BERGEN COUNTY HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

 NOVEMBER HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

ADVICE

Buyers, November and December are the best times to save when purchasing a new home because there is less competition. Let's be clear, we are still in a seller's market since we don't have a ton of inventory. Take advantage of the market lull and keep looking through the holidays, this is when other buyers stop. Traditionally homes that go under contract during these months sell for less money due to the reduced buyer demand.

Sellers, start preparing your home for January. Don't list now unless you absolutely need to. While buyers get busy during the holidays, something amazing happens in January. Buyers come out of holiday hibernation with the "new year, new home" mantra and there are never enough houses for sale during the month. Declutter, make repairs, I can even have the photographer come in and take photos now. We want to have everything ready to go so we can list in the beginning of 2022.

The first week of November brings a slight boost in new single-family (+11%) and condo (+1.5%) inventory but a steep decline in just listed multi-families (-53%). This week we saw a significant increase (+27%) of homes that went under contract. As expected there were more closings last week (+11%) which was the end of the month, than this week.

As predicted we are seeing the numbers continue to decrease as we get further into November. There were -11.7% fewer new listings this week (Single Family: -7%, Multi-Family: -4%, Condos: -25%). This week we saw a SIGNIFICANT dip in the number of homes that went under contract (-54%). We also had less closing (-17%) this week.

 OCTOBER HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

ADVICE

It is officially autumn, the spring market is over, and we are seeing home values decline.

If you are a potential seller, you have already missed the height of the market, LIST NOW! According to the majority of trade publications, we are expected to see an increase in Mortgage rates starting in December as a result of the Federal Reserve saying it will begin to taper the purchases of mortgage-backed bonds. As mortgage rates increase, buyers’ money won’t go as far. This means they will be paying the same amount, but a higher percentage will be going to the bank, and less will go to you. List while the rates are still low, do not wait for the spring market.

If you are a buyer using a mortgage, this is the time to buy! Get the best of both worlds, lower home prices and lower rates. While properly priced homes are still getting multiple offers, the bidding wars are nowhere as intense as they had been just a few months ago.

If you are a cash buyer, wait! If you don’t need a loan to purchase a home, continue to hold out. Home values will be forced to decline as interest rates increase. Since you are not impacted by these rates, if you can wait it out you will save.

WEEKLY NUMBERS

Data is pulled weekly from NJMLS data. Some numbers may vary from final monthly figures which are officially released by the NJMLS 15 days after the end of the month.