Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

General Category => Hackensack Discussion => Topic started by: Editor on January 14, 2007, 09:03:06 AM

Title: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on January 14, 2007, 09:03:06 AM
Latest stories:

In this down market, it pays to ask for less (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA1NjIxOA==)

Closing costs can bite you
 (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA1NjIwNQ==)
'Unbundler' helps sell-it-yourselfers (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA1NjIxMQ==)

"We listed on craigslist [craigslist.org, which offers free real estate listings nationwide], and we got some responses from that," she said. "We advertised for two or three weeks in the newspaper, and not one person came to see it."

Ultimately, they found a flat-fee real estate broker who -- for under $500 -- offers the all-important exposure in the Multiple Listing Services maintained by the real estate industry. Derek Eisenberg's Hackensack-based firm, Multiple Listing System (multiplelistingsystem.com and a variety of other URLs) is part of the Continental Real Estate Group.

Eisenberg says he's not a discounter, but an "unbundler" of real estate services. He can list your home on the nationwide MLS service, Realtor.com, as well as on local sites and his own site, for a flat fee. He can sell you signs or rent you an electronic lockbox. For a half of a percentage point, his company will help you negotiate your sale.

Of course, if a real estate agent brings a buyer to the seller, the seller has to pay the usual 3 percent commission of the buyer's agent.

Title: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 18, 2007, 09:35:10 AM
Latest story:  New Web site lures apartment hunters (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA5NDEwNw==)
Title: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 25, 2007, 09:30:11 AM
Latest stories:  New condos begin under $300,000 (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA5ODI2Ng==)

Find the right agent before you sell (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA5Nzk0MQ==)
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on September 02, 2007, 09:34:54 AM
Latest story:  10 rules for buyers in a slow market (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzE4ODU1MQ==)
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on September 09, 2007, 10:02:58 AM
NorthJersey.com partners with Trulia.com

HACKENSACK -- San Francisco-based Trulia.com, the Internet real-estate search engine, has partnered with NorthJersey.com, online home of The Record, to power its online real estate section, NorthJerseyHomes.com. (http://northjerseyhomes.com/)

Visitors to NorthJerseyHomes.com (http://northjerseyhomes.com/) will have access to Trulia's intuitive interface and full set of free and interactive tools, allowing them to research homes for sale and recently sold homes in North Jersey and nationwide.

NorthJersey.com readers can use Trulia's national heat maps and real estate guides to search for sales statistics, real estate price trends and real estate market activity North Jersey and across the United States.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on September 15, 2007, 09:34:25 AM
Latest story: In mortgage crisis, deals - and even lenders -are going under (http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20070914_In_mortgage_crisis__deals_-_and_even_lenders_-are_going_under.html)
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on November 06, 2007, 10:06:30 AM
Latest story:  Bill lets towns tax sale of homes (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzIxODAxNA==)
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 10, 2008, 10:40:21 AM
'Short sale' from lender bails out stranded sellers (http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/03/09/short_sale.ART_ART_03-09-08_D2_KV9IOOH.html?sid=101)
Title: Housing Sale Summary (November 2009)
Post by: Editor on December 13, 2009, 10:38:51 AM
Hackensack Homes for Sale Summary (http://activerain.com/blogsview/1381395/hackensack-homes-for-sale-summary-november-2009-market-report)

(http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/5/7/3/ar126063821137561.JPG)
Title: Home Sales
Post by: Editor on March 28, 2010, 01:28:33 PM
Home sales fell in North Jersey in 2009 (http://www.northjersey.com/realestate/89346707_Home_sales_fell_in_North_Jersey_in_2009.html)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Last updated: Sunday March 28, 2010, 1:22 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
The Record
STAFF WRITERS

Click here for a chart of median homes sales in Bergen/Passaic counties. (http://dng.northjersey.com/media_server/tr/2010/03/28sales/0328A_Town%20home%20sales.pdf)

See housing market changes, at the county level, the muncipal level and within market value segments. (http://www.northjersey.com/specialreports/homepricechange.html)

North Jersey home prices dropped 8 percent last year, falling to their lowest level since 2004 and draining billions of dollars from the housing market.

