New Jersey Homes Are ‘Red-Hot’ but Continually Out of Reach: What Will the Next Governor Do About It?

The gubernatorial showdown in New Jersey will finally come to an end Nov. 4, when residents elect either Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) or former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R).

It’s a closely watched race nationwide, and while electing either candidate will mean change for the Garden State, when it comes to improving the housing market specifically, it could bring even bigger shifts.

Back in February, the state earned a C- on the Realtor.com® State-by-State Housing Report Card, signaling a tough mix of high costs and limited construction in the area.

Yet homes remain in high demand across the state. Cities like Wayne and Marlton landed on the Realtor.com Hottest ZIP Codes in America for 2025. Listings in those areas saw 3.6 times more views and sold 30 to 42 days faster than the national average. However, buyers tend to be older and wealthier, with stronger credit profiles and larger down payments than typical U.S. buyers.

So what are each candidate’s plans to inject new life—and new buyers—into the market were they to take office?

The state of New Jersey’s housing market today

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New Jersey faces a shortage of more than 200,000 housing units for low-income residents. Additionally, more than one-third of New Jersey households are cost-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on housing, according to Harvard University’s latest State of the Nation’s Housing report.

At the same time, parts of the state are red-hot markets. In fact, certain New Jersey counties within the New York City metro area saw the biggest jump in housing “hotness” rankings among large U.S. metros, climbing 44 spots to become the 158th hottest market in September. And the momentum is growing.

"The New Jersey housing market has been red-hot over the last five years," Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones explains. "At the onset of the pandemic, buyer demand in the state surged as home shoppers from surrounding economic hubs, such as New York and Philadelphia, set their sights on well-located New Jersey towns that offer more bang for your buck. As a result, inventory levels plummeted, pushing competition and home prices higher. Home prices were 44.7% higher on October 2025 compared with October 2019. The median listing price in October was $550,000, below the historical New Jersey peak of $590,000 in July 2024, but well above the $380,000 median in October 2019."

Clearly, there is work ahead for whoever is elected governor to keep New Jersey affordable.

Jack Ciattarelli’s approach: complete housing reform

The Republican former assemblyman is calling for broad changes to New Jersey’s housing landscape.

His plan includes rewriting the state constitutional Mount Laurel doctrine that requires every municipality to create realistic opportunities for affordable housing.

“Permitting is a perennial issue,” Ciattarelli told Realtor.com. “I plan to modernize and streamline the state permitting system so that all necessary permits for residential housing are handled promptly and don’t create added expenses from regulatory delays.”

He has also vowed to reexamine the economics of homeownership, starting with property taxes.

“Policy changes must start where the state has the most control—and responsibility,” he added. “I will start by cutting and capping property taxes to a percentage of assessed home value so that working families and young people can afford to buy a home. My plan also includes banning property tax increases on home improvements, so that a finished basement or kitchen upgrade won’t keep costing homeowners year after year.”

In September, Ciattarelli joined Sherrill at a candidate forum hosted by New Jersey Realtors and the New Jersey Builders Association, addressing more than 300 real estate professionals and builders. During the event, he acknowledged that affordability is the biggest hurdle for homebuyers.

“I look forward to my administration rolling back the dangerous tax policy you’ve seen for the last eight years and removing burdensome regulations that prevent us from addressing the affordability crisis facing our disappearing middle class,” he said, according to ROI-NJ's reporting.

Mikie Sherrill’s approach: increasing new construction

In October, inventory levels in New Jersey were 56.4% below those pre-pandemic (October 2019). This is the third-biggest gap in the country, behind Connecticut and Illinois. In October 2019, there were roughly 40,400 homes for sale in New Jersey. In October 2025, there were just 17,600 homes for sale.

While much of that is due to baby boomers holding on to their homes rather than downsizing, another major factor is the lack of new construction.

Realtor.com found that New Jersey’s new-construction premium—the price gap between new and existing homes—stands at 74.1%, one of the steepest in the country. That indicates that most new builds are high-end properties, far out of reach for middle-income buyers.

Sherrill says she intends to change that.

“As governor, I am committed to improving housing affordability by increasing new home construction that meets the needs of all residents,” she said in a statement on her campaign website. “More housing will expand opportunities for homeownership and help drive down rental costs as supply increases.”

During the same forum with agents and builders, Sherrill added that her approach focuses on opening more pathways for first-time buyers.

“Housing costs are up over 50% in just the past five years, making homeownership inaccessible for so many families,” she said. “That will change when I’m governor. I’ll expand first-time homebuyer assistance to increase access to homeownership and generational wealth, and end diversions from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund so these funds actually go toward expanding housing options families can afford.”

What’s best for New Jersey homeowners?

Regardless of who wins Nov. 4, the hope is that either administration will make housing a top priority.

“The main difference in the candidates’ housing agendas boils down to Jack Ciattarelli’s opposition to the state’s affordable housing law, while Mikie Sherrill wants to make it work,” Micah Rasmussen, director of Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, told the New Jersey Monitor. “Both candidates want to focus new housing units around mass transit, but Ciattarelli goes a step further with his goal to push affordable housing into our cities.”

Whatever the method, change needs to come soon, especially if the state is to remain competitive.

"The New Jersey housing market has slackened slightly in recent months," Jones says. "Inventory levels have climbed on an annual basis for the last 19 months, and home prices have fallen annually for the last five months. Despite this modest progress, supply remains constrained in the state, meaning buyers will likely continue to face high prices and competitive market conditions."