Here are the N.J. towns where the housing market may be cooling the most

Source: NJ.com — 

The housing market is cooling.

Interest rates have risen 4 percentage points since August 2021 when they were 2.7%. Inflation is at about 8.3%, making everything from groceries to gasoline more expensive. And home prices have risen 28% in the past two years, not counting gains so far in 2022.

All of these things are combining to slow sales and increase inventory, pushing the market toward the buyer’s favor.

“We’re now transitioning from a seller’s market … to a buyer’s market in which home buyers no longer feel a sense of urgency to buy quickly before prices go higher,” said Jeffrey Otteay, a real estate economist and president of the Otteau Group.

Home sales are down 17% since the beginning of the year and there are 7,000 more homes on the market than there were last year, according to data from the Otteau Group.