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 Morris County housing market sagged a bit in the fourth quarter, with only a modest increase in sales and basically flat prices. For the year, sales were up slightly, but we are still not seeing any meaningful price appreciation. Sales. Morris County sales were essentially flat for the fourth quarter, rising 1.5% and finishing the year up 7.6%. This did mark the fifth straight quarter of year-on-year sales growth, and the market closed over 5,500 sales for the calendar […]
Read MoreThe Passaic County housing market closed strong in the fourth quarter of 2015, with solid increases in both sales and prices. As a result, Passaic finished its third straight year of meaningful price appreciation, clearly indicating that it is moving into a seller’s market. Sales. Passaic sales continued to go up in the fourth quarter, rising almost 7% and finishing the year with a 13% increase off 2014 levels. Indeed, we’ve now seen sustained increases in buyer demand for over […]
Read MoreThe Bergen County housing market continued to expand in the fourth quarter, with both sales and prices up. For the calendar year, Bergen saw a solid increase in sales and modest but measurable price appreciation. Sales. Bergen single-family home sales finished the year strong, with sales up almost 8% for the quarter and over 10% for the calendar year. This marked the fifth straight quarter of year-on-year sales increases. Indeed, we are starting to see transactions at “seller market” levels, […]
Read MoreThe Northern New Jersey housing market finished 2015 in a flourish, with sharp increases in sales and emerging signs of meaningful price appreciation. As 2016 begins, the region seems to be moving into a fully-realized seller’s market that will be characterized by declining inventory, increasing sales, and rising prices. Sales were up over 8% for the region, rising in every county in the Report. Closings have now been trending up for about five years, ever since the market stabilized after […]
Read MoreDutchess finished the year strong, with a nice increase in sales activity coupled with the first small signs of meaningful price appreciation. For the year, sales were up sharply while prices were basically flat. Sales. Dutchess County single-family home sales surged again in the fourth quarter, with transactions up 11% from last year. This marked the fifth quarter in a row with year-on-year sales increases, ending a year where closings were up almost 25%. Indeed, the 2,140 yearly sales represented […]
Read MoreActivity in Putnam surged in the fourth quarter of 2015, with sales up sharply, hitting levels we have not seen in over ten years. And although prices took a dip in the quarter, they were relatively flat for the year. Sales. Putnam sales surged again in the fourth quarter, rising almost 12% from last year and up almost 21% for the year. Indeed, we have now seen sustained growth in Putnam sales for four years, with closings up for six […]
Read MoreOrange County surged again in the fourth quarter of 2015, with sales reaching levels we have not seen in over ten years, but this rising demand has not yet had its expected impact on pricing. Sales. Orange County sales spiked again, rising 20% from the fourth quarter of last year and up 29% for all of 2015. We have now seen sustained sales growth for more than three years, with transactions up five quarters in a row and 14 out […]
Read MoreRockland sales surged again in a torrid end to 2015, with sales reaching levels we have not seen in over 10 years and prices showing meaningful signs of appreciation. Sales. Rockland sales were up sharply, rising 26% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and up over 20% for the calendar year. We’ve now seen sustained rates of growth for over three years, with transactions up for the last five quarters and 13 out of the last 14. Indeed, sales totals […]
Read MoreWestchester activity surged in the fourth quarter, with sales up sharply for both single-family homes and condominiums, even while prices remained stubbornly soft. Sales. Residential rose sharply, up over 13% from last year and finishing the calendar year up almost 8%. We’ve now seen sustained sales growth for four full years, with year-on-year transactions going up in 15 out of the last 17 quarters. For the 2015 year, Westchester closed over 5,700 single-family homes, the highest calendar year total since […]
Read MoreThe Westchester and Hudson Valley regional housing market finished 2015 strong, with another surge in activity that drove sales up almost 17% for the year. And although this sustained increase in buyer demand has not yet had its expected impact on pricing, declining levels of inventory are now signaling that meaningful price appreciation is imminent. In other words – welcome to the seller’s market! As we have noted before in this Report, our housing market tends to run in approximately […]
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