Here is my sold report for Bergenfield NJ homes using data from the New Jersey MLS.  Bergenfield is a very popular location because of it’s strong school district and affordability.  This report compares 2017 to 2016 through August.

Single Family Homes

• 12 more sales for an 8% increase (157 to 169)
• 37% less time on the market (86.6 to 64.8 days)
• 25% higher dollar volume ($55,241,499 to $69,164,292)
• 16% higher average price ($351,857 to $409,256)
• 11% higher median price ($325,000 to $360,000)
•  2% more Under Contract (187 to 191)
• 13% higher Under Contract listing price ($354,413 to $401,493)

Bergenfield real estate is moving at a blistering pace.  Look at the time on the market – that’s fabulous.  We track absorption rates – that’s how long it takes to sell what’s on the market now – and it’s been 2-3 months almost all year long.  You can also see it in the higher listing price range of homes under contract.

Because 16% is a tremendous and unsustainable increase we have to look further to see what’s happening.  You start by looking at the median which is 11%.  A 5% differential statistically is huge.  This tells us something is going on and what’s going on is new construction.

The most expensive homes are usually new construction or very recently built homes.  As a result, if you have a large number of these they pull up the average sales figures.  Bergenfield has had an explosion of new construction.  Of the 169 sales, 18 were new or newer homes.  That’s roughly 11%.  No wonder the overall figures are so high.

By the way, this is a perfect example of why you can’t just Zillow your way to a home’s true value.  Nothing works like the New Jersey MLS data.  At any rate, let’s see what happens when we eliminate these new homes.  I’ll go up through $600,000 because the 1 home in between 600k and 650k was an office exclusive without much data.

Sold Report for Bergenfield Homes to $600,000

• 7 more sales for a 5% increase (153 to 160)
• 42% less time on the market (88.1 to 51.2 days)
• 17% higher dollar volume ($44,889,499 to  $52,687,292)
• 12% higher average price ($313,913 to $351,249)
• 12% higher median price ($320,000 to $357,000)
• 2% fewer Under Contract homes (176 to 172)
• 7% higher Under Contract listing price ($329,280 to $353,102)

This makes much more sense.  The average and median prices are identical with a 12% rise.  Less homes under contract this year at up to $600,000 and only 2% more town wide speaks to the lack of inventory.  It might also be a bit of a pull back from the sharp increase in pricing.  There is yet another item to consider – distressed properties.

In 2016 there were 30 such homes but this year only 20.  That’s 1/3 less which is significant.  Distressed properties sell for less than market value and pull everything down with them.  It seems clear that part of the 12% rise in pricing has to do with the effect of distressed homes.  Of the 30 in 2016, half were foreclosures but only 5 of the 20 this year as best as I can tell.  The NJMLS has no separate category for these homes so I do a detailed search to the best extent possible.

This sold report for Bergenfield NJ homes shows that the market is doing very well.  Prices are up substantially, time on the market has been slashed and distressed properties are fewer by a good margin.