Despite federal efforts to prop up the market with low mortgage rates and an $8,000 tax credit, the median price for single-family homes dropped 8 percent in Bergen County and 9 percent in Passaic County, according to an analysis of sales data by The Record. For the year, homes sold at a median price of $415,000 in Bergen and $320,000 in Passaic. Prices dropped the most at the low and high ends of the market.

"We entered 2009 staring into the economic abyss," said Rutgers economist James Hughes. And that was reflected in the housing market, which continued to pay for the excesses of the housing boom.

It's too early to tell how 2010 prices will shape up, although many analysts believe housing demand will slacken after the tax credit expires next month.

As painful as 2009's price declines were for sellers, they opened the door to homeownership for many first-time buyers.

"Houses that were $350,000 can be under $300,000 now," said real estate agent Ellen Weiner of Weichert in Clifton.

In fact, prices in 2009 were down about 15 percent from their peaks in the middle of the decade — much less than the roughly 30 percent average decline seen nationwide. Even more striking, the number of sales in the two counties has plummeted by 62 percent since the market peak, The Record's analysis found. Only about 7,400 residential real estate sales were recorded in Bergen and Passaic, down from 19,300 in 2005.

For most people, who are neither buying or selling, lower values reduce household wealth, making consumers less willing — and able — to borrow and spend. This lost housing wealth has added to a sense of unease about the economy, which has been plagued by unemployment rates around 10 percent.

The analysis also found that:

    * Median prices dropped most in areas with the lowest and highest prices. In communities where the typical price is less than $300,000, the median price sank 15 percent in 2009. At the high end, where homes generally sell for at least $750,000, the typical price dropped 11 percent.
       
    * Total sales volume in the two counties plummeted from $9.3 billion in 2005 to $3.3 billion in 2009.
       
    * In a separate sign of market trouble, there was one category of sales that did not drop in 2009. Roughly 1,500 sales were recorded during or immediately after foreclosures by lenders against owners who stopped making mortgage payments, about the same as in 2008.
       
    * The market has lost roughly $22.5 billion in total value since prices started falling in 2007. That figure is reached by multiplying the typical home loss — $60,000 to $65,000 — during the slump by the 355,000 housing units in the two counties.
       
    * Hardest hit last year were less-expensive markets such as Paterson, Fairview, Hackensack and Prospect Park, where the median price sank 18 to 27 percent. Many affluent towns also were affected. The typical price dropped 13 to 29 percent in Allendale, Edgewater, Norwood and Old Tappan.
       
    * A few places seemed to escape the market's wrath, with stable prices and even some gains seen in Cliffside Park, Englewood Cliffs, Ho-Ho-Kus, Mahwah and Totowa.
       
    * All told, 76 of the 86 municipalities in Bergen and Passaic saw continued dips in prices.

"For those homeowners who bought at the height of the market, from 2004 to 2006, the implications were sobering," said Barbara Ostroth, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in Oradell. Some of those homeowners ended up in short sales, selling the property for less than was owed on the mortgage to escape foreclosure.

But for buyers, the lower prices were an opportunity. Danielli and Jim Wells, for example, thought they could afford only a condo. But with prices down, they were able to buy a Cape Cod in Clifton for $320,000 last April.

"When we decided to buy, we had a lot of people telling us not to do it, a lot of Debbie Downers telling us it wasn't the right time," said Danielli Wells, 27, a child-care worker. Friends and family advised them to wait for prices to drop further. But they felt if they could keep their monthly mortgage costs close to what they were paying in rent, they'd come out ahead in the long run. As it turned out, their mortgage payments (not including property taxes) are only about $50 more than the rent they paid for a one-bedroom apartment.

"And the $8,000 from the government didn't hurt, either," Danielli Wells said, referring to the federal tax credit for first-time buyers.

Chris Rotio, a 26-year-old health care administrator, bought a ranch on a cul-de-sac in Waldwick for $360,000 and renovated it into a four-bedroom colonial of almost 4,000 square feet. He and his agent, Sheldon Neal of Re/Max in Oradell, think the house would have sold for $450,000 at the height of the market.

"I felt that timing was everything," said Rotio. "The tax credit, mortgage rates, home prices — everything came together and we really hit the trifecta."

For trade-up buyers, the lower values cut both ways — they got less for their old homes, but also paid less for the next one.

