Lacey Home Values Dropped Over Past Five Years, Report Says

If you own a home in Lacey Township, your house isn't worth what it was five years ago, according to a report that examined U.S. Census data.

NJ Spotlight looked at Census data for New Jersey and found that home values remain significantly lower than they were five years ago for nearly every town in the state. The median decline was about 11 percent.

In Lacey, the decline was 7.18 percent, according to the 2015 American Community Survey data released on Thursday, the report said. The American Community Survey is conducted by the Census Bureau halfway between each census.

The typical home in the state was valued at almost $316,000 when averaged over the 2011-2015 period. That was 11.5 percent less than the 2006-2010 community survey estimate. In Lacey, the median home value was $270,00 according to the report.

NJ Spotlight noted the median values are skewed by valuations before and after the Great Recession and that towns that were hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy. Bayfront and oceanfront homes in Southern Ocean County — Berkeley, Barnegat, Stafford, Ocean and Long Beach Island — were affected because some homes are still being rebuilt and are not back on the property tax rolls, while others were abandoned.

Image: Patch file photo