The Great Home Buyer’s Tax Credit hurts real estate in Bergen County NJ. PART 2

Over the second quarter of 2010 (April, May & June), there was no terrific spike in home sales in Bergen County. Yes there were more in April 2010 then in 2009. In April of 2009, things just started getting back to a little normal in the real estate market. Normal, that's the word people haven't heard in a long time when it was used in reference to the real estate market. When you look at the numbers of the year through June 2009 and compare it to the year through June, 2010, you see an 35% increase in home sales. Significant? Yes. Is it due to the tax credit? No. What we have seen in these time periods in Bergen County New Jersey is that the median price home has increased by 1%. It has taken between 90 and 120 days to sell a house. This is normal!

Taking a look at several towns in central and southern Bergen County in towns like Hasbrouck Heights and Wood-Ridge, where the price point has made the market saleable once again. Wood-Ridge New Jersey through the first 7 months of 2010 has shown a marked increase in sales of 63% with the price of homes has remained the same from the same period in 2009. Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey actually showed a decrease of 11% in sales with an insignificant drop in price of 3%. Both Wood-Ridge and Hasbrouck Heights showed a relative non-change in the time it took to sell homes of between 80 and 100 days.

Carlstadt and Lodi showed 7 to 10 % increase in sales respectively, but with larger losses in average price.

There is nothing in the numbers to even remotely suggest in Bergen County, New Jersey, that the tax credit has helped the real estate market. One more tidbit for you: Business in February and March was not good at all...throughout the country. If the tax credit was so wonderful, why was there a 70% drop in mortgage applications during this time period. The reason is simple. Check out the weather throughout the country-cold, snow, torrential rains and flooding. The entire country had bad weather. In June of this year, for our company, CENTURY 21 Eudan Realty in Hasbrouck Heights and Wood-Ridge, New Jersey was excellent. July, not so good. Why? Weather, not the economy. Massive heat waves hit the entire country for the majority of July. There is a new factor that must be brought into the economic indicators-weather! Current Bergen County market statistics available
See our previous post-PART 1

The Great Home Buyer’s Tax Credit hurts real estate in Bergen County NJ. PART 1

The politicians and media are telling everyone how the tax credit has helped boost the economy, here in Bergen County and the rest of New Jersey and country. They are literally patting themselves on the back for this great thing they did for the American economy. If one looks at all of the statistics, especially in Bergen County New Jersey, it’s easy to see these politicians and media moguls should actually just shut up!
Their opinions are based on statistics. Okay, so let’s look at them. The National Association of Realtors® told us that in the first quarter of 2010, there was an increase in home sales in the Northeast in the first quarter of 35% over that of the first quarter of 2009. That is true with the same increase in Bergen County and towns like Hasbrouck Heights. What they don’t tell you, from a real estate market perspective is that the real estate market in the first quarter of 2009 was so bad, that if there wasn’t an increase, the suicide rate for real estate agents would be the highest of any profession.
Here is what this great tax credit did for us: It took people that would normally have bought a home and accelerated their decision time in order to get the offer or contract accepted by April 30, 2010. What it also did is give the future politicians-attorneys- the opportunity to put others off because they were “so busy” that they couldn’t return phone calls or do any other business so they could get these transactions completed by June 30, 2010, which was the originally date transactions had to be completed. (This deadline has since been extended to September 30, 2010, so we await more no return phone calls from attorneys around the last week in September). See part 2 where I examine local Bergen County Markets.