The COVID-19 pandemic has reshuffled many parts of American life and where folks choose to live is no exception. Several months of 2020 have seen higher home sale prices and volume increases in many of the Garden State’s most popular suburban towns, perhaps creating some questions about property values along the Hudson River.
A recent report from The Real Deal is a bit of a good news, bad news situation for homeowners along New Jersey’s Gold Coast. An analysis of the home sale numbers from the year’s third quarter reveals that the number of individual home sales, as well as the total dollar volume of those deals, was lower in Jersey City and throughout Hudson County compared to the same time last year.
2020’s third quarter did see more transactions than the previous quarter, which could be partially attributed to the return of in-person showings. Renee Condon, head of Keller Williams’ Jersey City office, told The Real Deal she is seeing “market fatigue” from buyers who were initially planning on flocking to the suburbs.
“Some clients have opted to upgrade within their Gold Coast neighborhood after being repeatedly outbid in Montclair and other suburban towns,” Condon told the outlet.
Despite the dip in sales, the median sales price of those deals rose throughout Jersey City. Bergen-Lafayette experienced the largest jump, with the median sales price of $477,500 representing a 24 percent year-over-year increase. But in keeping with the trend of lower volume, the 32 deals that closed in the quarter were roughly half the number of sales recorded during the same time last year.
The Journal Square neighborhood, where construction at several towers has continued despite the pandemic, had a median sale price of $442,500 during 2020’s third quarter. That represented a 20 percent jump from the same period during the previous year.
Hoboken recorded the most total transactions during this year’s third quarter with 214, deals that added up to $180.4 million. Downtown Jersey City was a distant second with 151 home sales, which were collectively valued at $131.6 million. The full report from The Real Deal can be viewed here.