Kris O'Boyle and her husband, Tim, first put their Teaneck house on the market in 2007, hoping to move to Monmouth County, where they have relatives. But the real estate market was deteriorating, and the O'Boyles soon realized they couldn't get the price they wanted. So they took their house off the market and decided to concentrate on building up their savings.

When they put the Teaneck home back on the market last year, they started with an asking price about 10 percent below what they asked in 2007.

"We were a little disappointed that we were going to get less for our house, but we knew that we'd be ending up with more house for our money in the area we were moving to," said Kris O'Boyle, a financial analyst.

Between their extra savings and the decline in home values, they were able to get a four-bedroom, four-bath house in Middletown, a big step up from the three-bedroom houses they'd originally considered.

"I know two years ago, we wouldn't have been able to touch the house we're in now," O'Boyle said.

Prices fell most at the top and bottom of the housing market. At the low end, rising unemployment and tougher lending standards pushed potential buyers out of the market. In addition, a rising number of those sales were foreclosures, which typically sell at distressed prices, said Hughes, the Rutgers economist.

Luxury home sales were also hit by the credit crunch, with jumbo mortgages becoming more expensive and harder to get, Hughes said.

In Saddle River, only three homes sold for over $2 million through the multiple listing service in 2009, down from 16 in 2008, according to broker Charles Gildea of Marron Gildea & Donohue, which has offices in Saddle River, Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus.

Affluent households continue to hold back because of concerns about the economy and employment. Though Wall Street lost fewer jobs than expected after the 2008 financial meltdown, talk of tougher federal regulation of financial firms has added to uncertainty in that sector, Gildea said.

"I think the upper-end towns will continue to soften," Gildea said.

E-mail: lynn@northjersey.com and sheingold@northjersey.com
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on April 29, 2011, 08:30:34 AM
Condo Market Shows Improvement
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/05/01/realestate/njzo/njzo-articleLarge.jpg)
CONDO ROW The inventory of condos for sale in Bergen County, like those on Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, is shrinking, and the time they spend on the market is now under four months.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: April 28, 2011

OUTSIDE a condominium tower on Prospect Avenue one recent Sunday, Robert Young was pulling hard to uproot an open-house sign he had planted earlier.

“I really had to pound it in,” said Mr. Young, an agent at Weichert Realtors, as he tugged at the metal stakes. “At first nobody was showing up, and I saw the wind was knocking the sign flat.” Once he secured it, Mr. Young said happily, several condominium shoppers did appear.

“I think we’re going to sell this puppy,” he added. “It’s got a nice price, mortgage rates are still low and it appears that people are finally recognizing this is a good time to buy.”

Of course that was just one agent wearing his happy face. But there are others marketing condos in northern New Jersey counties — Essex, Hudson and Morris, as well as Bergen — who say traffic has been surprisingly decent at open houses this spring and who see the market picture as improving, if not necessarily pulsating with good health.

Brian Morgenweck, a broker with the Power Realty Group in Hackensack, said that on average in Bergen County condos were spending 117 days on the market, which is under four months.

As of April 20, he said, 1,797 condominiums were listed in Bergen County, versus a high of 1,945 last July, shortly after the expiration of the federal tax credit for home buyers.

“So the inventory of available units is shrinking,” said Mr. Morgenweck, who is the founder of his agency, “and even more importantly sellers are finally coming around to serious reality with their prices.”

Because of the way the market is churning, said the New Jersey market analyst Jeffrey G. Otteau, it is impossible to pinpoint the average or median asking price of condos on the market in Bergen County.

But he did compute the median price for the 192 condos for sale in Hackensack: $222,000.

In two other Bergen communities with substantial numbers of condos for sale — Cliffside Park, with 160, and Edgewater, with 168 — Mr. Otteau said the median prices were $390,000 and $535,000, respectively.

In those three towns, condo prices are running well below those for single-family houses, and in Edgewater, where the median house price is $1.299 million, condos cost less than half that.

“To the extent that condos are holding their own in this market,” said Mr. Otteau, the president of the Otteau Valuation Group in New Brunswick, “the fact that they are less expensive than single-family homes has to be considered a driving factor.”

But to talk of any market’s holding its own, he added, is not to say it is healthy.

At the current rate of sales in Bergen County, for example, it would take 13.3 months for all the units now on the market to be sold — if no other condos were added to the inventory of homes for sale. In Hudson County, which had 1,781 condos on the market in April, it would take 11.8 months to sell them all.

