New Jersey's Housing Plan Gets the Diagnosis Right. Now Comes the Hard Part.

Governor Sherrill's office released a housing report this week with recommendations to address New Jersey's housing shortage. I read through it. Here's my take as someone who runs a real estate team in Essex County and follows housing policy closely.

The core framing is right

New Jersey is short more than 200,000 homes. You cannot solve that with demand-side programs alone. The report takes a supply-first approach, which is refreshing. Too often the conversation focuses on helping buyers compete for the same limited inventory. That just bids up prices.

From what we see locally in Essex County, the biggest bottleneck is zoning and approvals. If a project is allowed to be built here, there is rarely a question of whether it will sell. The friction is getting to yes, not finding buyers.

The strongest recommendations

The ideas I'm most excited about are the ones that unlock real capacity without pushing sprawl:

• Transit-oriented development on and near NJ Transit land

• Redevelopment of dead malls and underused commercial parcels

• Legalizing more missing-middle housing like duplexes, triplexes, and ADUs

These are places where you can add units quickly because roads, utilities, and amenities already exist.

I also like the focus on speeding the process. A dedicated housing lead to coordinate agencies and shorten timelines is exactly the kind of unglamorous reform that moves the needle.

Third-party plan review could help builders significantly, but towns will fight this in court. We've been watching wealthy municipalities litigate their way out of fair housing obligations for 50 years. The state needs to strike a balance where standards stay high while timelines become predictable.

Manufactured housing deserves attention

Manufactured and prefab housing is another area with real upside. The product quality today is not what people picture when they hear the term. We have developers in our region using prefab successfully. If it helps build more housing faster, I'm for it. The challenge will be local acceptance and zoning.

Land banks could help

Land banks can clear title issues, assemble fragmented parcels, and convert vacant or distressed properties into buildable inventory. We saw private capital do pieces of this during the financial crisis. A public version that is transparent and focused on production could be effective.

Enforcement matters too

I support the recommendation to prioritize investigations into housing discrimination and predatory lending. We see bias show up in appraisals especially, where there is documented evidence of undervaluation in majority-minority neighborhoods. With federal enforcement pulling back, the state needs to step in.

The limits of demand-side programs

On the demand side, down payment assistance and buyer grants help individual households compete, but they do not add a single unit of supply. In a tight market, these programs can increase competition unless they are paired with faster production.

The real question is timeline

Overall, the report is directionally right. The biggest question is timeline. Housing production is slow, and many of these reforms take years to show up as finished homes. The sooner the state can make approvals faster and more predictable, the sooner buyers and renters will feel the difference.

What this means for buyers and sellers in Essex County

If you're trying to buy right now, this report won't change your search tomorrow. Inventory is still tight, well-priced homes still move fast, and you still need to understand what comparable homes are actually selling for, not just what they're listed at.

But it's a signal that the state is finally focused on the right problem. More supply is the only real solution to affordability. Everything else is a band-aid.

If you're selling, the demand isn't going anywhere. Essex County remains one of the most sought-after markets in North Jersey because of transit access, walkable towns, and strong schools. That won't change even as new inventory eventually comes online.

Get in touch

If you're buying or selling in Essex County and want to understand how this market actually works, I'm happy to talk.

Nancy Chu

NancyChuHomes.com

nancy@nancychuhomes.com

(917) 992-3098

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