Begen County is filled with families and children. There are many great facilities for kids which I’ll be talking about but I also want to feature some of the pets waiting for adoption here because we have many pet facilities where you can get a great pet.

Very often after a family moves into their new home, they get a pet and that usually means a dog or a cat. Many home buyers buy a home and then get a dog because they are coming from apartments or the city where having a pet is not easy or allowed. There are so many wonderful dogs and cats in our animal shelters and here’s one who’s on the Urgent List at The Bergen County Animal Shelter which means poor Elton doesn’t have a lot of time left on this earth.

Because so many families have lost their jobs or their homes or both, the animal shelters are overwhelmed. Bergen County has a large facility but they can’t handle the inflow and euthanize animals. If you know of anyone who’s looking for a good pet, take a look at Elton.

Fostering a pet is also something that’s urgently needed and it gives you a good chance to see if you and a dog are a good match. I know of many good pet organizations in Bergen County where you can get advice, help and obedience classes so that you and your new dog can bond properly. Take a look at Elton – you’ll be glad you did.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages which means that they guarantee them. Without the backing of Fannie and Freddie, mortgage lenders have to find other investors to sell their mortgage loans to and those investors charge more so interest rates are higher. Fannie and Freddie backed mortgages are called conforming; the others are called jumbo. The limit on a conforming mortgage is $417,000 but that is about to change.

There’s also an intermediate level which is a special allowance for higher cost areas like Bergen County. Such mortage loans are at $417,000 – $625,000 with moderately higher interest rates than conforming loans. This is a super conforming loan but marketing folks have coined the phrases Jumbo and Super Jumbo. You’ll see a Jumbo Mortgage at $417-625,000 and Super Jumbo above $625,000.

OK, now you should have a good basic idea of how things work. Here’s where it gets interesting:

Fannie and Freddie are increasing the conforming mortgage loan limits to $729,750 on May 4th. This came about due to the economic stimulus package which was signed into law on February 17th. Wells Fargo will start taking applications for these loans on Monday, April 27th and I’m sure other banks will begin before May 4th too.

New Jersey MLS data shows that the 2008 average sales price for a single family home in Bergen County was $570,217. Even with a 20% down payment, this put a buyer into jumbo loan territory. In several towns it was often impossible for many buyers to qualify and is part of the reason that upper mid range homes have had such a hard time.

In the upper mid range market, it’s really been tough due to the restrictions on conforming loans. Loosening up lending for these homes creates more buyers for sellers. For real estate in Bergen County this is huge. Bergen County is the 18th most affluent county in the US; many of our towns have been severely impacted by the $417,000 limit and even $625,000 didn’t quite work.

For example, Tenafly had an average sales price last year of $915,581, Old Tappan was $1,147,159 and Woodcliff Lake was $838,309 plus many other Bergen County towns have scores of homes that will benefit. If you are a home buyer who’s looking at $850,000 homes, think of how this will help you! You won’t have to pay a point and your interest rate just dropped.

Think of the impact this will have on real estate in Bergen County and across the United States. Buying a home is never an isolated transaction. Real estate is a chain of events – there are homes sold above and below your own transaction so anything that happens in one price range affects it all. This is going to have quite an impact.

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Since the beginning of March the housing market for homes in Bergen County has really picked up and as we are now nearly through April, I thought that I would take a look at the MLS data to see if what I’ve been seeing is really happening. After all, most real estate agents are a pretty optimistic bunch so I just wanted to go into the New Jersey MLS and check.

Here’s what I found – things truly are picking up. Real estate is improving most definitely; it’s not dramatic but haven’t we had enough drama over the past 9 months? It’s steady and that’s good. Take a look at the figures below and you’ll see what I’m talking about. More buyers are coming out to look at homes and more homes are taking offers. Here are homes that came on the market for sale and which went under contract so far this year:

Jan – 1,232 Active/286 UC = 4.3 to 1 ratio
Feb -1,255 Active/335 UC = 3.8 to 1 ratio
Mar -1,693 Active/443 UC = 3.8 to 1 ratio
Apr -1,311 Active/413 UC = 3.2 to 1 ratio

The April figures are through today, April 23rd, and they certainly indicate continued improvement for Bergen County homes. What hasn’t been so clear are the Days on the Market figures but you really can’t get a sense of where that’s going until we’re further into the year because almost all sales in January and February originate from the previous year. But in March it took 110.64 days to sell a home and so far in April it’s been taking 103.59 days to sell a home which is a positive change.

