home prices...

[V]

Last time i looked at home prices in Bergen Country NJ was winter/spring 2007. I learned a lot about realty then and all whats involved etc. However at that point i chose not to buy a home just yet and ended up joining the military.
Now 2.5 years later, i starting to think about getting a home in the next 2 years, and for the hell of it, i decided to look through listings online in the same areas where i looked back in 2007.
I was shocked at how much home prices have fallen in 2 years in my area.
I know most of NJ and other parts of the country always had prices much less than northeastern nj, so prices here may still seem high to people from outside the area.
For example, 4 houses up my street, in 2007 a house was selling for 555,000. yes, and it was just a 3bed 2 bath, with a detached 1 car garage and no real property. It is STILL listed but now at around 350,000. Thats a drop of 200,000 is just 2 years! I did NOT expect that.
Has prices all over NY/NJ drop by this much or close?
In 2007 finding a house for under 400k was impossible in my area, now they go all the way down to 250k.... wow.
Id be looking to buy between nov '11-jan '12. and i'd prefer to stay in bergen county near friends and family, maybe id consider hudson country or over the ny border into rockland co.

I'm just still amazed by the drop in values. Hopefully the taxes dropped as well....

[NastyEllEssWon]

i think thats basically just reflective on the status of the economy

[Blackbirdws6]

One of the main reasons I purchased now. May still go lower but I think I jumped at a good time.

[slugger27nj]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

I'm just still amazed by the drop in value.

I'm not. Home prices were severely over-inflated for far too long, and it was only a matter of time before that bubble burst.

Hopefully the taxes dropped as well....

[LS1Hawk]

Paul, where in Bergen County did you live? I know around my area (Oakland) prices have not really changed much.

[//<86TA>\\]

i havent seen any real drop in prices around me. they are still pretty much the same despite the economy and housing market.

[1QWIKBIRD]

Home prices have taken a hit everywhere. The prices from 2 years ago were over inflated and are now prices more representative of market value. As for property taxes, they never go down in any significant way. The best you can hope for is they hold steady.

I do land surveying, mostly in Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester counties and we were seeing houses sell for incredible amounts, now those same houses and/or neighborhoods are down by 30%-40%. The actual numbers are on a different scale, but the %'s are pretty close. Any idea what the taxes for that house you looked at are?

I'd say 60% of the title/mortgage surveys we have done over the past 8 months have been forclosures or short sales. We show up and the house is empty, yard is overgrown, stickers on the windows "Home is Winterized", no realty "For Sale" signs out front just an empty house that looks like someone left in a hurry or was forced out. Kinda sad really, but these are likely the same people that foolishly put their name on a mortgage for 250,000 when the house was truly only worth 180,000-200,00 and they only make 40,0000 and those economics don't work.

Over the last month business has picked back and the housing market is starting to move again. Prices aren't jumping, but homes sales seems to be ticking up ever so slightly. We are putting out bids on small construction jobs too, so maybe this economy has finally started the slow steady climb out of the cellar.

Good Luck on the search. If your credit is good and you are in a cash strong position, now is pretty good time to buy and you'll have the leverage. Do everything you can to put 20% down (or as much as possible), banks like this as it shows a strong commitment. Look into splitting the mortgage payment and paying half every 2 weeks, you end up knocking years off the mortgage and saving oodles of cash in interest. I don't know Bergen County very well, but look out if you are near a body of water, Flood Insurance isn't cheap and Flood Elevation Certs are another cost (in addition to the survery) if needed. Watch out for underground fuel tanks, these can get very costly if a problem arises and most home owners policies require a separate rider to cover them. Get all your inspections done well in advance of closing, this way if anything pops up you can use this to negotiate with. Getting the inspection reports a day before closing makes it more difficult to deal if major items pop up. Get everything in writing, there are no handshakes, nobody's word is worth a dime and take lots of pics of the house inside and out when you first look at it and on the final walk through the morning of settlement. You'd be surprised the kind of stunts people pull. Switching out expensive ceiling fans/lights for junk ones, switching out the nice new appliances for older ones. Damages to walls and floors from moving. The window AC units they said they'd leave behind are no where to be found? The vinyl shed they said they were leaving is suddenly not there? And make sure you use an attorney for the transaction, not your buddy who does medical malpractice or handles divorces, but a real estate attorney. This home will likely be your biggest investment, so do the homework.

Chris

[The Fixer]

Paul, I've seen the housing prices drop pretty dramatically in our area - for people that need to sell. For example - my sister-in-law and her husband just bought a house in Cliffside. Last year the owner was asking around 450K, they wound up getting it for almost 100K less because the house sat for a year on the market. If the seller isn't in a bind, they usually keep the price jacked up, hoping for that one person that will pay what they want, even in this crappy economy.

And, the taxes haven't come down - the only way they will is if you appeal, and you show them proof that the house you bought isn't worth what it's assessed at any more (using comparable recent home sales prices).

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Around here prices have barely changed. You might be able to buy a plot of land for $250,000, that's about it.

[ShitOnWheels]

Paul - I know you said you don't want to go too far away from friends and family in Bergen County, but Passaic county isn't all that far. West Milford, I think, has the best bang for the buck in terms of houses. And the market is steady here, as stated by our mortgage guy when we refinanced our current house. Our appraised value also went up between October 2008 and April 2009 when we had it appraised. You can find very decent sized homes for around $300k in this area. And property taxes are not through the roof here.

Just something to consider.

[Fast92RS]

Alot of the houses im my area have dropped in prices but I cant understand in certain areas by me houses' are still selling for $800,000 to over a million. In this economy who is buying million dollars houses in this area.

[V]

im from Closter, right next to Alpine, (the most expensive zip code in the US in 2007).
I just love the area, how close it is to everything and all.

Towns id like to stay in include, closter, norwood, northvale, river edge, paramus, river vale, emerson, oradell, garfeild, teaneck, hillsdale, westwood, and that whole general area, minus bergenfeild/dumont. My parents other house is in bergenfeild(2 fam) and taxes.. dam, if it wasnt paid off, they would dump that one. They also got a North Bergen(2 fam) house, it isnt bad down there, but not for me to live really, a bit far.

my parents Closter house(2 fam) just got reappraised and dropped it to 800k, down from 1.1M about 3 years ago. (they bought it in 1976 or so and added on in 1980) So their taxes will go down a lil(were paying ~14k a year). I'll be inheriting that house eventually(5-10 years), so i've considered renting a place until then. But i dunno, once dec 2011 rolls around and i get out of the army, ill see where i end up. Who knows, prices by then may change once again.

[JL8Jeff]

I saw our area drop from most houses listed in the low/mid 400 range to mid/high 300 range but sales seem to be picking up and listing prices have climbed back up a little as well.