New research: NJ the most unaffordable U.S. state to buy a home

Remember during and just after the pandemic, we saw our sales in the U.S. go through the roof. 2021 was a huge year for house sales in this country and since then things have started to decline in this country.

But it looks like sales are coming back up again with some estimates saying 5 million homes will close in 2024.

But it just doesn’t feel that way here in New Jersey. Yes, there are still some cases where there’s a buying frenzy and a price war here and there it continues to be unaffordable.

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According to some new research by Pro Tool Reviews, they’ve looked at house prices and average salaries across the U.S. to find out which states offer the most value in 2024. They also checked how the market has changed over the last five years.

It’s going to be no surprise to anybody who lives here that we are officially the least affordable state to buy a house in in the entire country. In fact, this study reveals that we have the ninth-highest average price in the country.

And, although we tend to have higher average salaries than other states do, our average salary would make it very difficult to save for a down payment. The numbers show that in New Jersey it will take just over six years to save for a down payment.

Specifically, it’s about 56% of the homes for sale here that go for above their listing price. That’s the second-highest rate in the country. This doesn’t help with affordability. Oh, and just add to our troubles, New Jersey has the third-lowest number of houses dropping in price before they sell, at just 13.7%.

And just for contrasts sake, the most affordable state to buy a house in the country is Louisiana. House prices in Louisiana average around $254,000, and with an average salary of just over $54,000, it would take about three and a half years to save for a 15% down payment.

So whether you’re seriously in the market for a home, or just curious about how difficult it’s going to be, these insights should give you a clearer picture of what’s going on in the NJ home market.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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