John Prakash’s family has owned their home in Weehawken for almost 40 years. The Millburn resident was raised at the Cooper Place site, as were his three sisters.
“We all have so many fond memories of that house,” Prakash said. “But with our parents gone now, we had to sell it. It was really an emotional time for all of us, packing up 40 years of memories in boxes and showing our beloved home to strangers.”
However, much to Prakash’s surprise, he had no idea how much the house he grew up in was worth.
“I had no clue,” Prakash said. “I figured perhaps $200,000 at best. I didn’t even know the real estate values in the town. I haven’t lived in Weehawken in about 10 years, so I had not kept up with the prices. I mentioned what we were looking for to a Realtor and he just laughed at me.”
The Prakash home was on the market for exactly one week. It sold for almost $400,000 – twice what he was expecting.
Prakash is not alone. There are several other Weehawken residents who have found that it is the most opportune time to try to sell their homes, because property values are at an all-time high. Real estate experts are all saying that it is definitely a seller’s market throughout Hudson County, with the prime location being Weehawken.
According to the latest figures released by the National Association of Realtors, residential home prices in Hudson County have increased by 14 percent over a year ago, thanks mainly to a strong demand for homes and a weak supply.
The average residential home in Hudson County sold for $153,000 in 2000, up from $134,500 in 1999. According to Joe Hottendorf, the executive officer for the Hudson County Board of Realtors, the average residential property went for $197,000, up from $171,000 in 1999.
And the biggest increase in the average selling price has taken place in Weehawken, where the average home has gone from a selling price of $140,000 two years ago to an estimated $210,000 now, an increase of nearly 30 percent in just two years.
Real estate experts believe that the trend has been caused by a stagnation in single-family development in the area, especially in Weehawken, coupled with the fact that people have become more interested in living in the area.
“There is a cheaper cost of living in Hudson County and Weehawken, with a general proximity to Manhattan, in terms of commuting,” said Allan Averson, a representative for the NAR. “The lower cost of living and lower taxes have lured a lot of Manhattan professionals to Hudson County. Weehawken is one of the more attractive areas, because there is a waterfront community there.”
The highly publicized first phase of the Roseland Properties development, namely 42 brownstone houses, is set to begin construction any day, which will only further lead to an increase in property values throughout the township.
Because so many people are interested in the general locale, it has led to increased values.
Not enough supply
The challenge has also caused some concern with Realtors, because there simply aren’t enough affordable single-family units available to fit the needs of prospective buyers. Realtors believe that they cannot take full advantage of the rise in market prices. Prospective buyers have to be on the lookout, while prospective sellers lick their chops in anticipation.
“I’ve been in this business 40 years and nothing surprises me,” said Robert DiRuggiero of DiRuggiero Realty in Hoboken. “From my standpoint, because of the shrinking in the amount of the product and the high demand, the sellers can call the shots. Right now, it’s a strong seller’s market and it’s been that way for a while. People want to live in Hudson County. It’s a strong draw.”
Barbara Tulko of Re/Max in Weehawken concurred. “There’s been a little bit of a strange set of circumstances in Weehawken,” she said. “Houses within reasonable price ranges, ones the average person could buy, are selling a lot of times in excess of what the asking price is. Often there are multiple bids and there are not enough homes in Weehawken for the amount of people who would like to live there.”
Diane Barsa, who runs Sky-Line Realty in Weehawken, agreed that it’s a seller’s market.
“People who never would have thought about selling their homes before are doing so,” Barsa said. “They’re taking advantage of the market. They don’t know how long the trend is going to last, so they’re cashing in on the opportunity and selling their property at the highest possible value.”
Added Barsa, “There are so many people interested in buying in Weehawken, so people are willing to sell, because the price is right for them. I know of Realtors who are trying to buy as much property in Weehawken as they can, because they know it’s a solid investment.”
Barsa said that she sold 17 homes in 2000 and has six listed sales pending already this year, with five closings. She offered an example of just how the market is rising.
“We had a two-family house that we first sold in November of 1997 for $297,000,” Barsa said. “It was listed last month and sold in one week for $400,000, with no improvements done to the home. When we have something listed, I would have to say that it goes pretty quickly. Some in the span of days.”
Bidding wars
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said that the latest figures from the NAR just confirm what the magazine New Jersey Monthly published recently, that Weehawken had the highest property values in Hudson County and enjoyed the largest increase of all similar sized municipalities in the state.
“I think it shows a lot about the stability of the town,” Turner said. “We’re a very stable community, offer a lot of great services with a good quality of life. It shows that people want to live in Weehawken. I’ve heard that there have actually been bidding wars over available properties. To have prospective buyers wanting to chose Weehawken over other communities, we have to be doing something right.”
Although Turner was encouraged by the NAR statistics, he would not speculate whether it would lead to the first property re-valuation in the township since 1990.
“Right now, not every neighborhood is going up in value,” Turner said. “Some are going through the ceiling, but others are remaining stable. If a tax re-valuation took place, it would lead to a tremendous tax shift and we’re not even close to that right now. But it is always good news when property values go higher than the state average.” Hottendorf said that the Hudson County figures are high because of the diverse variety of housing available in the area, like one and two-family homes, as well as condominiums and multi-unit residential.
“In other areas, those numbers apply, because 90 percent of their markets are nothing but one-family homes,” Hottendorf said. “Statistics are not available in Hudson County on single-family homes. We have to look at the overall residential figures. Some people may look at it as one-family, but that’s simply not the case.”
Added Hottendorf, “But we can say that the prices in residential property have gone up and that’s across the board, the entire county. We have not seen one month in decline since 1996 [when there were] two snowstorms and no one was buying. We’ve seen double digit increases since that time and it’s still climbing. I’m predicting that it will fall into single digits this year, but still, up is up.”
Hottendorf also agreed that it is a seller’s market.
“It is a seller’s market, but the seller has to be more restrained and reasonable than ever before,” Hottendorf said. “There are only so many pockets where the bidding has taken place. Sooner or later, that will all subside and there will be no more bidding wars. If the seller is reasonable, the market will be profitable.”
The next quarterly reports from the NAR will be released May 1.