By Nechama Polak
With the summer solstice occurring just days ago, camp trunks well on their way to the mountains and July 4th barbecue preparations already in the works, it’s safe to say that we are no longer in the spring market. In years past, summertime would herald a slowing of activity in the real estate market from the usual frenzied pace of springtime, but all indications are that this is not where we will be headed this year. Trends which were beginning to emerge in the early spring market pointed to a lowering of asking prices on new listings, reversing the sky high numbers reached last year. With the latest data, we see these numbers have come right back to their all time highs.
The same reversal can be seen in the average sale price of homes in Teaneck, Bergenfield and New Milford, and the entire Bergen County as well, with these numbers only a percentage point away from their all time highs. These prices incredibly span across almost all dollar ranges. Whether homes are priced at $500,000 or $1.5 million, buyers are lining up to compete against each other. So confident are realtors of demand for their inventory, instructions are being included in listings that an open house will occur on Sunday followed by a note that final and best offers will be due by that Wednesday. At any other time such brazen marketing of your home would be viewed as chutzpah but now, without these instructions, chaos would ensue.
As to the higher end of the local market, our company has even closed a home in the multi million dollar category this year, with a sale close to $4 million. The charts below speak for themselves about home prices and values in our area, but the real story for me is the current intensity of the buyers and the buying process itself. The speed and force with which offers need to be presented is more akin to the process of renting an apartment on the Upper West Side in September than anything resembling a home buying contract with its usual slow, deliberate pace.
It seems there will be no summer break for those buyers not fortunate enough to have landed their home for the coming school year.
Nechama Polak is the broker of record and owner of V&N Group LLC, located at 1401 Palisade Avenue in Teaneck. Send your thoughts and comments to [email protected] or call 201 826 8809.
