This time last year I was in Israel visiting my daughter, son in law and grandchildren. Yeshiva week has always been the perfect time to go away. The slower winter season is usually coming to an end and the spring season usually starts in full force shortly thereafter, during the early weeks of February. Having an Open House on the Sunday of Yeshiva week was unheard of…. Who would even show up?
Fast forward to this year and Yeshiva week is unrecognizable. One of my agents was telling me that when she pulled up to start her open house last Sunday there was already a line of people waiting to get in.
In all my years selling Real Estate in Bergen county I have never encountered what we are seeing today. Lines out the door at an open house? We have all been hearing about low interest rates and families fleeing the city to the suburbs driving up demand, but an additional key factor is behind all these crazy open house lines. There are so few homes for sale on the market right now. At this time last year there were 116 houses for sale in Teaneck compared to 53 this year. That is a drop of more than 50% in the inventory of homes.
I have been getting many calls from homeowners in Teaneck asking about what their houses are worth. In the same breadth, however, I am hearing that they aren’t quite ready to move yet.
The WSJ just published a great article addressing this exact issue: older couples are pushing off retirement, and the natural next step of downsizing to a retirement community or down south to Florida isn’t happening at nearly the same pace as in the past. When husband and wife are both still working full time and salaries still being earned, the itch or appetite to leave the comfort of their family home (where the extra rooms are now offices) is of less interest.
What does this mean for today’s home buyers? Long lines at open houses, bidding wars, widening the area of search which may not have been considered before. Feel free to share
Your thoughts regarding this interesting supply and demand dilemma with me at [email protected] or call my cell at 201 826 8809.
Nechama Polak is the Broker of Record and owner of V and N Group LLC located at 1401 Palisade Ave, Teaneck New Jersey, 201 692 3700.
