Here is my real estate market update for 2014: 2014 will go down as a positive year for Bergen County homes but also quite a varied year. Let’s look at the county’s over all performance comparing 2013 to 2014 –
Fewer Sales by 5% – from 8,890 in 2013 to 8,434 in 2014. Why? Fewer homes for sale = fewer closings. The median sold price went up by 3% – from $399,750 in 2013 to $411,021 in 2014. This shows that the market moved higher in 2014. Average sales price was virtually even which shows stability and strength. Strong consumer demand put pressure on pricing but buyers remain cautious so appreciation is here but at a moderate level. Quicker sales by 7% – from 93.9 to 87 days on the market. This is another sign of strong consumer demand and considering the fact that mortgages took longer to process in 2014 this is a very impressive showing.
Looking at the county as a whole we see a real estate market that was solid and gathering strength throughout the year. Let’s take a look at some individual towns now –
Alpine Homes – The number of sales was flat (from 13 to 12) as was the time it took to sell a home (148.2 days in 2013 to 149.7 in 2014). Median sold prices were down by 60% and average sales prices were down by 35% to $2,253,458. Top tier homes in Alpine weren’t moving and there were fewer for sale in 2014.
Bergenfield Homes- 10% drop in sales with an 8% rise in average prices and a 13% rise in median pricing. Days on the market dropped by 17%. What happened? Bergenfield’s bottom rose. Entry level homes here became significantly more expensive.
Englewood Homes – Here we have 2 towns because of a void in the market. Not at lot at $550-750,000. Up through $1 million we have 3% fewer sales with 2% higher median pricing and average sales pricing up by 4%. However it took much longer to sell a home from 95.5 to 138.7 days. This comes from the fact that we’re still working through several foreclosures and short sales. Over $1 million there were 43% fewer sales but the homes that sold were on the market for less time (by 38%). Average sales prices were up by 7% more while medians were down by 43%. Rampant over pricing and a large number for sale hurt the high end upper tier home.
Ridgewood Homes – 6% fewer sales, average sales pricing down by 5% to $806,815 while median sold pricing was flat. Time on the market was blistering with a 23% less days on the market from 59.6 to 45.8 days. Ridgewood was incredibly strong – we just needed more homes to sell and particularly at the higher end of the market.
Tenafly Homes – Inventory was a huge problem which translated to 8% less sales. We sold out so many high end new construction homes in 2013 that there wasn’t much available which showed up in a 3% lower median price and 4% lower average sales price of $996,240. Demand was so strong that homes sold much faster in 2014 from 102.8 to 86.1 days on the market.
If you have any questions about this real estate market update or want other information, just contact me and I’ll get you what you want.
