Print Media Archive

Neighbours hit by empty homes next door
May 27, 2008
BBC News
Armed with the tools of his trade, a tape measure and a clipboard, Chris Otteau looks at a house in Matawan, New Jersey.
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A Buyer's Market, a Seller's Pain
May 18, 2008
New York Times
WITH a laser measuring device clipped to his belt and a reel of yellow tape tucked under one arm, Christopher Otteau roamed around a tidy house on a corner lot in Ridgewood, preparing to deliver the unwelcome news to its occupants.
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Sale prices of homes stabilizing at Shore
May 14, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Figures compiled by the Otteau Valuation Group, an East Brunswick real-estate consulting firm, show that the market is approaching its bottom, said firm President Jeffrey Otteau.
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Spring in a Cold Climate
May 11, 2008
New York Times
THE only way to know when the residential real estate market has "hit bottom" will be with a look in the rear-view mirror, according to Jeffrey G. Otteau, the New Jersey-based real estate analyst.
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Banking on Rumson Home Sales
April 3, 2008
Asbury Park Press
But Rumson, which is an upper-priced market where many homes sell for more than $1 million, has seen less of a downturn than other parts of the county, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick…
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Bid for Reality
March 28, 2008
The Star-Ledger
The study by Otteau Valuation Group measured and analyzed more than 15,000 transactions annually over a period of several years.
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NJ Exodus Cutting Into Home Sales
March 27, 2008
Hunterdon County Democrat
Another study, by the Otteau Appraisal Group working for developer CRC Communities, says home sales in Hunterdon...
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Waiting for a thaw
March 9, 2008
Home News Tribune
As the spring selling season approaches, real-estate agents say home buyers have their choice of houses at lower prices, but some experts warn of continued troubles ahead for the housing market.
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To Pounce or Be Patient?
February 19, 2008
New Jersey Monthly
The premier number cruncher in Jersey real estate is probably Jeff Otteau, whose Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick provides the most comprehensive real-time snapshot of the market.
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Renting Beats Buying (or Not)
February 17, 2008
New York Times
To buy or not to buy, that is the question - especially in a market where property values have been deflating, and may deflate still further. In northern New Jersey in the past year, the median home value slid 5 percent, to $403,087 according to newly compiled statistics from the Otteau Valuation Group, which monitors property values statewide…
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Home Prices Up Minimally
February 15, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Price figures from the Otteau Valuation Group, Inc., an East Brunswick real estate consulting firm, show that in the fourth quarter, a median price for a single-family home in Monmouth County rose 6 percent to….
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Housing Mixed Bag
February 15, 2008
The Star ledger
"We have the second-highest income in the country, which creates a higher level of earning," said Jeff Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, a leading real estate research firm based in East Brunswick.
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Lucrative Spring Awaits Gypsy Moth Killer
February 11, 2008
NJBIZ
Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group, a real estate market analysis firm based in East Brunswick, says that while "there is no question that healthy, mature shade trees lend an aesthetic appeal to housing," data on how trees affect property values doesn't exist…
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Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling '90s Slump
February 3, 2008
The NY Times
Homes in suburbs within a one-hour commute have not lost value as fast as those in the outer suburbs, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick, N.J. And Mr. Otteau forecasted that the closer suburbs…
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The Hard Sell
February 3, 2008
The Star Ledger
The pace of home sales in New Jersey slowed to a crawl in December, with the volume of sales contracts falling 31 percent year over year, according to Jeffrey Otteau, president of East Brunswick-based Otteau Valuation Group…
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New Attempt at a Housing Turnaround
January 21, 2008
NJ BIZ
Morris Plains-based home seller Weichert, Realtors is pushing for congressional support for a tax-credit plan it hopes will drive more people to buy homes, thereby reinvigorating both the housing market and the economy. But while some real estate and economic experts say the proposed measure could help to increase home sales, the plan would be only one of many components needed to turn around the deeply troubled housing industry.
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Buyers, Now Hear This
January 20, 2008
The NY Times
The market analyst Jeffrey G. Otteau told brokers in his January report not...levels until spring of 2014,'' Mr. Otteau stated flatly in the report, which is...low mortgage interest rates,'' Mr. Otteau said. Jacelyn Botti, president of Weichert...
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A Housing Market Perspective of TOD
January 2008
Transit-Friendly Development
Newsletter of Transit-Oriented Development & Land Use in New Jersey At the 2007 NJ State League of Municipalities Conference, held in November, Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, Inc., offered his perspective of the New Jersey housing market, drawing particular attention to housing in transit-friendly locations. He believes that with the deep slump in New Jersey's housing market, one bright spot remains-locations that are transit-rich. Read More

Cashing Out of New York City
December 30, 2007
...statewide, house prices have dropped by about 1 percent a month in the last several months, said Jeffrey Otteau, the president of the Otteau Appraisal Group in East Brunswick. Buyers in Long Island's most desirable suburbs are finding that they...
