Joe Rand, our Editor-in-Chief and lead contributor is the Chief Creative Officer at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty.
He is the founder of the “Client-Oriented Real Estate” (“CORE”) school of real estate education, based on the idea that real estate agents should build their business by learning how to be great at the job of helping clients buy and sell homes.
He has been a featured speaker and moderator at Real Estate Connect, the RIS Media CEO Conference, the Women’s Council of REALTORS Annual Conference, and many other industry events.
He is a regular contributor to Inman Media, writing about industry issues mostly relating to agent education and client service.
He is a graduate of Georgetown University, Georgetown Law Center, Stanford Law School, and a former law professor at Brooklyn Law School and Fordham Law School.
He lives in Nyack, New York with his wife and two children.
The Northern New Jersey housing market finished 2017 strong, with prices up even while declining inventory throughout the region stifled sales growth. With demand high, and available homes low, we believe that homeowners will continue to enjoy price increases throughout 2018. Regional sales were up, but not in every county. Regional sales were up slightly for the quarter, rising almost 2% from the fourth quarter of last year, even while some counties like Bergen and Morris were down slightly. We […]
Read MoreThe Dutchess County housing market finished the year strong, with the first clear signs of meaningful price appreciation in years. Sales. Dutchess sales rose slightly in the fourth quarter, up just about 1%. For the year, sales were down over 4%, which reflects low levels of inventory more than a lack of demand. Dutchess definitely needs more listings, some “fuel for the fire” to accommodate strong buyer demand. Prices. Home prices continued to show the effects of declining inventory coupled […]
Read MoreThe Putnam County housing market finished 2017 with a flourish, as low levels of inventory drove prices up dramatically. Sales. Putnam single‑family home sales were up a tick for the quarter, following three straight quarters of decline. For the calendar year, sales were down over 7%, marking the first time in over five years where the yearly sales have gone down. This is not, though, due to a lack of demand, but rather a sign of the impact of severely […]
Read MoreThe Westchester housing market finished strong in 2017, with a surge in prices even while a lack of inventory held back sales growth. Sales. Home sales were up just a tick, rebounding a bit from their sudden decline in the third quarter. You can see the continued impact of a lack of inventory, though, with sales down almost 2% for the full year. Still, with over 6,100 sales for the year, transactions in Westchester are now at their highest level […]
Read MoreThe Orange County housing market surged again in the fourth quarter of 2017, finishing a robust year with a flourish. Sales. Orange sales spiked in the fourth quarter, rising almost 15%. Quarterly transactions have now gone up in 13 straight quarters and 22 out of the last 23. Similarly, sales were up almost 8% for the calendar year, marking the sixth straight year of increasing transactions. Indeed, the 3,837 calendar year sales was the highest yearly total since 2004, at […]
Read MoreThe Rockland County housing market capped off a strong 2017 with a robust finish, with both prices and sales up significantly in the fourth quarter. Sales. After a decline in the third quarter, sales roared back in the fourth, rising almost 11%. This drove the yearly transaction total up almost 5% for the year, marking the sixth straight calendar year of increasing sales. Indeed, the 2,140 single‑family sales in 2017 was the highest calendar year total since 2003, at the […]
Read MoreThe housing market in Westchester and the Hudson Valley finished the year strong in the fourth quarter of 2017, with meaningful price appreciation throughout the region driven by low inventory and high demand. Although sales have slumped a bit due to the lack of available homes for sale, rising prices might tempt new sellers to come into this growing seller’s market. Inventory throughout the region continues to fall. Regional inventory was down to 4.6 months. Historically, when inventory drops below […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Northern New Jersey Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy,” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So while it […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Westchester or the Hudson Valley. Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So […]
Read MoreActivity in the Sussex County housing market surged yet again in the third quarter of 2017, with sales up sharply even while prices continued to struggle. Sales. Sussex sales were up yet again in the third quarter, rising over 17% from last year and now up over 22% for the year. The 2749 closings represented the highest 12‑month total in over 10 years. Indeed, Sussex sales have now more than doubled from the bottom of the market in 2011. Prices. […]
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