Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update

Hoboken Real Estate Weekly Market Update
Week of June 20 – 26th 2011

Sales:For the week there were 15 sales. From the lowest price, a short sale at 308 Monroe, one bedroom 554 sq feet asking $199,000 that sold for $199,000; to the highest price, a 3 bedroom 3 bath, 1651 sq feet with parking at 900 Jefferson with a list price of $750,000 and a higher sale price of $790,000.

Median list price for the week was $428,000. Median sale price was $427,000. Average days on market was 107 days.

Pending:For the same week there are 9 units waiting to close. From the lowest price, a 550 sq ft 1 bedroom at 1015 Grand St with a list price of $284,900; to the highest price, a 1079 sq ft two bedroom two bath with parking at The Huntington Hoboken, with a list price of $509,000.

Median list price for those pending was $425,000. Average days on market was 81 days.

Looks like June is going to close with a healthy amount of sales. Currently, there are just 387 condos for sale.

If it feels more competitive right now it’s because it is. There are many bidding wars right now for homes priced correctly that need little to no work and they are trading closer to asking and in some cases above asking. So please be prepared and armed with information!

Information provided by the Hudson County MLS, deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update
Week of June 13th, 2011

Sales:
For the week there were a total of 20 sales. From the lowest price, a 725 square foot one bedroom on 4th and Madison with a list price of $199,900 and a sale price of $199,900; to the highest, a 1900 square foot 2 bed 2 bath condo with terraces at the W Hoboken, with a list price of $1.995Million and a sale price of $1.740Million.

Median list price for the week was $479,000. Median sale price was $460,250. Average days on market for these sales was 79 days.

Pending:
For the week there are 11 units waiting to close. From the lowest priced unit, a 471 square foot studio at 1021 Grand St with a list price of $243,000; to the highest asking price, a 1500 sq ft 2 bed 2 bath with garage and yard at 124 Jefferson St with an asking price of $759,000.

Median list price for those pending was $475,000. Average days on market was 58 days.

Information supplied by the Hudson County MLS, deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update – MAY

Hoboken Real Estate Market Update – May Report

Month of May 2011 Report on Hoboken Condo’s

Sales:
Pretty good numbers again for May. The month reported a total of 71 Hoboken condo units close. From the lowest priced sale, a 700 sq foot one bedroom on 4th and Madison with a list price of $209,900 and a sale price of $202,500; to the highest price for a sprawling, 2271 sq ft 3 bed 3 bath duplex at The Vespa with a list price of $899,900 and a sale price of $800,000.

Median list price for the month was $474,900 and the median sale price was $450,000. Average days on market for all sales was just 69 days.

Pending Units:
There are 65 units pending for this month. From the lowest priced unit, a one bedroom at 235 Monroe with a list price of $229,000 to the highest asking price, a 1900 sq ft two bedroom two bath with balcony and spectacular NYC views at the W Hotel residences with a list price of $1.995Million are under contract.

Median list price for those pending was $450,000. Average days on market was 65 days.

Currently there are a total of 392 Hoboken condos for sale.  If we use 55 units closing as a monthly average, we are looking at just over 7 months of inventory.

Here is a recap of total sales in the last six months:
December – 53 Sales. Median sale price of $440,000. Average days on market 84 days.
January -     41 Sales. Median sale price of $460,000. Average days on market 83 days.
February -  38 Sales. Median sale price of $427,000. Average days on market 70 days.
March -      51 Sales. Median sale price of $455,000. Average days on market 84 days.
April -        63 Sales. Median sale price of $430,000. Average days on market 80 days.
May -         71 Sales. Median sale price of $450,000. Average days on market 69 days.

Compared to the same months one year ago:

December – 71 Sales. Median sale price of $478,000. ADOM 86 days.
January -     43 Sales. Median sale price of $480,000. ADOM 84 days.
February -   46 Sales. Median sale price of $456,000. ADOM 102 days.
March -      53 Sales. Median sale price of $498,500. ADOM 83 days.
April -        74 Sales. Median sale price of $473,752. ADOM 82 days.
May –         82 Sales. Median sale price of $435,000. ADOM 70 days.
June –       124 Sales. Median sale price of $473,000. ADOM 70 days. * (Will this June see the same jump?)