Certain local markets are defying the norm, and performing better than their counties:

Hoboken in Hudson County has 6.2 months’ supply of condos on the market, a healthy number in the eyes of statisticians. Mahwah in Bergen has 6.1 months’ supply.

In Mahwah so far this year 14 or 15 condos have sold each month. The same number sold in Hackensack, but it also had 192 condos remaining unsold after 30 days; Mahwah’s unsold quantity was 90.

In some cases where condos are selling relatively well compared with single-family houses, Mr. Otteau said, the trend may simply reflect how poor the market is for houses. After all, in his company’s latest report to subscribing real estate professionals, he referred to the overall housing market as having a “faint pulse.”

West Orange in Essex County has 99 condos for sale, an inventory that would take an estimated 10.2 months to sell. The average unit is spending 112 days on the market. That compares with an unsold inventory of 279 single-family houses, or 12.4 months’ supply, with houses spending an average of 109 days on the market.

Ellen Oxfeld, a Coldwell Banker agent, said the condo market in West Orange had picked up over the last three months. She cited agency statistics indicating that the absorption rate for condos — meaning how long it takes them to sell — had shrunk to 6.2 months in March, from 8.3 months in February and 14.5 months in January.

“All markets are local,” she said. “And right now, condos are doing fairly well here.”

A month ago Ms. Oxfeld listed a three-bedroom town house condo at Normandie Estates for $379,000. Built in 1998, it last sold in 2003, for $432,000.

In Morristown, too, condos are selling faster than single-family houses. There is a 12.8-month supply of condos on the market, and a 14-month supply of houses. Condos spend an average of 81 days on the market; houses spend 115 days.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on August 21, 2011, 09:29:58 AM
Rental market getting even tighter (http://www.northjersey.com/realestate/128141663_It_s_still_tough_being_a_tenant.html?page=all)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

"It's crazy out there. Once a listing comes up, it's gone in a few days." CHRISTINE SIMMONS, WHO RECENTLY AGREED TO RENT AN APARTMENT IN EDGEWATER

The apartment rental market in North Jersey has continued to tightened in recent months, as rents rise and vacancy rates dip.

Housing analysts say an influx of people who previously might have been homeowners, plus a slowdown in construction of new rental units has created one of the tightest markets in the country.

Apartment vacancy rates have been on the decline nationwide, but in Bergen and Passaic counties, the rates are below the national average, and they may be going lower.

One analyst ranks North Jersey tied for 16th among 82 markets surveyed in terms of lowest vacancy rates. Another analyst lists it as the sixth tightest market.

For would-be tenants, that means searching longer and paying more rent than they would have paid just a few years ago.

"It's horrendous," said Sharifa Extavour, an Essex County resident who has been looking on and off for a year for an apartment in Bergen or Passaic so she can be closer to her job at Fairleigh Dickinson University. "I feel stuck where I am."

The numbers bear out her frustration.

Reis Inc., a New York City firm that surveys rental markets nationwide reported this month that in the second quarter the apartment vacancy rate across the U.S. declined to 5.9 percent, the lowest it has been since 2007.

But in North Jersey those vacancy rates fell even lower. In a May 2011 report, Reis estimated the vacancy rate to be 4.1 percent in Bergen County and 3.6 percent in Passaic County.

Richard Katze, a senior vice president with Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty in Fort Lee, calculates there's an inventory of about 2 1/2 months worth of rental properties currently on the market in Bergen County.

By that he means the number of residential units currently listed for rent divided by the average number of apartments rented out each month.

Now is a good time to think about buying a home, with prices down and interest rates low, Katze said.

But he said a number of people are "sitting on the fence" and renting because of uncertainty about the economy. They add to the demand side of the rental market.

On the supply side, he said there has not been much recent construction.

That adds up to a difficult situation for would-be tenants, said Matt Shapiro, president of the Hackensack-based New Jersey Tenants Organization.

"We end up with higher rents at a time when people have lower incomes because of the economy, because they either lost jobs or got cut back," he said.

While new construction has been scarce, one of the exceptions is Avalon Bay Communities Inc., based in Arlington, Va., which is building large multi-unit apartment buildings in Woodbridge, North Bergen and Hackensack and has broken ground for another in Somerset County.

