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A relative of mine has been trying to sell his house in Bergen County for 2 months now. Not even a single offer, and I think only 5 viewing appointments so far.
Granted this house is above $1M.... but the situation is pathetic.
Houses near him took 6 months to 1 year to sell the previous year, and going into this year. They also went below market value, or just touching it.
Is the situation only going to become more disastrous as the years go by?
Upper Middle Class/Wealthy people refusing to buy in NJ or leaving the state entirely?
I guess when the only population gains NJ sees in 10 years is because of illegals/legal immigrants.... who aren't racing to buy $1M+ homes... this is the end result
Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in useless property taxes that go to nonsense like pensions....all to be screwed over this way when you want to leave the area.
NJ is the new Mississippi for the next 10 years if trends continue this way.
Most people can't afford a $1 million home. Not just illegals. They probably are pricing their home too high. I can't speak for the over $1 million market but the under $500,000 market is super hot still.
I don't know what you're talking about. Houses in my area are selling like hotcakes. So much so, that owners who had no intention of selling in the next couple of years put their homes on the market because it's a great sellers' market. There are SIX houses for sale on our street. (Three at once would be a lot.) Doesn't matter if the house is renovated, big or small, or has an above ground oil tank.
Most people can't afford a $1 million home. Not just illegals. They probably are pricing their home too high. I can't speak for the over $1 million market but the under $500,000 market is super hot still.
I agree with you on the $600,000 to $700,000 range here in Bergen which is selling like hot cakes if the house is maintained well.
But the $1M and above situation (upper middle class) is beyond pathetic. There are a solid 780 homes priced above $1M still sitting in Bergen County.
Even if the price was too high(which it isn't. it's below market value).... only 5 viewings in 2 months isn't normal.
Homes taking almost 1 year to sell isn't normal.
It could partly be due to coronavirus fears that viewings aren't happening... but that doesn't explain why the $600K-$700K market is so hot.
I don't mean to demean illegals... but according to data... the literally the only net population gains in NJ since 2010 has been due to legal immigrants/illegals. They don't seem to want to spend high on homes lol.
Last edited by astrocytoma; 12-02-2020 at 10:07 AM..
I don't know what you're talking about. Houses in my area are selling like hotcakes. So much so, that owners who had no intention of selling in the next couple of years put their homes on the market because it's a great sellers' market. There are SIX houses for sale on our street. (Three at once would be a lot.) Doesn't matter if the house is renovated, big or small, or has an above ground oil tank.
All six went under contract within 8 days.
It took 9 months to sell the house across the street. ($1M+)
6 months for the house behind them to sell. ($1M+)
This is a central town in the largest county in NJ... so no I didn't post in the wrong board.
I too think this is weird. We'll be putting my late mother's house up in the spring, but the houses around her have been selling for above asking after only a few days on the market (in the $600K - $750 range). Our experience might be different because it is not updated and so it will have to be a buyer who wants to renovate to their own taste, but still, that experience has not been the norm either for that area of NW Bergen County or in Monmouth County where I live.
My friend in Middletown put her house on the market on a Friday in July. She had 20 showings THAT NIGHT and by Tuesday they stopped taking bids at 5 p.m. She sold it for $30K over asking. $495K.
It is actually coronavirus that was pushing her sale. The hastily-scheduled open house drew a traffic jam of New York plates. Middletown is always a big draw for fleeing Brooklynites and Staten Islanders, though.
Maybe your friend's house is not correctly priced, or maybe it is specific to the +$1 million market.
The house is probably over priced. When we sold our last house we had 57 buyers look at it in 6 months. We also lowered the price 4% two times and accepted 9% less than the original listing price. When we bought our current home, I offered 11% below asking and it was accepted. The seller was smart because house prices dropped quickly after that. We are in Howell, NJ. 13 years later our house is finally valued at 5% more than we paid for it. Prices have risen sharply in just the past few months.
I too think this is weird. We'll be putting my late mother's house up in the spring, but the houses around her have been selling for above asking after only a few days on the market (in the $600K - $750 range). Our experience might be different because it is not updated and so it will have to be a buyer who wants to renovate to their own taste, but still, that experience has not been the norm either for that area of NW Bergen County or in Monmouth County where I live.
My friend in Middletown put her house on the market on a Friday in July. She had 20 showings THAT NIGHT and by Tuesday they stopped taking bids at 5 p.m. She sold it for $30K over asking.
It is actually coronavirus that was pushing her sale. The hastily-scheduled open house drew a traffic jam of New York plates. Middletown is always a big draw for fleeing Brooklynites and Staten Islanders, though.
Maybe your friend's house is not correctly priced, or maybe it is specific to the +$1 million market.
$600K to $800K is selling extremely fast. No doubt about that. The agent showed them the MLS data. The average time on market before selling is 2 weeks! I am not exaggerating. 2 weeks!
Middletown is booming so I wouldn't consider them representative of the situation in NJ for upper middle class areas...
but I really do think the $1M+ above market throughout Bergen is not moving at all. The price is very fair, and in line with the market. 5,000 square feet of house on 2 floors is always going to be above $1M in Bergen...
Zillow shows 780 homes in that range... and most have been on market for 3 months now... and this isn't a NW Bergen problem either...Alpine/Closter etc are just frozen in time.
Scary, and Sad.
Last edited by astrocytoma; 12-02-2020 at 10:09 AM..
Most homes are not 1M. Outlier. More, importantly, market dictates value. Over-priced.
The rest are selling like hotcakes.
The Tax assessment alone is above $1M+.... the property taxes are above $20K+ Range without going into specifics... so not over priced at all.
780+ homes in Bergen on the market are priced above $1M+ ... 258+ homes are over $2M+
"hotcakes"= If NJ wants to be state of employees instead of employers or job creators (upper middle class). Then NJ is the new Alabama, and the $1M+ home market is very pathetic. I rest my case.
Last edited by astrocytoma; 12-02-2020 at 10:06 AM..
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