Bergen County NJ Real Estate Sales Statistics - September 2008

Posted by PAULA CLARK @ 9:22 am, October 24th, 2008

NAR Reports Pending Home Sales Up Strongly

Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4 percent to 93.4 from an upwardly revised reading of 87.0 in July, and is 8.8 percent higher than August 2007 when it stood at 85.8. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home buyers were responding to improved affordability. “What we’re seeing is the momentum of people taking advantage of low home prices, with pending home sales up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C., region,” he said. “It’s unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we’re hopeful most of the increase will translate into closed existing-home sales.”

Bergen County NJ Real Estate Sales Statistics

Let’s take a look at the real estate sales statistics for September 2008 to see how the market is looking locally:

Residential sales in Bergen County dropped by 4 percent in September compared to September 2007. The average market time increased 10 percent or 8 days, while the average sale price decreased 11 percent to $584,248. The median sales price also decreased 11 percent.

Bergen County	Sold Listings	Average Sales Price	Median Sales Price	Days On Market
Sept 2008	397	$584,248	$460,000	90
Sept 2007	415	$683,595	$515,000	82

Sales in the Pascack Valley dropped 4 percent this September compared to September 2007. Market times decreased by 3 percent, with selling times of 71 days vs 73 days. Selling prices decreased 5 percent to $566,346 and the median sales price increased 1 percent.

Pascack Valley	Sold Listings	Average Sales Price	Median Sales Price	Days On Market
Sept 2008	48	$566,346	$530,000	71
Sept 2007	50	$597056	$523,500	73

Northern Valley selling prices decreased 54 percent compared to September 2007. This number is significantly higher than the pervious month. With only 11 homes sold, this could be caused be an extremely unusual property selling. In comparison, the median sales price increased 4 percnet. Market increased by 3 percent. The number of homes sold decreased 15 percent.