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Where Sales Are Buoyant
November 4, 2007
The New York Times
The three Monmouth County towns - Asbury, Belmar and Long Branch - outperformed their county, which showed no increase in median sales price over the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2006, according to a market analysis done by the Otteau Valuation Group at the request of the New York Times…
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Sales History
November 4, 2007
Asbury Park Press
Home prices have declined after several boom years. Prices rose 131 percent in New Jersey from 1998 - 2005, before declining 8 percent in 2006, according to Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group…
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With Buyers Sidelined, Home Prices Slide
October 25, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Foreclosure headlines create a "fear factor" among buyers and prompt more to think they should wait before taking the plunge, says Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group…
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Merrill beaten up over writedown
October 25, 2007
Star Ledger
Home sales fell 17 percent in September, the worst performance of the year, according to Jeffrey Otteau of the Otteau Valuation Group, whose firm tracks pending sales contract…
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Housing market weathers crisis
October 25, 2007
The Times
Real estate appraiser Jeffrey Otteau, whose firm is based in East Brunswick, said the current downturn in real estate…
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Where the Deals Are
September 16, 2007
New York Times
Jeffrey G. Otteau, President of the Otteau Appraisal Group in East Brunswick, N.J., picked out the pattern while analyzing the unsold housing inventory in towns on and around the commuter rail lines…
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Aging Gracefully
September 16, 2007
Asbury Park Press
The age-restricted housing market has been hit hard as well, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, an East Brunswick real estate consulting firm. Those who want to buy such homes still need…
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Slumping Builder Slashes Home Prices
September 13, 2007
The Star Ledger
One homebuilder, Lennar, slapped huge discounts on some of its homes late last year, according to Jeffrey Otteau, President of the Otteau Valuation Group…
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Census: More N.J. Homeowners are Over-extended
September 12, 2007
The Star Ledger
Jeffrey G. Otteau, President of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick and a housing analyst, predicted New Jersey faces a future with…
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Good, Bad News for N.J. Housing
August 23, 2007
The Star Ledger
Foreclosures shoot up, but total is fairly small. Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, a leading real estate research firm in New Jersey, said while the increase appears large, the number of homes foreclosed on is still quite small…
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Softer Landing
August 16, 2007
The Star Ledger
The inventory of unsold homes in all of New Jersey has soared to a record 72,000 homes, compared to only 39,000 in June 2005, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of East Brunswick-based Otteau Valuation Group…
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Central Jersey Real Estate Sales Fickle
August 5, 2007
Courier News
Location, commuter access and structural upgrades all factors when putting home on market, experts say. Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick, specializes in compiling data throughout the state…
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Revving Up Interest
July 29, 2007
Asbury Park Press
With the high number of houses sitting unsold on the market these days, some real-estate agents are finding innovative ways to market their listings to attract attention. "In the future, as the housing market evolves, marketing will become even more important," said Jeffrey Otteau, President of the Otteau Valuation Group…
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The State of the Slump
July 26, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Tighter Credit Helps Keep Housing Inventories Rising, Though Some Hard-Hit Cities See Signs of a Turnaround. Jeffrey G. Otteau, President of Otteau Valuation Group, says the parts of New Jersey popular with commuters…
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Demand for Office, but Not Homes
June 15, 2007
New York Times
AFTER more than five years, the huge inventory buildup of commercial office space in New Jersey is beginning to diminish. Coincidentally, as best the pundits can tell, the inventory of unsold homes has hit a record high. "Markets do have lives of their own," said Jeffrey G. Otteau.
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RealtyTrac to revise formula
June 12, 2007
The Star Ledger
When RealtyTrac releases data on home foreclosures each month, media outlets across the country rush to print and broadcast the news. But housing experts such as Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, a leading real estate research firm in New Jersey, believes RealtyTrac's existing methodology is highly misleading.
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It's Spring. Somebody Tell the Buyers
May 27, 2007
New York Times
IT'S spring, the traditional time for hope and growth in residential real estate sales. But beyond the borders of New York City, there are indications that a wintry chill besets the market in much of the region..The number of sales contracts signed in April declined in 20 of 22 counties monitored by the Otteau Valuation Group, which does market analysis.. ...
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This Housing Slump Is for Real but Overblown
May 21, 2007
The NJBIZ Interview - Jeffrey G. Otteau
Housing analyst Jeffrey G. Otteau is widely seen as a sobering voice in a market frequently in the throes of a boom-or-bust mentality. Otteau, the president of Otteau Valuation Group Inc. in East Brunswick, acknowledges that delinquencies and foreclosures in subprime loans have worsened the current downturn by making mortgages harder to get and pushing some prospective homebuyers out of the market. However, he calls the foreclosure problem exaggerated and says the fear of a crisis could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Otteau discussed the New Jersey housing market with NJBIZ Staff Writer Shankar P.
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Home Prices Fall in Rich New York Suburbs Once Immune to Slump
May 9, 2007
Bloomberg Print Media
The U.S. housing slump has hit New York City's richest suburbs. Wealth and excellent credit have until now spared bedroom communities in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York's Westchester County from declines in home prices. Now the tightening of credit in response to rising subprime defaults has disrupted the real estate food chain, bringing the national housing slump to Manhattan's doorstep. First-time home buyers are more likely to be subprime borrowers. Every purchase of an existing house by a first-time buyer triggers four other sales in the housing market, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
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Why Sellers May Be Disappointed
March 11, 2007
New York Times
HOME sellers beware. Despite what real estate industry data might suggest, sales prices were down around the state last year - and prices are still flat in most locales, according to Jeffrey G. Otteau, who heads Otteau Valuation Group...
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Public payroll swells, private sector shrinks, housing prices fall
January 27, 2007
Press of Atlantic City
Those conclusions come from Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group Inc, which tracks housing trends for the real estate market. His latest report, the 2007...
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Housing Glut Gives Buyers Upper Hand
January 25, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Amid a continuing glut of homes for sale in most of the country, buyers should have lots of choices and plenty of bargaining power in the spring selling season.. Mr. Otteau figures home prices fell an average of about 10% ...
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Northern New Jersey market starts to drag
September 2006
The Real Deal
Home sales statewide declined 17 percent during the first half of 2006 and inventory rose 70 percent, according to a widely followed market report from Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group....
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