Unlike developers that rely on bank financing, the publicly owned Avalon has its own capital to draw on, said Ron Ladell, an Avalon vice president. Besides people who used to be homeowners, Ladell said the company sees demand among the so-called millennial generation of twentysomethings who chose to rent as a lifestyle choice.

North Jersey has always been an expensive rental market. A few years ago, as loose lending standards allowed more households to get mortgages and buy homes, the rental market softened and landlords occasionally even offered incentives like a free month's rent.

But since the housing bust, the number of renters has risen by an estimated 3.9 million nationwide because fewer households are able to buy, and many homeowners lost their homes when they were unable to pay their mortgages, according to the annual "State of the Nation's Housing Report" from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

In New Jersey, the homeownership rate dropped from 70.4 percent in the second quarter of 2006, to 66.1 percent in the second quarter of this year. National numbers showed a similar decline.

As a result of the growing demand for apartments, rents began to rise in 2010, after flattening in 2009, according to the Harvard center.

Expected to continue

Bergen County's apartment vacancy rate declined to 4.4 percent in 2010, down from 5.1 percent the previous year, according to Marcus & Millichap, a commercial estate brokerage. Effective rents increased to $1,472, up from $1,452 the prior year.

Marcus & Millichap projected the rental market would grow even tighter by the end of this year, with vacancy rates statewide dipping to 3.7 percent and rents statewide rising about 2.3 percent.

The region's rents are a strain on low-income households, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition said. In its recent annual "Out of Reach" report, the coalition said that about a third of Bergen County households, and about 44 percent of Passaic County households, are tenants.

Rents have increased more than 70 percent in the region from 2000 to 2011, the report said, and range from an average $1,195 for a studio to $2,281 for a four-bedroom.

This has forced a large number of tenants to spend more than the recommended 30 percent of their income on housing, the report said.

Christine Simmons knows the squeeze that apartment hunters have experienced lately.

Simmons, a personal trainer, and her boyfriend commute to jobs in New York City. They had been renting an apartment in West New York, but it was sold, and they had until Aug. 1 to move out.

"It's crazy out there," she said. "Once a listing comes up, it's gone in a few days."

She estimated they walked through about 15 apartments in that time, plus drive-by looks at another 50. A couple times they came close, like the apartment they were set to rent with an option to buy, until another person offered to buy the unit outright.

With just days to spare, the couple found a two-bedroom apartment in Edgewater for $2,400 a month plus a $200 monthly fee for trash and other services.

"It was a bit stressful," Simmons said last week of her two-month search. "But it gives us some time to look at buying a home. I think we're done renting."

Extavour, meanwhile, temporarily halted her search. Much as she would like a shorter commute, she has decided to stay put and bank the extra money she would have paid in additional rent to buy her own home.

"I'm thinking, there's a reason for everything," she said with a laugh.

Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn contributed to this article. E-mail: ensslin@northjersey.com
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on September 05, 2011, 08:25:27 PM
Census: Young kids hard to find in some North Jersey towns (http://www.northjersey.com/news/082711_Children_scarce_in_North_Jersey_census_data_show.html)
Last updated: Sunday August 28, 2011, 7:46 AM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

Marissa and Peter Rizkalla decided three years ago that Wyckoff, with its well-regarded schools and leafy neighborhoods, was a great place to raise a family.

But once they moved in, they found something was missing: little kids.

“All my neighbors are pretty much my parents’ age or my grandparents’ age,” said Marissa Rizkalla, 34, the mother of two preschoolers and owner of a clothing business called The Couture Baby.

Uneven baby bust

New Jersey’s wealthiest municipalities saw the biggest declines from 2000 to 2010 in the number of children under the age of 5, with the gap even more pronounced in the Bergen-Passaic county region. Poorer areas generally saw increases in young children. [Tabulated material omitted.]

As the Rizkallas discovered, North Jersey is in the middle of a baby bust — and it’s being felt most acutely in the higher-income towns, where the number of small children has dropped by more than 20 percent in recent years, according to a Record analysis of census data. A big run-up in home values during the middle part of the 2000s, at a time when incomes stagnated, priced many young families out of the most expensive housing markets.

The baby bust is a nationwide trend, the result of a drop in the number of women in prime child-bearing years and a recession that has made at least some potential parents put off plans to start families.

