Bergen County, New Jersey Real Estate and Housing Market Trends and Forecasts

With 9,000 acres of parks, outdoor activities from hiking to camping to skiing, and a wide variety of concerts, entertainment and sports at both MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands, it’s no surprise that Bergen County, New Jersey is a sought-after area to live – especially with its affordable housing prices just outside the New York metropolitan area. This demand for homes has helped the housing market in Bergen County remain strong and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Purchasing a home right now provides a wonderful financial opportunity for your clients and their families.

And thanks to MBS Highway's Real Estate Report Card, you can show your clients the opportunity they have and the strength of the market – right in their specific county or zip code. Let's break this powerful tool down, so you can see how you can use it to help your clients move forward with a home purchase and to gain valuable referral relationships.

Appreciation Forecasts Remain Strong

Taking a deeper look in the area, we can see that homes are still affordable, with strong historical and forecasted appreciation rates.

The median home price in Bergen County is $438,811. We have good appreciation with the 10-year historical appreciation rate at 1.98%, while the forecasted 1-year and 5-year cumulative appreciation rates are 6.48% and a very healthy 27.95% respectively!

We know these rates of appreciation are strong, but to really drive this point home to your clients, it's important to explain what this means to them. Purchasing that $438,811 home today, given the forecasted appreciation rate of 27.95% over the next 5 years, means that buyer will gain $122,646 in appreciation alone! Being able to clearly and visually demonstrate this tangible gain for potential clients so they are spurred to act now can certainly help you increase your production and build valued referral relationships.

If you have customers that wonder if they can afford a home in this area, you can use the Real Estate Report Card to show them that affordability is very strong in this market, as evidenced by the Affordability Index of 156.8. This means that a family earning the median household income for Bergen County of $116,934, which is more than double the national average of $55,909, can afford 156.8% of the median home price when putting 20% down.

Of course, not everyone is putting 20% down, but you can see how this information gives homebuyers a good gauge of what they can afford, helping you build your pipeline and build relationships with both new and trusted referral sources.

Download Full Real Estate Report Card.

Inventory Challenges Likely to Remain

We can see that there are just five homes available for every 1,000 people in Bergen County. Inventory is down 14% year over year and 3% month over month.

It's crucial to explain to hesitant clients that inventory challenges are likely to remain and it's probably not going to get easier to purchase a home in the foreseeable future. Here's why…

Based on our demographics, there are currently 106,150 people who are between 27-35 years old. This number is important because those in this age range are first-time homebuyers, and our goal is to see what kind of business we can gain from this demographic and how we can help them benefit through homeownership.

Out of these 106,150 people, 10,080 of them will either rent or purchase a home in the next year. And out of these 10,080 household formations, considering that Bergen County has a healthy 68% homeownership rate, around 6,882 will purchase a home.

To meet this demand, builders would have to build 6,882 homes each year, or this amount of homes would have to become available for sale. Yet the actual number of homes being built is less than half this amount, at 2,906.

This inventory and demographic data combined provides such an easy way to express to potential clients why they shouldn't delay their purchase, which again can help you increase production and gain the trust of key referral sources.

The bottom line is we have an inventory shortage, and this is a big reason as to why now is such a good time to purchase a home before it becomes even harder if inventory tightens even more or rates move higher due to rising inflation or other reasons. Plus, there's also the strong forecasted appreciation rates as discussed above and the fact that homes are selling fast.

Job Market Strong Overall

Despite the dip in employment last year due to the pandemic, as was the case across much of the country, job growth in Bergen County is already coming back strong.

The current unemployment rate is at 7.6% in Bergen County. While this is higher than the national average of 6.1%, we expect to see the unemployment rate decreasing further as the economy continues to reopen.

A strong job market is another reason the housing market is expected to remain strong in the Bergen County area, as people are more inclined to purchase a home when they feel secure in their job. The opposite is also true.

MBS Highway’s Real Estate Report Card is just one of the many tools in MBS Highway that can be the crucial differentiator in turning prospects into buyers who have won their dream home – and turning originators into advisors their clients trust. With an MBS Highway membership, you'll have access to all of our tools, including Bid Over Asking Price, Buy vs. Rent Comparison, Loan Comparison tools, daily coaching videos, lock alerts and much more.

Do you want analysis like this on a daily basis? Try all of these tools for free with a 14-day trial and see for yourself the kind of difference they make in your business!