The Bergen County Homes Blog

In order to keep on top of what’s happening in the 70 municipalities in Bergen County I sign up for email notices from their online services.  One of those is the River Vale Police Department.  If you own a River Vale home you really should make sure you get the notices that your police department regularly emails.  I have found these to be so useful to anyone and essential if you live in River Vale.

Let’s take the latest email alert I received from the River Vale Police.  It arrived the other day in my email inbox and was a warning to River Vale residents about social networking.  In the message was a story about Nashua New Hampshire where a resident had been robbed of over $200,000 worth of personal items because they had told everyone through social networking that they were going on a vacation.

The River Vale Police Department was warning town residents that if you are planning a trip, don’t broadcast your plans through your social network presence because thieves watch for exactly that and rob houses based on such postings.  I never fail to be impressed with the constant stream of very valuable information that River Vale residents get from their police department.  So if you own a River Vale home, be sure to sign up for the River Vale Police Deparment email alerts.  You can reach the RV Police at 201-264-1111.

  Two towns in the Pascack Valley have come together as a team to offer their residents all options for summer day camp.  If you have a Hillsdale home or a River Vale home, you now have the choice of full or half day summer camp for your children.  Each town will accept the other’s children on an equal footing with their own residents which serves to share both town’s resources and fully answer’s homeowner needs.

  River Vale has a half day summer program and Hillsdale has a full day summer camp.  This is truly innovative because most homeowners are stuck with only one choice – whatever their town has to offer.  By sharing their resources, both Hillsdale and River Vale have given their families with children an unbeatable situation.  This is just another example of why our suburban lifestyle keeps  Bergen County homes  in high demand.  

  If you have a school aged child and need a summer camp placement, go to the Hillsdale website for full day and the River Vale website for half day placements.  Whether you’re looking at Hillsdale homes or River Vale homes you know you’ve got summer camp covered!

Here is a statistical report on the market for River Vale homes from 2007 through 2009.  In looking at the River Vale real estate market data from the New Jersey MLS, you’ll find that while the number of homes sold in 2009 decreased by 21% the depreciation rate was only 3%.  The most active part of the River Vale homes market, $500-650,000, had 10% fewer sales and 2% depreciation.  Fewer sales and less depreciation is the classic pattern of a recovery.

What has been the most difficult part of the market, however, is the $600-800,000 price range but I expect this to change dramatically in 2010.  All in all the market for River Vale homes is definitely improving and should be strong this year. 

 River Vale, NJ – Year to Year Comparison

  Sales Analysis              2007    2008    2009

 $0-400,000                  1          6          7                                 

$400-450,000              7          5          8         

$450-500,000              7          8          6         

$500-550,000              8          8          9

$550-600,000              12        10        11

$600-650,000              14        11        7

$650-700,000              7          8          3

$700-750,000              6          13        2

$750-800,000              7          6          2

$800-850,000              6          2          4

$850-900,000              4          0          3

$900-950,000              3          3          2

$950-1 million               3          1          3

$1-1.25 million              6          3          2

$1.25-1.5 million           3          2          2

$1.5 million+                 1          0          0

Total                             95        86        71 (-21%)

                                           2007                        2008                  2009

Avg. List Price                   $736,837                 $679,288            $657,208

Avg. Sales Price                $708,787                 $647,697           $628,437

Whether it’s  Tenafly homes, Englewood homes, River Vale homes, Westwood homes or anywhere else in Bergen County, what’s happening in the housing market is important and always of interest.  USA Today has great interactive graphs from Moody\’s  that track 5 critical measurements of the real estate market.  What these interactive charts show is solid improvement across the board beginning with the 4th quarter of 2009!