But the drop has been felt unevenly — with little or no change in poorer areas, smaller drops in middle-class towns, and the largest declines in wealthier areas.

 “It’s essentially economic pressure,” said Jeffrey Otteau, an East Brunswick appraiser who follows home price trends statewide. “We have young people who find employment scarce and salary levels low, and upward mobility to be very small. … The real issue is not that home prices have risen. The real issue is that salaries haven’t kept pace.”

The decline has wide-ranging implications for real estate and schools. For example, baby boomers may find it difficult to sell their large homes if young families can’t afford to move in. And a shrinking number of students may force more affluent school districts to cut costs or merge, experts say.

It’s too soon to see the full effects of the baby bust, but some towns have taken note of early signs.

The Wyckoff schools, for example, anticipate a 14 percent drop in elementary enrollments over the next five years.

At the Ridgewood YWCA, demand has shrunk for day-care and nursery school programs. Pat Finn, director of early childhood programs at the Y, said she’s not sure whether this reflects a shrinking population of small children, or job losses that led many parents to keep their children home.

While wealthier towns have seen a drop of more than 20 percent in both the number of women of child-bearing age and the number of preschool-age children, middle-income towns saw their population of the under-5 set decline by only 11 percent.

And the number of young children actually increased in some less affluent communities, including Passaic, Fairview and Garfield, The Record’s analysis found. That likely reflects higher birthrates among immigrant households, experts say.

“Whether you are looking at it from global perspective, nationally or locally, it’s significant that the most disadvantaged groups are experiencing the most rapid population gains,” said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau. “Down the road, that’s going to create a potentially big issue for the labor force — a lot of kids from struggling areas, and these are the kids you are going to rely on for the future labor force.”

Part of the story is a simply a matter of demographics. The youngest members of the baby bust generation — born between 1965 and around 1982 — are now in their prime child-bearing years. Since they’re a smaller generation — only 62 million strong, compared with the 76 million baby boomers — they are naturally producing fewer children. Across Bergen and Passaic counties, the number of women ages 25 to 44 decreased 13 percent in recent years.

Beyond that, many young people are delaying starting families because of unemployment rates above 9 percent. The birthrate fell 4 percent between 2007 and 2009, the biggest two-year drop in more than three decades. Analysts blame the recession.

Rizkalla has noticed this trend among many of her friends.

“The way the job market is right now, to go ahead and get married, financially it’s easier to wait until you’re a little older and settled,” Rizkalla said. She has also noticed that when she takes her children to play groups or dance classes in Wyckoff, the other parents tend to be significantly older — people who waited until their late 30s to have children.

But even those who have taken the plunge into marriage and parenthood have found it difficult to buy homes in the priciest towns of North Jersey. As home values in the New York metropolitan area, including North Jersey, more than doubled from 2000 to 2006, prices “skyrocketed” out of reach even in the more modest neighborhoods of high-end towns, said Toni Spinelli-Brienza, a Re/Max agent in Wyckoff.

“With the uncertainty of our economic future, a young couple can’t risk buying a home around $500,000 that isn’t even in move-in condition, putting a lot of money into it and hoping that they will have a job next week,” Spinelli-Brienza said.

 “In those crazy years in real estate, young families couldn’t even afford to get into these towns,” said Tisha Neborsky, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Ridgewood. “We really were kind of closing out young families for a couple of years there.”

Prices have fallen back more than 20 percent since then, said Neborsky. But prices remain about 65 percent higher than they were in 2000, while incomes have flatlined.

And the boom-and-bust cycle has trapped some young parents. If they bought starter homes as single people or newlyweds in the mid-2000s, their first homes are almost certainly worth less than what they paid.

“If you bought a home in Hoboken in 2005, you don’t have any equity now to make that move” to Bergen County’s wealthier suburbs, said Adam DeFino 35, of DeFino Realtors in Wyckoff. “It’s an expensive area to live, and young families probably couldn’t afford it, now that they have less equity in their homes.”

As the number of young families in wealthy towns declines, the effects could be wide-reaching. A shrinking school-age population would likely reduce employment opportunities for educators, and force districts to look for ways to save money.

“I suspect this will cause towns to take a serious look at combining school districts,” Otteau said.

