Manchester Home Values Have Fallen Since 2010, Census Data Shows

MANCHESTER, NJ — If you own a home in Manchester Township, the value of that property is not what it was five years ago, according to a report that examined U.S. Census data.

NJ Spotlight looked at Census data for the entire state 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 Manchester, the decline was nearly twice that: a 21.78 percent fall in the value, according to the 2015 American Community Survey data released on Thursday, the report said. The American Community Survey is conducted by the Census Bureau on a rolling basis throughout the decade. The data released Dec. 8 released pools the data collected in calendar years 2011-2015, Census officials said.

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 Manchester, the median home value was $123,200, according to the Census figures.

NJ Spotlight noted that towns that were hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy — including Brick and Toms River — are still seeing that affect home values because some homes are still being rebuilt while others were abandoned. The estimates also are skewed by valuations before and after the Great Recession, the report said.

Manchester Township's decline was the largest in Ocean County, larger than Seaside Heights, which had a median decline of 18.62 percent. Manchester also has one of the smallest percentages in the county of homes worth $1 million or more, with 0.4 percent reaching that value.

In neighboring Lakehurst, the median home value has fallen 8.94 percent, with a median value of $203,000 in 2015, according to the report. In Jackson Township, the decline was 10.52 percent, while in Plumsted Township, which borders Manchester's western edge, the decline in the median value was 12.94 percent.

Only two towns in Ocean County saw an iucrease in home values: Lavallette, with a 1.98 percent increase, and Harvey Cedars, with a 6.8 percent increase. Nearly half of the homes in Harvey Cedars are valued at $1 million or more, according to the Census figures.

The impact of Sandy is evident when you look at other Ocean County towns. Toms River home values were down 13.84 percent and Brick's median was down 10.6 percent; both towns still have a significant number of homes that have not returned to the property tax rolls. In Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant Borough — which flooded but suffered a smaller percentage of totally destroyed homes — the median declines were just 3.04 and 5.28 percent, respectively.

The smallest decrease in home values was seen in Lakewood, which registered a 0,91 percent change, according to the NJ Spotlight analysis.

The single-year estimates for New Jersey show a smaller drop — about 5 percent from 2010 to 2015, when the median home value was $322,000. The single-year estimates also show a slow but steady rise as New Jersey continues its economic recovery.

The American Community Survey data released Dec. 8 released pools the data collected in calendar years 2011-2015, Census officials said. Next December the bureau will release the pooled data from 2012-2016, officials said. The Census Bureau also produces single-year data using the survey for all towns with populations of 65,000 or more. That information is released each September.

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