The real estate market is always more active during the spring and early summer months and the pattern that is developing is quite normal which is excellent. For a home buyer, this is really a great time to buy a home and it seems that increasing numbers of people are sensing this and acting.

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“How’s real estate and what should I do?” I am receiving so many calls and messages like this that I thought I should post some answers. It seems that real estate is on everyone’s mind lately.

Here’s something to consider: A primary motivating factor for most people is simply because it was the right time. So ask yourself this question – Is this the right time for you?

The right time to move can be due to many reasons such as getting your kids out of the city and into a backyard, you’ve outgrown your home and need more space, you’ve had it with renting and want your own place, you’re ready to move to your dream retirement, everyone’s moved to California and you’re still in Bergen County etc.

If you’re wondering how to manage things based on how the real estate market is doing in Bergen County, here are some answers to help you:

Are you thinking of buying a home? Do it now – we’re at or near the bottom with mortgage rates at historic lows; inflation, with its high interest rates, is projected for the future.

Want to move up to a larger home? Move up now – the cost of upgrading is always the cheapest when you’re around a market’s bottom which is where we are today.

Own a home and not moving? Check your mortgage rate immediately. No matter when you purchased or if you did refinance recently, do this for your own benefit.

Thinking of selling your home? Get your home on the market now – you stand to lose another 5% this year so waiting will hurt you.

Not sure if this is the right time to move? Then don’t. If you’re not sure, its always best to stay put. However, it’s also best to investigate your options fully; I suggest you do this bi-annually.

Let me know if you have any other questions about how to handle the housing market in Bergen County.

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What Can We Expect in 2009?

I can answer this with one word – improvement. I had projected 10% depreciation but that was before the stunning sub prime mess was revealed. While we have “Monday Morning Quarterbacks,” the truth is virtually no one knew of this growing menace. The Tenafly market for homes in 2008 ended with 25% fewer sales and 18% depreciation.

Yet Tenafly homes did better than most; our market is more resilient than you’d think. Selling a home took less time in 2008 and first quarter figures indicate we’ll do even better this year.

Appraisers are still deducting 1% per month but say this will end later in the year; Jeff Otteau, the renowned analyst of New Jersey’s housing market, announced in mid March that 2009 will end with 9% depreciation statewide. This dovetails with a second half recovery; homes in Tenafly will see it during the fourth quarter.

By recovery I do not mean that prices will go up; they won’t. They will stop going down and the market will stabilize. We’ll stay there for another year or two before any upward swing bringing us to 2012 or later.

Although unemployment will continue to increase over the next several months, it should level off by year’s end. Unfortunately unemployment will not improve quickly. For now we can only estimate how this will affect our market; its impact takes a while to be felt.

But Washington funded the FHA to continue lending and increased the tax credit to $8,000 with no payback required. This enabled first time buyers to get in the market. With the lion’s share of price depreciation done and mortgage rates so low most of us have never seen this, home buyers are back in the market. Activity has really picked up since March 1st with no signs of slowing down.

What is certain is that Tenafly real estate remains one of the most in demand markets in the NYC metropolitan area. This will not change. While we can’t escape the storms of life, the truth is that Tenafly weathers them better than most in Bergen County and the New York City area.

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If you’re going to be in Bergen County next Tuesday please come by and help our Blood Drive by donating blood. This year we’ve teamed up with the philanthropic group Cresskill Gives Back so we’re hoping to be even more successful than we were before.

Cresskill Gives Back was begun by a group of local young adults who wanted to help others less fortunate than themselves and to assist with other community needs. Cresskill Gives Back is a wonderful example of the strong community spirit you’ll find here in Bergen County.

So come on over to donate your blood and help us make make this year’s Blood Drive the best ever!