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update

Week of May 16th, 2011

Condominium Sales: For the week there were 11 sales reported in Hoboken. From the lowest, a 700 sq ft 1 bedroom on 4th and Madison priced at $209,900 and sold for $202,500; to the highest, a Hudson Tea condo, three bedroom three bath with partial NY views and parking, 1640 sq ft and a list price of $825,000 sold for $810,000.

Median list price for the week was $475,000 and median sale price was $472,500. Average days on market was 67 days.

Condominiums Pending: There are 10 units that reported under contract for the week. From the lowest price, a small one bedroom on 2nd and Monroe with a list price of $229,000 to the highest price, a 1000 sq ft one bedroom with parking at the Hudson Tea with a list price of $500,000.

Median list price for the week was $399,450. Avg days on market 110 days.

So far this month there are a total of 45 units that went under contract. 44 have sold so far this month, and there are about 400 active. We will see how many units close and go pending in the next week to see how May we did for the month.

Brownstones and Single Family Sales

Two homes reported sold for the week. 22 Willow Terrace – a three bed, 1 full bath two half bath triplex with a list price of $619,000 sold for $618,000. 1211 Garden – a true brownstone, a four bedroom four bathroom triplex with a list price of $1.795Million sold for $1.740Million

Hoboken Brownstone For Sale

Hoboken Brownstones For Sale

If you live in Hoboken, you probably day dream of owning a Hoboken Brownstone.  I dream of owning one on Hudson Street. So gorgeous.

The Hoboken Brownstone market is almost always limited and there are many buyers on the prowl just waiting for that perfect house to become available.

• Today there are 17 for sale, from $799,000 to $2.495 Million.
• Five have sold since January 1 (3 since February).
• 9 are under contract (6 of those went into contract in April alone)
• Bidding wars are not uncommon with brownstones

Check out the 17 for sale by clicking here.

Which is your favorite?

If you’d like to schedule an appointment for one of these homes contact me at karinaa@remax.net (24 Hr notice required.)

Hoboken Real Estate Market Update – Good News April

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Market Update – More Good News

Last month I reported on YouTube that we will be seeing an upswing in sales due to the high number of new contracts and jump of sales between January compared March. See the video here.

This month I have more good news. April was another healthy month on record for sales.
If you are starting to feel like it’s slim pickings, that’s because it is. There are just 378 units active for sale and more homes are receiving multiple bids.

April Showers Was Good For The Hoboken Condo Market!

April Hoboken Condo Market Update
Sales:
For the month of April Hoboken saw 51 units close. The Median list price for those units sold was $449,000 and the Median sale price was $430,000. Average days on market was 77 days.

Pending:
For the month there were 75 units change to pending status. The median list price for those listed was $475,000 and the average days on market was 48 days.

Hoboken Brownstones
No sales were reported for the month, but a whopping 6 single family homes went under contract. The median list price for the month was $1.205 Million. Avg days on market was just 42 days.

Hoboken Arts And Musical Festival This Sunday!

Hoboken Arts And Music Festival This Sunday!!

 

Hoboken Arts And Music Festival This Sunday!!

From the city – see below. Come out and have a good time!! Looking forward to it.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer & the City of Hoboken proudly present the

Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival

Sunday May 1, 2011  •  11am to 6pmADMISSION IS FREE • Rain or shine
Washington  Street – between Observer Highway and 7th Street

Featuring over 300 artists, sculptors, photographers and craftspeople as well as rides, games, face painting, local businesses, restaurants, food vendors and much more.

With 3 Stages of live music with performances by:

Ian Hunter & the Rant Band
singer songwriter, former lead singer of the
English rock band Mott the Hoople. http://www.ianhunter.com

The Baseball Projectfeaturing Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey of REM, Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate & Linda Pitmon of The Pretty Babies

Official website: http://www.thebaseballproject.net

Promo photo: http://www.thebaseballproject.net/images/TheBaseballProject-cards.jpg

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thebaseballproject

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/baseballproject

Bern & the Brights (www.facebook.com/bernandthebrights)
Davey & the Trainwreck (www.reverbnation.com/daveyandthetrainwreck)
The Fuzzy Lemons (www.thefuzzylemons.com)
Frankie Morales & the Mambo of the Times Orchestra (www.thefrankiemorales.com)

Dawnie from Peanut Butter n Jammin (www.dawniemusic.com)

Goodbye Friday (www.myspace.com/goodbyefridaynj and www.facebook.com/goodbyefriday)

Mad Dog Mary (www.myspace.com/maddogmary)

The Pretty Babies (Blondie cover band) and much more

Performance Schedule 

Schedules are tentative and subject to change.