In addition, baby boomers who might like to retire and sell their homes may find it difficult to find buyers willing (or able) to pay for them. Otteau predicted that the premier towns — places like Ridgewood, with excellent schools, commuter rail lines to Manhattan and access to good jobs in Bergen County — will hold their value. But other large-lot, luxury housing may be in oversupply — and under price pressure — in about a decade.

“Then the market gets saturated with large, family-oriented houses and not enough people who have the income or family composition to buy them,” he said.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 10, 2013, 11:56:08 PM
In the Marketplace: Home sales in Hackensack and Wyckoff (http://www.northjersey.com/realestate/196110901_In_the_Marketplace__Home_sales_in_Hackensack_and_Wyckoff.html?page=all)
Thursday March 7, 2013, 5:06 PM
BY  DONNA ROLANDO
SPECIAL TO OPEN HOUSE
The Record

Whether it's a condo, cooperative or single-family home, empty nesters downsizing and first-time homebuyers like the convenience HACKENSACK and its proximity to New York City transportation and shopping, says Karen Kleinman, Realtor and sales associate with Prominent Properties International Realty, Tenafly.

With condos especially, buyers are drawn to the amenities, such as doormen and security, no exterior maintenance, gyms and pools, said Kleinman. "Living in a condo, you can go away on vacation, leaving your home and not having to worry about it."

Another trend she noted in this Bergen County town that mixes shopping, business and a variety of housing is that "some of today's buyers who grew up in Hackensack are returning to buy in Hackensack, as well."

Looking back, one can see a boost in the volume of single-family home sales in 2011 and 2012 in comparison to 2008, when 68 single-family houses sold at an average of $394,776 after about 110 days on the market.

The volume of sales spiked to 76 in 2011, but the average sold price dipped to $276,693 with about 96.5 days on the market. The number of single-family sales remained at 76 in 2012, but the average sales price rose slightly to $286,949 with an average of 111 days on market, said Kleinman.

The most significant progress, she said, came with the sale of condos, co-ops and townhouses, which rose in volume from 98 in 2011 to 149 in 2012, although still lagging behind 2008, which had 169 sales. The average sales price for this category fell to $159,707 in 2012, below the $256,711 realized in both 2011 and 2008. The average days on the market was 93 in 2008, but 117 in 2011 and 120 in 2012, according to Kleinman.

She expects 2013 to be a continuation of signs of progress evidenced in the preceding year.

According to the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service (NJMLS), there are 21 condo/co-op/townhouses for sale in Hackensack currently priced at $69,900 up to $279,000 for two bedrooms. Buyers can also find 14 single-family homes ranging from $170,000 for a three-bedroom colonial to $749,000 for a five-bedroom colonial.

Also in Bergen County, WYCKOFF is off to a very good year for real estate and is continuing sales at the new Barrister at Deep Brook subdivision featuring country-style homes on a cul-de-sac, says Corinne McKenna of Re/Max Hometowne Realty in Wyckoff.

"People are attracted to Wyckoff for a multitude of reasons - the charm of the early-Dutch brownstone homes, the schools and the location with easy access to New York, yet in a country atmosphere," she said.

McKenna describes Wyckoff as a town for all ages with local shopping and restaurants, parks and farms. She also noted that the home sites are generally larger than in surrounding towns, and strong property values are based on the desirability of the town.

"For the last several years, many buyers were of the mindset that they would make an offer on a property, and if they could steal it, they would jump in. Those days are gone. Buyers are adjusting to the market swing and there have been many homes with multiple offers," she said.

Reflecting on past sales activity, McKenna reports that 2008 brought 133 sales of single-family homes reflecting an average price of $745,410 and 10 townhomes at an average of $783,500.

Single-family home sales climbed in 2011 to 147, but prices dropped a little to an average of $728,246. In addition, townhouse sales more than doubled to 22, with $567,232 reflecting the average price.

Another spike was evident in 2012 with 165 sales for single-family homes at an average of $674,369.

