Jersey shore home within reach of more people

Four years after the U.S. housing market started its precipitous decline, the bar has been lowered for those hoping to purchase a home along the Jersey Shore, recently made famous by the hit MTV reality program.

With prices down anywhere from 15 percent to 40 percent, real estate agents say retirees and the wealthy are often giving way to younger homebuyers and the middle class.

The low tide in coastal New Jersey’s real estate market is the result of the nationwide downswing in home prices triggered by the burst of the housing bubble in 2007 and subprime mortgage crisis. High-end, newly constructed homes and condominiums have taken the biggest hit, while older homes - where the value of the land exceeds that of the buildings - have best weathered the storm.

For homeowners along the state’s almost 130 miles of coastline who bought at the peak, it’s rough news. But for those thirsting to call the beachfront home, it’s a buyer’s market.

"We weren’t even looking. We were riding our bikes and we just saw something," said John Holland, who had been renting a one-bedroom bungalow on Long Beach Island for three years, unable to find any homes for sale within his budget.

Holland and his girlfriend, Lauren Rhatigan, purchased a home in Ship Bottom in March for $340,000. These days, Holland, a personal trainer, carries his surf board the few blocks to the ocean to enjoy the waves. 

Source: Edge Las Vegas