping up against a table; I can’t get onto the table, but there are pieces of me that could,” he said.

As Kohut summarized, “First of all, the oil has to get out into the Gulf Stream, then it has to get into one of these eddies, then that eddy has to move [toward the coast] and spill some of its water onto the shelf.”

Connell said that October would be the earliest any oil could reach the Jersey coast.

“The tar balls are what we would most likely see, if anything, up in the Jersey area. We will not be seeing the slicks like you see in the south,” he added.

Kohut said that as fall approaches, the strongest currents flow away from shore and to the south.

“The encouraging thing is right now, especially with the eddies [in the Gulf] pushing further to the west, the chances are getting smaller and smaller each day,” he said.

“As unlikely as it is, we still want to be prepared for that unlikely event,” Kohut said.B

ob Van Fossen, Emergency Management, NJDEP, said that state, county and municipal entities have prepared a comprehensive reaction plan should any oil approach the coastline.

Report by BY ANDREW DAVISON, Atlanticville

I just closed a captivating hill top Colonial in Country Hills Estates for $770,000!!  From the private cul-de-sac entrance to the rustic wooded backyard, elegance is spoken here. This estate features 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and a huge kitchen that opens to a family room with vaulted ceilings and a stone-facade gas fireplace and beautiful views of the grounds.

Largely unknown to most of its current residents, Marlboro’s history is a chronicle that is rich in tradition. In fact, its history might be called typical of the growth of the nation outside the large cities. From the earliest settlements until fairly recently, Marlboro was a rural community composed of a number of small hamlets with names like Morganville, Robertsville, Wickatunk, Bradevelt, Topanemus, Hillsdale, Montrose, and Pleasant Valley. Although they each had small inns or taverns, the hub of activity centered around what is still referred to today as Marlboro Village. This is the area around the intersection of Main Street (Route 79) and School Road.

At the time of its incorporation, Marlboro had a population of about 1,500. By the 1880 census, that figure had grown to 2,200. After World War II, as the State started to build new roads and improve existing roads, the Township began to change from a rural to a suburban community. By the time of the 1980 census, Marlboro’s population had risen to 18,000, and in 1990, it had grown to 28,000. Today, it stands at well over 30,000.

If you would like me to show you a tour of Marlboro and the current homes and townhomes on the market, contact me at  anthony at aagrealestate.com.

When you have and a limited budget, a family dinner out isn’t all that common. And if you’re not partial to fast food, getting by without spending a lot is even more rare.

Freddie’s in Long Branch has been serving outstanding thin-crust pizza for over 65 years. It has always been a family-friendly place. The service has always been welcoming and efficient and the waitresses seemed to like to give our group extra special attention.

Today, Freddie’s is always the first place that comes to my mind when I decide it’s too hot to cook or that I just would like a low-key night out. And I’m happy to report that it’s still the same—good food, great service, and The Best Pizza in the World.

Freddie’s Restaurant & Pizzeria – 563 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ, 732-222-0931. Owner, The Brockriede family.

New Jersey is an expensive place to live, but with its competitive public school system and access to health programs for working poor families, it’s also a good place to raise and educate children, according to the latest Kids Count nationwide survey of child health, wealth and well-being.

According to the annual survey, scheduled for release today, New Jersey ranks seventh overall in terms of child health, an improvement from the last year’s study when the state placed ninth.

New Hampshire ranked first in the latest study while Mississippi was last.

Part of the reason for New Jersey’s improved ranking, according to the report, is the fact fewer babies are dying before their first birthday and fewer teenage girls gave birth in 2007. In addition, New Jersey had the fourth lowest high school dropout rate in the country in 2008, according to the report, which included data from 2007 and 2008.

“New Jersey’s investment in children pays off,” said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of the Association for Children of New Jersey, an advocacy group that jointly released the study with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “In these tough fiscal times, we need to remember that investments in successful programs help give New Jersey children the chance to grow up safe, healthy and educated.”

Info provided by Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau

Another forclosure in Interlaken off the market and sold. Congrats Dave and Teresa on your new second home!

Interlaken is a small, quiet community of single family homes on tree-lined streets.

There is no commercial district or business district. Interlaken is a purely residential community of just over 395 residences, and a total population of approximatly 900.

Named for a small town in Switzerland, between the lakes, Interlaken is bordered on the north and south by arms of Deal Lake. A quiet respite near Ocean beaches and shopping.

Applications for home loans rose last week as rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate loans sank to the lowest levels on the survey’s record.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday overall applications increased nearly 7.6 percent from a week earlier. That incorporates an adjustment for the Independence Day holiday.

Applications to refinance home loans climbed 8.6 percent. Applications taken out to purchase homes rose 3.4 percent, fueled by an 8-percent rise in government purchase applications.

Refinance applications made up nearly 79.4 percent of total applications, the highest since April of last year.

Mortgage rates have fallen since mid-April after investors, concerned over European debt problems and the health of the global economy, have poured money into the safety of U.S. Treasury bonds. That has caused the yields on those bonds to fall. Long-term fixed mortgage rates tend to track those yields.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 4.59 percent last week and the rate for a 15-year fixed loan dropped to 4.05 percent. Both were the lowest rates recorded in the MBA’s survey, which has been conducted since 1990.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey covers more than 50 percent of all applications nationwide.

This weekend’s heat wave may be too hot to go outside, making it a perfect weekend for a movie! Haven’t seen the latest box office blockbuster? This Sunday, July 25, AMC Lowes is giving movie fans a break at the concession stand. You can buy any size fountain drink and popcorn for just one dollar each. Just click on the “claim coupon” button  http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contest…), enter your information and print your individual coupons for soda and popcorn, which can be used together, but not with any other offers. The coupons are valid for one moviegoer only, so if you’re going with a group, make sure to pass this deal on to them before you meet up. There is an AMC Movie Theater at the Monmouth Mall for all my Monmouth County neighbors!

The state Department of Transportation will fix the moon-like surface of the Asbury Traffic Circle after one driver too many hit one of those door-rattling holes where routes 35 and 66 meet.

That driver was state Sen. Sean T. Kean, R-Monmouth, who contacted the DOT to get something done. The upside for drivers is the work on the circle will go far beyond the usual filling of holes and patching cracks.

“We will be rehabilitating and repaving the concrete and asphalt road surfaces and improving the existing curbs, driveways and drainage inlets at the Asbury Circle,” said Tim Greeley, a DOT spokesman.

That will mean making full-depth repairs and replacement of complete slabs of the concrete portions of the circle, if needed, and milling down the road surface three inches and repaving it, he said.

“I’m ecstatic. I called the DOT in February-March after I drove to work and noticed the state of the road was in terrible disrepair,” Kean said. “It’s good news for everyone.”

Kean, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said his office also fielded calls from constituents about the potholes on the circle.

Municipal officials also called Kean about the rough conditions on the circle and repairs.

The circle work is being piggy-backed on a current contract the DOT has to resurface and improve sections of routes 9, 33, 34 and 66 in various parts of Monmouth County, Greeley said.

“We don’t have a construction schedule in place at this time for work at the circle, however, we anticipate the contractor to begin work at that location within a few weeks,” Greeley said.

That work will likely happen during overnight hours, Monday through Thursday nights in the summer to minimize inconvenience to Shore residents and visitors. Construction hours may be expanded to weekends after Labor Day, with a completion date in the first week of December, he said.