NEW JERSEY HOUSING FACTS - NJ's Housing Crisis is Locking out the Middle Class

78% - the amount NJ home sale prices have risen between 2000 and 2006.

$547,231 - the average cost of a new home in New Jersey (thru 2Q 2007)

$75,000 - $100,000 - the average amount it now costs a developer to get approvals to build each new home in New Jersey.

5 - 7 years - the average time it takes to get approvals to build a new neighborhood.

$380,000 - the average sales price of an existing home in New Jersey

$87,000 - the qualifying income needed to purchase the average existing home in N.J.

$160,000 - the sales price a working family earning the median household income of  $55,000 annually can afford to spend on a house, even with good credit, some money down, average property taxes and creative financing.

$1,085 - the average rent on a two-bedroom apartment

$43,419 - the annual income needed to qualify for that 2-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of your household income on housing. (Rental information provided by the National Low Income Housing Coalition)

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