Page 4 • Wednesday , October 20 , 2021 • The Hammonton Gazette
Home prices surge locally ; rentals are hard to find
RENTAL , from Page 1 ton and rent because our community is incredible . The town that we live in is amazing , and people want to be here , said Dave Birnbaum , a real estate agent with re / MAX Community- Williamstown .
However , potential renters face the same issue as potential buyers .
“ rentals in Hammonton are non-existent ,” said Phil Carr , broker of record with Crowley & Carr real estate . Birnbaum echoed Carr ’ s sentiments .
“ inventory is still low . There is nothing for rent on the market right now . We have absolutely nothing for rent ,” Birnbaum said .
Birnbaum said that , if a house is priced properly , it “ flies off the shelves .”
“ if you have a two-bed , onebath , you can only get a certain amount of dollars ; you can ’ t keep going up and up and up , because people won ’ t pay you . There is some type of cap , but i don ’ t know what that cap is ... There ’ s definitely a flat-line somewhere
for rental properties , depending on what you ’ re renting ,” Birnbaum said .
That being said , Birnbaum said that he is not aware of price-gouging in the rental market .
“ if something is normally $ 1,500 , you can maybe get another $ 150 per month ,” Birnbaum said .
Patricia Chiu , a realtor with Balsley Losco real estate , said that some of the scarcity may be due to the high retail prices .
“ it ’ s enticing to the owners . Most owners rent because , possibly in the past , they might not have gotten the numbers they wished for in a sale , so they rent it to try to compensate for long-term income . right now , since the housing market is still on fire and continues to climb , the places for rent have decreased . There ’ s not many , especially in the heart of Hammonton ,” Chiu said .
Chiu also said that there may be hesitancy on the part of potential landlords due to eviction moratoriums .
“ it ’ s ongoing now , but as of now , it ’ s a slow process . We had
over a year of folks who hadn ’ t been working and hadn ’ t paid ... That ’ s preventing people who might have a vacant property , or people who are relocating or moving . They would rather sell the place and leave it vacant ; why are they going to go through that ? You have to make sure somebody pays ,” Chiu said .
Chiu said that , in response to rental scarcity , there are tenants who are “ offering half a year or a full year , paid up in advance .”
“ That might help , but if you have that kind of money , you can go out and buy a house ,” Chiu said .
Despite the scarcity , Carr said that it is not always difficult to find a house for rent .
“ There are plenty of people out there that have their own properties who try to rent on their own ... We ’ re a small community . There ’ s a handful of people who own most of them and have been in the business , and know a lot of people through networking , that they ’ re able to secure a tenant on their own without any realtor assistance ,” Carr said .