According to the NJMLS, there are 20 single-family homes available at a range of $328,000 for a four-bedroom Cape Cod to $1.9 million for a six-bedroom colonial as well as two condo-townhouses priced at $739,000 and $849,900.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on February 17, 2014, 02:44:37 PM
As home prices rise, high- and low-end North Jersey markets missing out
Sunday, February 16, 2014    Last updated: Sunday February 16, 2014, 11:38 AM   
BY  KATHLEEN LYNN AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

As North Jersey home values rebounded during 2013, two market segments were left out: the very low-priced and the very high-priced communities, according to an analysis of property prices by The Record.
...
The gradual recovery of the housing market in 2013 meant that for the first time since 2006, Bergen County home prices moved up — at least in the first eight months of the year, the latest complete data available from public records.
...
In Hackensack, agent Larry Greenberg of Vikki Healey Properties in Maywood said The Record's findings don't match his experience, at least in terms of his specialty — condos and co-ops. Based on numbers from the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service, which uses different methods than The Record does to track prices, he said Hackensack condo and co-op prices are moving up, and he's optimistic that redevelopment proposals in Hackensack will make for a brightening home market. "The town is doing some things with development, which doesn't affect prices directly, but I think it has an effect on the way the town is perceived," he said.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/realestate/245721211_As_home_prices_rose__high-_and_low-end_towns_are_left_out.html?page=all#sthash.nPusIsP0.dpuf
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: just watching on February 17, 2014, 08:43:07 PM
Larry Greenberg, realtor, is right on the money. All the plans to redevelop downtown Hackensack is having an impact on the image of the town, and therefore on the supply-demand equation that dictates price. 

His exact words: "... I think it has an effect on the way the town is perceived," he said.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on June 09, 2014, 10:59:01 PM
From Asbury Park Press:
 Future retirees say they want out of New Jersey
 New poll shows only a third intend to remain in state when they retire

 http://www.app.com/story/news/politics/new-jersey/2014/06/09/future-retirees-say-want-new-jersey/10256279/



Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on June 28, 2015, 03:17:21 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/mobile/towns/priced-right-condo-sells-fast-1.1364688
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 25, 2016, 10:26:20 AM
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/03/see_town-by-town_average_home_sale_prices_for_berg.html

It's taking Hackensack longer to recover, apparently.  But, if you are in the market, worth a look because prices are down and likely to come back soon.

Related article: http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-leads-population-growth-trend-halts-flow-to-other-parts-of-n-j-1.1532063   

Hackensack average home price: $238,266(2015)  $267,200(2010)  $281,842 (2005). 

 
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: just watching on March 26, 2016, 08:23:03 AM
All of Bergen County is still insanely and stupidly overpriced for both buying and renting.  Some negative effects:  (1) Companies here want to move to other States where housing is lower, that way they can pay their employees less.  And for the same reason, the high cost of housing deters companies from moving TO New Jersey. You get so little for your money that employees don't want to relocate here (2) Salaries of government employees (State, County, local) are all much higher in States where housing costs are high, and that impacts taxpayers (3) Social service costs are much higher in States where housing costs are high, because most social services are essentially to subsidize a household's rent. Care to guess what the government subsizes for Section 8 rental in Paterson. It's ridiculous, Again this impacts taxpayers. (4) All other sectors of the economy suffer when most of people's income goes to rent or mortgage. There's no disposable income left to power the consumer economy. All of these 4 reasons are exactly why the economy has grown so little during the Obama years.  As much as I'd like to blame Obama, I see the real reason.
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on May 04, 2016, 03:16:20 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/home-construction-jumps-to-10-year-high-1.1558348

Home construction in New Jersey is running 20 percent ahead of last year's pace, powered by the multifamily sector's recovery from the worst housing downturn in decades.

New Jersey builders got permits for 6,448 housing units in the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was the strongest performance since the first quarter of 2006, when the housing market was booming. Last year, home builders started more than 31,000 units in the state, the highest number since 2006.

Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on December 08, 2016, 10:36:53 AM
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/12/recession_tanked_home_values_in_bergen_county_data_shows.html
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on December 10, 2016, 10:40:35 PM
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/12/how_bergen_county_has_changed_in_past_10_years.html
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on March 18, 2017, 01:11:44 PM
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2017/03/the_least_expensive_towns_in_bergen_county_by_the_square_foot.html
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on May 17, 2018, 06:34:51 PM
https://cooperator.com/article/condo-activity-blossoms-in-new-jersey/full
Title: Re: Buying/Selling/Renting Homes
Post by: Editor on May 27, 2018, 08:27:01 PM
http://www.nj.com/data/2018/05/good_luck_finding_a_home_in_these_15_nj_real_estate_markets.html

Hackensack is in the number 2 spot.

(Thanks Homer)