Observer Hwy (bet. Newark & Observer Hwy)

Noon -  Davey & the Trainwreck
1:00 pm – Bern & the Brights
2:00 pm – The Pretty Babies
3:00 pm -The Baseball Project
4:30 pm – Ian Hunter

Sixth Street Stage

12:30 pm – Bandwidth
1:15 pm – NYC School of Rock – www.schoolofrock.com1:45 pm – Garden Street Music
2:25 pm – Goodbye Friday
3:15 pm Gene d Plumber
4:00 pm – Mad Dog Mary
5:00 pm – Frankie Morales and the Mambo of the Times Orchestra

Children’s Stage

located in the Capital One Bank parking lot on 3rd Street:

11:45 am – Hudson Dance & Movements Alice in Wonderland Preview.

12:15 pm – Mimi Kids Yoga – www.mimikidsyoga.com
12:45pm – Hoboken Dual Language Charter School (HoLa)
1:15pm – Genesis Dance Company.
2:00 pm – The Fuzzy Lemons
3:00 pm – Dawnee from Peanut Butter & Jammin
4:00 pm – The Fuzzy Lemons
5:00 pm – Dawnee from Peanut Butter & Jammin

Special features include

• Fine artists are located between 2nd & 3rd St., so if you are an art collector, this is the place to be. Oil paintings, watercolors, acrylics, sculpture, mixed media, etc.

• Children’s area on 3rd street with rides, games, creative activities, puppet show, face painting,
  clowns, balloons, live performances and much, much more:

• Crafters display / sell handmade: pottery, metalwork, wood items, furniture, blown & fused glass, quilts, household items made from recycled materials, cementware, batik clothing, hand painted furniture, candles, jewelry, dried florals, soaps & lotions and much more

• Food: Lots of great food throughout the fair. Hoboken restaurants will set up street cafes offering an eclectic variety of international foods such as: Thai, Indian, Greek, French, Mexican, Cajun and Italian

How to Get Here

Located just 3 blocks from all public transportation: PATH, NJ Transit Trains & buses, NY Waterway Ferries & the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. For details, visit: http://www.hobokennj.org/visit/how-to-get-here

Sponsors

Optimum, NY Waterway Ferries, United Water

The Hoboken Reporter & The Hudson Current,

Capital One Bank, Sheraton Suites

Port Authority of NY & NJ

How to Get Here

Located just 3 blocks from all public transportation: PATH, NJ Transit Trains & buses, NY Waterway Ferries & the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. For details, visit: http://www.hobokennj.org/visit/how-to-get-here

Working With A Real Estate Agent(s) To Find Your Home

Working With A Real Estate Agent(s) To Find Your Home

Buying a home can be a daunting process especially if it is your first time, there seem to be so many unknowns. Buyers wonder who can they trust.  And they often start the process without knowing about real estate relationships. It’s important to enlist the help of a professional whom you feel confident with but also know your options.

During the course of looking for homes, it is very likely you will meet dozens of real estate agents. Many times buyers call individual ads and the agent’s that list them, to have them show them the home, and in one weekend they can meet 8 or even 10 different agents..

While you can find a home using this approach, it is not the best.

A real estate agent has many tools and experience that buyers simply do not. And by working with one real estate agent, you can develop a relationship that will educate you, and also put you at an advantage by locating the best homes that meet your specific criteria, and being one of the first to know about a home before others. They work by searching the Multiple Listing Service, and they also preview multiple homes on a weekly basis. They have experience about specific building issues, location issues, property management company experiences, along with insider information that they will share with their loyal buyers in an effort to find you the best home and keep you as a client for life.

Am I Bound To One Agent?

The short answer to this question is yes and no.

In NJ, unless you sign a “buyer’s agency contract” with an agent that you meet with on first consult, you are free to work with any agent you see fit. However, if you visit properties with an agent and discuss pricing and possible motivating factors that lead to an offer, then there is such a thing as procuring cause..

