News

[Waldwick, NJ – May 26, 2020] – COVID-19 has made a huge impact on the real estate industry in the last couple of months, forcing society to adjust to different ways of conducting business, not to mention the number of people who have lost their employment due to this pandemic crisis.

While the stock market recovered significantly in March, the effects of COVID-19 to the economy continue to build. In just the last four weeks, more than 20 million people nationwide filed initial unemployment claims according to the United States Department of Labor, including nearly 600,000 claims filed in the State of New Jersey alone. In the face of these challenging times, real estate activity in April slowed significantly.

Here is helpful information and resources put together to  help you in response to COVID-19 – commonly referred to as coronavirus – and its impact on the real estate industry and real estate transactions.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 138 on May 6, 2020, which extends the Public Health Emergency declared on March 9, 2020 under Executive Order 103 and extended on April 7 under Executive Order 119. Under the Emergency Health Powers Act, a declared public health emergency expires after 30 days unless renewed. All previously entered Executive Orders remain "in full force and effect" under Executive Order 138.

The findings cited as leading up to today's action by the Governor recognize that although New Jersey's social distancing measures have helped to slow the increase of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state, the total number of cases and deaths in New Jersey has continued to rise and would rise at an even more precipitous rate absent these important measures.

The new EO states that although New Jersey has made all reasonable efforts to procure medical resources from the federal government, existing supplies in the state, donations, and private sector purchasing, the availability of medical resources in the state remains a serious concern. In consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Health, it was therefore determined that New Jersey needs the help of additional qualified health, mental health, and other professionals to supplement the state's healthcare capacity on a temporary basis to address healthcare needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that emergency measures taken to address these needs must continue at this time.