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This Weeks News 2/24/2022

VIEW THE LATEST LONG & FOSTER MARKET MINUTE REPORT  |  DOWNLOAD/PRINT PDF
 
LIMITED INVENTORY, STRONG SALES, AND INCREASING PRICES: Even after a slight uptick in new listings inventory remains tight in the local market, while purchase demand remains strong. The median sale price in the local market increased slightly to $2,372,500 in January, up about 11% versus last January. For a detailed look at the market see the latest Long & Foster Market Minute Report above.
 
HOME PRICES SURGED 18.8% nationwide during 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal (February 22), due to low interest rates and Covid-driven buying. According to the article the increase "in mortgage rates is likely to take a bite out of the demand for housing, mostly among first-time buyers and those with limited budgets," said Selma Hepp, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic.
 
STRANDED HORSESHOE CRABS are sometimes found on beaches after storms, according to an article by Stockton University. If they're unable to right themselves using their tails, the overturned crabs are immobilized, and their gills can dry out leaving them unable to breathe. According to the article, if you come across stranded horseshoe crabs, they should be flipped over so they can return to the water, but should never be picked up by their tails. Read the article here:

OSPREYS RESCUE BEACHED HORSESHOE CRABS
 
THE STONE HARBOR SHIVER is coming up on March 19th! The event kicks off the evening before with the Pre-Shiver Party at the Stone Harbor Yacht Club, and then Fred's Tavern will host Kegs & Eggs at 10am Saturday. The Shiver Parade leads toward the beach at noon for festivities at the Women's Civic Club parking lot. About 1:15pm participants will take a dip in the (chilly!) ocean. Fred's Tavern will host a post-party afterward.

DETAILS & REGISTRATION: STONE HARBOR SHIVER 2022
 
BARRIER ISLAND BOOKS & ART is a great shop to visit while you're in town. Located at 301 95th Street, the second-hand book store carries fiction, nonfiction, classics, and more. Lose yourself in unusual and hard to find books, which are great for reading on the beach! While you're there, check out artwork by local artisans, including prints, photography, and bird carvings. They're open on weekends right now, and will expand their hours in the spring. If you happen to get to Cape may, check our their newly opened second location at 479 W. Perry Street in Cape May!
 
WE'RE JUST OVER THREE MONTHS from Memorial Day Weekend! Have you made your Shore Plans for 2022? Whether you need a vacation rental, or a permanent shore escape, email or call me today!

 

This Weeks News 2/17/2022

Wawa in Stone Harbor is currently closed and in the midst of a renovation, but is expected to reopen soon. The Avalon Wawa remains open 6am to 9pm daily.
 
AVALON now offers remote viewing of Council meetings, along with remote commenting during public comment sessions. Meetings can be accessed via Zoom on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 4pm. The Zoom link as well as archived meetings are available on the Borough's website:
 
BOROUGH OF AVALON NJ - INVITATION TO A SCHEDULED RECURRING ZOOM MEETING
 
GETTING OUT ON THE WATER is popular and a great way to relax and enjoy beautiful surroundings. Easy ways to spend time afloat include renting a personal watercraft for an hour, or fishing aboard a party or charter boat. Making the leap to boat ownership can be expensive, and a large time commitment. Recently a new boating option has surfaced--the boat club. This new type of boating experience includes scheduled usage of boats that are new or nearly so, but without the hassle of maintenance or the expense of purchasing and storing them. For a membership fee plus an annual cost, the club cleans, maintains, and stores the boats, and has them ready when you arrive for your time on the water. Three boat clubs operate in our immediate area: Carefree Boat Club in Avalon, Freedom Boat Club in Somers Point and Cape May, and the Jet Drive Boat & Jet Ski Club in Ocean City. If you're interested in boating but don't want the commitment of owning, maintaining, and storing your own boat, a boat club may be the right choice for you.
 
INTEREST RATES have increased in response to inflation reports and anticipated Federal Reserve Bank rate hikes. 30-year conforming fixed-rate mortgages reached 3.875% earlier this week, with 15-year conforming rates slightly less. Note: If you're buying a shore home, vacation rental rates have increased noticeably in the past couple of years. Renting your shore property--even for a week or two--can more than cover the slight increase in mortgage interest expense!
 
BEHR BREWING has opened its doors on Seashore Road in Erma. The new craft brewery is currently featuring seven beers in their tasting room, and is currently open Friday & Saturday. Behr Brewing joins several other local breweries in Cape May County's vibrant craft brewing community, including Cape May Brewery, Mud Hen Brewing Company, Coho Brewing Company, Gusto Brewing Company, 7 Mile Brewery, Bucket Brigade Brewery, Slack Tide Brewing Company, and Ludlam Island Brewery.
 
VISIT THEM ONLINE: BEHR BREWING
 
BRIDGE TESTING: The Townsend's Inlet Bridge, linking Avalon with Sea Isle City, will undergo testing of its bascule (drawbridge) span on March 3rd. The testing of the bridge will result in closures to automobile and marine traffic for intervals lasting about 15 minutes over the course of several hours. The Grassy Sound Bridge, linking Stone Harbor with Wildwood, was scheduled to be tested earlier this week. 

 

This Weeks News 2/10/2022

Wintertime boat rides can be just as beautiful as summertime rides... but a little chillier!
 