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Cresskill is celebrating Earth Day in a very special way by having it’s first ever Earthfest which is an all day fun filled event for people of all ages.  There’s going to be a large number of learning activities plus live entertainment by local musicians, a Family Bicycle Tour (it’s also ok if you’re not a family), an Environmental Fun Walk, a volunteer community clean up of the Tenakill Brook and just for the children there’s a Bicycle Rodeo and Safety Check so be sure to have them bring their bike. It’s on from 9 -2 and there will be many environmental groups and regulation agencies present to help educate everyone about how to preserve and protect the environment and to show you how to live a better life by going green. In fact, if you’ve ever thought about buying a green car there will be an exhibit of the latest in green cars. Put together by the Cresskill Environmental Commission and the Cresskill Education Fund, this is a very impressive event that has everything you’d expect of an Earth Day celebration from alternative energy exhibits to an arts and crafts table to foods from organic farms. If it’s about the environment and making your world more green, you’ll find it at Cresskill’s Earthfest 09 at the Recreation Center on 3rd Street. Go to Cresskill's Website and then on to Newsletters where you’ll find all the information in the April newsletter or you can email questions to Earthfest09@aol.com. Bergen County is known for it’s community spirit and Earthfest 09 sure demonstrates it!

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The figures are in and the real estate market in Bergen County is doing OK.  It’s still a buyer’s market for homes but you can see some signs of improvement.

In January I had written that the real estate market in Bergen County would shift during the 4th quarter of 2009 and stabilize.  From then on for a few years we would be working in a narrow range before turning upward again.  This time it would take longer than it did in the early 90’s to rebound fully but being stable is good.  So far my projection is still on target.

Most of the reports at that time were for this to happen once we were solidly in 2010 – well, the media reports are singing a different song because things have changed.  And so has the market.

If you look at the number of homes coming onto the market and going under contract, what you’ll find is very interesting.  For the homes becoming active in the New Jersey MLS, there’s been an 11% drop during the first quarter of 2009 but the pace of homes going under contract is the same this year as it was last year.  Do I hear the word stable anywhere?  Yes, this is indeed a sign of stabilization and that’s, to quote Martha Stewart, a good thing.

For the first quarter in both 2008 and 2009 the Active to Under Contract ratio is 3.9 to 1 in the New Jersey MLS data.  This means that the pace of home sales is maintaining itself and it’s also quite respectable – the ratio of a strong seller’s market is 2 to 1.

Looking closer to see what happened we find that in 2008 the rate at which homes became active was pretty normal – a gradual progression as you moved more into the year.  But in 2009, January and February were anemic and then we had a 32% explosion upward in March.  Do you think that the spring real esate market is back in Bergen County?  I sure do.

Home buying activity has really picked up since March 1st and home sellers have correspondingly jumped into the real estate market.  Why would they wait until now to put their home on the market for sale?  Because the atmosphere was so negative at the end of 2008 that it made many homeowners hold off.  What’s changed?  Well, just to mention a few items – the $8,000 tax credit, liberalization of FHA mortgages, even lower mortage rates, home prices not seen in nearly 8 years and the natural spring rhythm of home buying.

While home values are still going down – another 5% for the rest of this year – I still feel that the market will be stabilized by the 4th quarter.  What we’ve seen so far this year in maintaining the pace of sales and in the recent surge in home buying activity certainly point to this and also to a good spring market for Bergen County homes.  In fact, I won’t be surprised to learn that the bottom of the real estate market in Bergen County was the end of 2008 and the very beginning of 2009.  2009 will be a year of change.

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Here’s the New Jersey Association of Realtors announcement for a free webinar on the tax credit for buying a home that expires on December 1st – sign up for this Friday’s free  webinar to find out how to qualify for up to a $8,000 tax credit whether you’re buying a home in Bergen County or elsewhere:

FREE Home Buyer Tax Credit Webinar – April 3 at Noon

The countdown to December 1, 2009 has begun. Learn how to take advantage of the tax credit during a free Get the Real StorySM webinar on Friday, April 3, 2009 at noon. Register for the webinar on Friday by visiting http://www.njar.com/rs_register.php. The website address for participating will be e-mailed to you in advance of the event. Please note, space for the live event is limited.

NJAR^® Executive Vice President Jarrod C. Grasso, RCE will officially kick off the new REAL Story website during the webinar, and then Linda Goold, tax counsel for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^®, will discuss the detailed advantages of the first-time buyer tax credit and how purchasers can claim the credit

If you can’t make the webinar, you can find answers to questions about today’s market in New Jersey anytime at www.REALstoryNJ.com. The webinar will also be available on the site to view after it is presented live.

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