Author	Message
guest919	Posted: Sat, Nov 19 2011, 1:38 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Basically, real estate in Cranbury has held up better value than other towns in area - though overall it appears we are down about 9%. New Jersey overall is faring about the same as the national average. Cranbury is a desirable place to live due to ease of getting to train, bus, turnpike. Taxes are not as bad as other towns in vicinity. Schools are good. Plus we have a walkable downtown - and a sense of community. Lots of data was handed out.
?????	Posted: Thu, Nov 17 2011, 11:24 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Couldn't make this meeting. Any interesting info?
Seed	Posted: Thu, Nov 17 2011, 6:26 am EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values It sounds like an interesting opportunity to hear some different and valuable perspectives on the local real estate market. Thanks for doing it and thanks for posting it here so people know about it.
Values	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 10:47 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values I look at this discussion as a view to how the tax structure will go. If properties continue to decline then a bigger burden will shift to residential. As a result the taxes will be adjusted. Everytime a warehouse appeals it is less revenue coming in. Everytime a home appeals it is less revenue coming in. So while my home value drops on the assessment it does not correlate to a tax deduction necessarily. That is what was missed in the discussion last year. This year the town will face drastic cuts to services or face another tax increase. I am not sure the town is ready for less police, less leaf or chipping services, no fireworks, etc...but no one wants a rate increase even if it means their specific situation is that taxes stay the same or still go down. For example, I pay roughly the same after the tax increase this year as I dud after the 2006 assessment because I appealed and my property value dropped. So to me this program will hopefully tell me what I can expect to see.
guest771	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 7:17 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Our home is the single biggest investment that we have made. We definitely were thinking long term investment, so I am curious to hear what the panel has to say. Even if it is an educated guess... Good program, Cranbury Public Library.
cran res	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 2:48 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Guest 321 wrote: Cranbury is a town for a few who can afford the high assessments and high taxes. What's in the future? When I get old, I will move away since it's too pricey to live here. By then my house will be worth the current assessed value. The high taxes are a NJ-wide issue. Cranbury is still relatively low relative to the state or county, not in adbsolute dollars but rate. Our absolute dollars are higher because our houses are worth more, on average. The assessments until 2006 were historically well below actual value for a long time. In 2006 they reflected market at the time. Market has declined substantially since. And you can get your assessment down too if you pursue it. So I don't see high assessments as an inherent problem. No one has an credible idea where the housing market will be in 5, 10 or 20 years, expert or not. The experts all disagree and they are all guessing because there are too many unknown variables. The conventional wisdom is that once prices finally stablize they will return to historic increases of small single digit increases per year. But they keep pushing back the estimate on when they will stablize on the one hand as they continue to dip more after short periods of flatness or slight increases. And on the other hand, an economist can never reliably predict a strong market surge like what happened to home prices for the decade prior to 2006, which doesn't mean it won't happen again but merely that they can't predict it.
Guest 321	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 11:38 am EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Cranbury is a town for a few who can afford the high assessments and high taxes. What's in the future? When I get old, I will move away since it's too pricey to live here. By then my house will be worth the current assessed value.
cran res	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 10:38 am EST    Post subject: Re: Cranbury Real Estate Values Seriously? No disrespect intended for the listed panelists. But is this really a question?
guest08512	Posted: Wed, Nov 16 2011, 6:43 am EST    Post subject: Cranbury Real Estate Values Bust or Recovery? Cranbury Real Estate Today Thursday, November 17, 7:00pm – 8:30pm Where:Cranbury Public Library Many Cranbury residents are uncertain about the real estate market and what's in store for the future. Come and hear our panel of experts discuss real estate issues in Cranbury. Joining us are: Steven Benner, Assessor, Cranbury Township Susan Norman, Henderson Sotheby's International Real Estate James Orr, Ph.D, an economist with more than 40 years experience specializing in regional economies. This program is organized by the Friends of the Cranbury Public Library