A CONCEPTUAL PLAN to replace the Townsend's Inlet Bridge will be sought by the Cape May County Bridge Commission, which operates the bridge along with several others in the county. In about two months the county will seek a "concept development plan" from engineering firms according to SeaIsleNews.com. That's the first step in a years-long process, and the eventual replacement of the bridge could cost between $65- and $167-million, depending upon the exact design and alignment of a new bridge. The Townsend's Inlet Bridge dates to 1939, and has undergone numerous repair and maintenance jobs in recent years.
 
A SEAL WAS SPOTTED last week on Stone Harbor's beach. Seals occasionally visit local beaches to rest after feeding or travelling long distances. If you come across a seal experts advise staying at least 150 feet from it, and ask that you don't post its location on social media for fear of drawing a crowd and causing stress to the animal. Most seals return to the water after a rest period. If you think a seal is sick or injured, call the Marine Mammal Stranding Center at (609) 266-0538.


These signs appear at many beach entrances on the island.
 
CAPE MAY SEASHORE LINES trains will be rolling again this weekend. Seashore Lines trains will run Valentine's Express trains from both Richland and Tuckahoe stations. The 75-minute excursions on vintage rail cars start at $19.95 for adult tickets aboard historic Budd Rail Diesel Cars, but upgraded options for BYOB seating aboard luxury lounge and observation cars are also available. All CMSL trains operate on the same trackage that once was the primary means of transportation to and from the South Jersey shore points.
 
DETAILS - CAPE MAY SEASHORE LINES, INC.
 
CAPE MAY COUNTY CLERK Rita Rothberg reported a record number of property transfers during 2021 according to a recent Cape May County Herald article. 14,076 properties transferred last year according to the article, 2,000 more than any other year since 2005. 15,222 new mortgages were recorded--the most since 2006--thanks to low interest rates.
 
THE STONE HARBOR SHIVER Polar Plunge is on for Saturday, March 19th! The weekend event will kick off Friday evening, March 18th, with a pre-Shiver party at the Stone Harbor Yacht Club, then Saturday's events get underway with "Kegs & Eggs" at Fred's Tavern at 10am. At noon the Shiver Parade marches down 96th Street to the Women's Civic Club parking lot, and a 1pm the canon will sound so plungers can hit the water. In case you're wondering, the ocean water temperature is about 40 degrees...making this a very appropriately named event! Tickets and registration details will be available later this month.
 
DO YOU NEED A WEEK AT THE BEACH? Or do you want to make it more permanent? Either way, call or email me so we can find the perfect place!

 

This Weeks News 2/3/2022

Snow-topped dunes in front of a cold-but-calm ocean.
 
ABOUT 15 INCHES OF SNOW fell on the island last weekend, from Friday night through Saturday afternoon.  Strong winds blew for hours, eventually blowing some spots bare while snow piled in drifts in other locations.  Avalon and Stone Harbor public works crews worked through the weekend and had local roads in good shape once the snow stopped falling.  The winds were mostly offshore, helping to reduce the flooding risk often associated with winter storms.
 

Under the roof of the gazebo at 21st Street & the beach, blowing snow drifted into a pile in one area and left bare deck boards in another.
 
EXPECT SAND BACKPASSING again this spring in Avalon, according to Avalon Business Administrator Scott Wahl. Wahl briefed Avalon's Borough Council at last week's meeting, indicating that 60,000 cubic yards of sand could be borrowed from beaches and trucked to north-end beaches in order to replenish them. The project is likely to occur in April and May, with a completion date around Memorial Day. We'll share more details as they become available.
 
"THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT," said economist Paul Krugman in a recent New York Times opinion column. Krugman says "there are important differences between this house-price surge and the previous one." One of those differences Krugman cites is the increase in real estate prices across the nation this time, instead of just locations centered around metropolitan areas during the early 2000s price surge. Krugman goes on to say that the supply of new homes will remain limited in many areas, despite demand, due to the inability to construct new homes because of supply chain restrictions as well as zoning. In our local market a limited supply of buildable land limits the number of new units that can be built, while demand remains strong.
 
A SHIPWRIGHT'S TALE: Tune in on Facebook at 6pm Thursday evening as Tim Clark of Clark & Eisele Traditional Boatbuilding discuss the current restoration of the AJ Meerwald, New Jersey's official tall ship. Homeported at the Bayshore Center in Port Norris on the Maurice River just off Delaware Bay, the AJ Meerwald travels New Jersey's coast including Cape May and Atlantic City, offering public sails and educational opportunities on a regular basis. Boatbuilder Tim Clark will describe the restoration work including what's been completed and what's left to do. To register for the talk on Facebook send an email to info@bayshorecenter.org.
 
AVALON HISTORY CENTER LECTURE: New Jersey in the American Revolution. Saturday, February 5th at 1pm the Avalon History Center will present a lecture discussing New Jersey in the American Revolution. From Washington crossing the Delaware River to the Battle of Trenton, find out what role the State of New Jersey played in our nation's independence. The lecture will be held in the 39th Street tennis building.
 
PLAN AHEAD: SHOP-A-HOLICS WEEKEND is just over a month away! Plan on visiting the business districts in Avalon & Stone Harbor from March 10th to 13th for discounts and promotions on clothing, housewares, and more! Whether you're renewing your wardrobe or refreshing your shore house, or just love shopping, there will be plenty to see!