For example, if you have been working with a real estate agent for a few weeks and you happen to walk into an open house that you love, and discuss an offer or you request an appointment with that agent, then the agent that met you at the open house and took you back to the home, is entitled to a commission under this clause.

To protect your agent, if you want them to work with you, you should never see any homes without your agent accompanying you.

Can I Visit Open Houses On My Own?
Yes. Agents hosting open houses are required to let you in. However not all agents will honor the relationship you have with your real estate agent which could leave you working directly with the listing agent, who represents the seller.

To be safe, before entering an open house, you should announce that you are working with someone, and either A. hand him or her your agent’s card, or B. sign in with your real estate agent’s name. If the agent hosting the open house gives you a hard time, you may want to leave and contact your agent to schedule an appt with you ASAP.

What If My Agent Is Unavailable Or On Vacation?
Most agent’s leave a colleague they trust in charge to take over for them so you can contact them. If your real estate agent say, is off that day, and you absolutely have to see the home like yesterday, then I recommend you calling the agent’s office directly, explain the situation, and they will very likely have another agent help you, or even possibly the broker can take you in.

Read Before You Sign
Before you sign anything that an agent presents you, always make sure that you read it at length, and ask questions about what it is you are signing and why. Some agencies will tell you that a form is “required” or “standard” and that unfortunately is not true. You are not obligated to sign a contract that binds you to an agent, you can if you choose to, absolutely, but don’t let anyone tell you, especially someone you don’t know, that in order to see homes you must sign a contract.

New Buyer Incentive For Fannie Mae Properties

Fannie Offers Buyer Incentive

Fannie Mae this week announced a 3.5 percent sales incentive (off the final sale price) for buyers of a HomePath property.

The discount, delivered as closing cost assistance, would be available on Fannie-owned HomePath properties on which the initial offer is submitted after April 11, 2011 and the sale is closed by June 30, 2011. The program applies only to primary residences; sales to investors are excluded.

 

Check out the press release from Home Path for more information.

There are a small handful of bank owned – fannie mae properties in Hoboken and downtown Jersey City..but more in the surrounding areas.

 

 

FHA Hoboken Condo’s – Buyer’s Be-Aware

Hoboken FHA Approval – FHA Condos, Buyers Beware

Hoboken Buyers – you should know this information.

First, it used to be, that if you were looking for FHA financing, condo’s could go through a requirement list and then a process to get what’s called a ‘spot approval.’ Once going through this process, an FHA buyer could buy into almost any building that did not exceed the FHA loan cap. However, with new FHA guidelines products this is no longer the case, and hasn’t been for months.

 

• If a building is not already FHA approved, then you cannot buy a unit in the building if you are an FHA buyer.

FHA Approved buildings: Refer back to my post last year on FHA Buildings for the list.

Do I have to buy FHA?

I have run into many Hoboken buyers that say they need to buy FHA when in fact that is not the case. Many do not know this, but with the way mortgage market is right now, lenders are making more money by selling you an FHA product. In the end, the FHA loan will cost you more money than conventional financing through higher mortgage insurance premiums, because on a FHA loan you pay an upfront premium, as well as a higher monthly premium. In fact, these premiums are going up in the next few weeks making FHA loans more expensive than before.

I am surprised that more Hoboken real estate agents do not know that you can purchase a Hoboken condo with conventional financing and just 5% down payment. *With a $417,000 loan max and the proper credit requirements.   However, not every lender offers this type of product, and most will tell you that it’s not possible, but one of my preferred mortgage broker does, so if this is something that would fit your situation, make sure you contact him directly or reach me and I can put you in touch.

Now, with that said

• To get the best rates, you’ll want a credit score of 720 or better and 20% down payment

BUT, if you are a buyer with a credit score of 680 or better, you still can be approved for a conventional mortgage product.

Also, there are only about 29 buildings in Hoboken that are FHA approved, limiting you on what you can buy.  When shopping for a mortgage, if you are quoted FHA rates, and told it’s better/cheaper for you, make sure that you ask for an estimate on a conventional loan with the same down payment. Always ask questions.

Feel free to consult my preferred mortgage broker Michael Mundy of Pinnacle Mortgage! Or email me if you’re looking for a list of what’s available in FHA approved buildings.