Dear Editor:
Realtor Lori Turoff’s “Hoboken Condo Report” (1/21/07) was great news for sellers. However, there was something left to be desired for buyers. Ms. Turoff describes the current housing market as “healthy”. I couldn’t disagree more.
Ms. Turoff proclaims that the Hoboken condo market frenzy has ended with average condo prices hovering around a half million dollars. Ms. Turoff says that the market has stabilized. I disagree, but that isn’t the point. The Hoboken real estate market, like markets all over Hudson County, are overpriced, and even if prices didn’t jump 200 percent in 2006 as in previous years, that doesn’t mean there are great deals. The market is still overpriced, and buyers would be wiser not to listen to Ms. Turoff’s advice of buying now. The market is as venomous as it ever was, and there is one key thing that Ms. Turoff fails to mention. Buyers have fueled this housing boom in recent years, not the sellers. Buyers will start to see “fair” deals, but only if they stay away from the market, not jump into it as Ms. Turoff advises. Even if one were to negotiate $50,000 off an asking price now, they’re probably still overpaying.
With prices where they are it certainly sounds to me like the frenzy is still going strong, and Ms. Turoff only fans the flames when she advises buyers to move now before inventory shrinks and prices rise. Ms. Turoff is causing a false sense of urgency for buyers that just isn’t there. All buyers should realize with an ailing economy, rising energy prices and mortgage rates that condo units, and homes for that matter, aren’t going anywhere. Bottom line – don’t be pressured into it.
Dave Lopez
Jersey City