That's actually not too bad. Hope mine goes for that much when I get ready to sell.

I can surmise why NJ real estate prices have tumbled. It is because of our governments' reputation of corruption - state senators, assembly members, municipal leaders all going to jail? How about the proliferation of municipal government and our reluctance for shared services? What about the dependence on aged bridges and tunnels to get to New York City and the refusal to build a new link? Then there is the $50 billion public sector retirement fund debt NJ taxpayers have to make up because our legislators were too timid to include it in their budgets - for about 10 years!! Further we have a declining population and a declining industrial base. Finally, SuperStorm Sandy came and went but others will be coming back.
While New York City continues to grow, the cities and inner, older suburbs of NJ cling to the suburban model of the 1950s, a model based on abundant and cheap energy. NJ has to reorient itself toward interdependent services and using local resources. Maybe some suburban land should go back to farm land. Maybe we need to invest in our cities because a city is more energy efficient that distant suburbs. Real estate values can be a measure of our quality of life.

Let's not "gunnysack" too many issues in considering the reasons for the price drop during this past recession. The fact is that this drop was reflected across the country, and some places saw even more serious drops in values. The Main thing to know is that since over the past couple of years and certainly this spring of 2013, prices have leveled off and even begun to rise again, because of several key factors -- lower inventory, continued historically low mortgage rates, more realistic pricing on the part of sellers and realtors, and pent-up demand from buyers who held back over the last few years. In certain price ranges, quick offers, multiple offers and even a few bidding wars have occurred!