The rate that Americans own their homes fell in the first quarter to the third lowest on record, another indication that worsening finances as well as changing preferences since the Great Recession are altering behavior.
The Commerce Department reported that the ownership rate fell a tenth to a seasonally adjusted 63.6% in the first quarter, marking the third lowest figure since the 63.5% low in the second quarter of 2015. The ownership rate was 67.8% in the quarter when the U.S. entered recession.
The diminished interest, or ability, to own a home comes at a time when mortgage rates are low but house prices are climbing.
Council women Susan Knudsen explains the Route 17 housing issue and process:
“All, Just my brief explanation of the issue being discussed. First, please understand I was absent from the 4/19 PB meeting due to an emergency medical matter; however, I can offer background info, process moving forward and meeting details as confirmed by our PB secretary to ensure the accuracy of my comments specific to the 4/19 meeting.
As required by law the planning board must prepare and submit a Housing Element Plan. Included in the preliminary discussions were several acres along the route 17 corridor and West Saddle River Road. Those details include low density townhouses, or some type of housing, along with the required small % set aside for affordable housing. Tremendous efforts are being made to protect and enhance the surrounding residential neighborhood by including very specific requirements to be applied to any future development.
There has been no public hearing and the approval on 4/19 was simply for our Village planner to continue his work on the Housing Element. Any public Hearing will require proper public notice as required by law. That has not occurred and there has been no formal (legal) adoption of the Housing Element. The Public Hearing will be scheduled for mid-May, or possibly later, mindful of the timing pursuant to a judge’s order requiring PB Housing Element and Fair Share Housing Plan be submitted by the 6/30/16 deadline.. Any zoning change is subject to Village Council approval and adoption via ordinance requiring additional public hearing(s). The Housing Element will include several other locations in different areas throughout the Village – the entire process is ongoing.
The reporter’s reference to “developer” presumably suggests any future development would be required to follow the zoning regulations including height, setback, buffers, density, etc. Presently, to my knowledge, there’s no developer involved in any of the subject properties in the Housing Element.
To be included in future PB/VC updates please email [email protected]. Also, I encourage residents to check the Village website for meeting and agenda info. Again, there has been no public hearing on this and no changes have been adopted for this acreage or the other locations. Because I was absent for the 4/19 meeting my VC report on this was delayed and will be part of my next VC report.”
MLS # 1616293
175 Oak St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, Col Stacey S. Hermann, Sales Associate Rose Hueneke, Broker Associate Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/24
2
MLS # 1615725
333 Libby Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, Col James P. Waddell, Sales Associate Coldwell Banker, Ringwood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/24
22
MLS # 1604193
729 Mary Ann Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, Col Carolyn Strittmatter, Sales Associate Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — When Kevin Eleby started commuting by train to New York City in 2001, the station in downtown Paterson was nearly empty. Every morning he climbed the stairs to the platform to wait alongside three other riders.
Nearly a decade passed. A few new people started showing up. Then a few more. A few weeks ago, when his train rushed into the station at 7:39 a.m., Eleby was surrounded by a crowd of 45 people.
“This place was deserted. Now you come up here and it’s full. Look at all these people!” said Eleby, 48, a Paterson resident who works in information technology for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. “It’s a big change,” he told The Record (https://bit.ly/1V8CxLm).
It’s a change that’s taking place across New Jersey and in some of the nation’s largest metropolitan regions. During the housing boom of the early 2000s, New Jersey’s population grew by 2.8 percent, but car-dependent suburbs saw their populations grow by 4.1 percent, according to a study by Tim Evans, research director at New Jersey Future, which advocates for transit-oriented development.
Meanwhile, neighborhoods within a half-mile of a transit station barely grew at all.
Then came the 2008 recession — and a major shift in population and commuting patterns.
Statewide, population growth slowed, dropping to 1.5 percent from 2008 through 2014, the latest year for which data is available. Car-oriented suburbs grew at roughly the same rate.
But during the same period, transit-oriented neighborhoods saw their population surge. Since the recession, they have accounted for 38.3 percent of the population growth in New Jersey, Evans found.
“It’s really dramatic, actually, how little these transit places were growing before 2008 and now they’re growing really quickly,” Evans said. “And the outlying counties that were the locus of sprawl are now losing population.
In Bergen and Passaic counties, many older suburbs grew up along train lines, and many newer ones are dependent on cars. That means the change in population patterns is not as stark here as elsewhere around the state, Evans said.
Yet the pattern holds. Most car-based municipalities in North Jersey continued to grow after 2008, but at a slower pace than before the recession, Evans said. Places like Montvale, Cresskill, Upper Saddle River in Bergen County; Wanaque in Passaic County; and Pompton Plains in Morris County all saw their growth rates stagnate.
But many transit-oriented neighborhoods grew. In Bergen County, Fair Lawn, Lyndhurst, Garfield, Ridgewood and Glen Rock all went from losing population before the recession to gaining population since 2008.
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
MLS # 1612213
223 Steilen Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col William Bankos, Broker Owner Bergen Realty & Investments
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/3
9
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
MLS # 1609602
365 Ponfield Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col Sophie Hahn, Sales Associate Top Realty
Open House: 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/20
21
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/20
25
MLS # 1606302
641 Maxwell Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, Col Charlene Bai, Sales Associate Coldwell Banker, Fort Lee
MLS # 1609602
365 Ponfield Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col Sophie Hahn, Sales Associate Top Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 3/13
21
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
FEBRUARY 28, 2016 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY MARLAINA COCKCROFT
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
THE RECORD
Congratulations, you’re a new homeowner. You’re also a home fixer. The house you thought was in working order at closing may actually need a new water heater, plumbing or roof.
As experienced homeowners know, the costs of ownership don’t end with the down payment and the monthly mortgage. They only begin there. And all of the other aspects of maintaining a home can offer a few surprises.
For instance, when Stacey Sheridan and her husband moved into their first home in Fair Lawn in April 2008, they thought they had a working central air system. “The inspector had told us that it was too cold to check the temperature of the air conditioning unit,” she said, and the sellers had said it worked. “Lo and behold, when the weather got warm, we turned it on, it did not work.”
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/28
25
MLS # 1606302
641 Maxwell Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, Col Charlene Bai, Sales Associate Coldwell Banker, Fort Lee
BY MICHAEL SHETLER
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Village Square Realty 0569304
February 10, 2016 08:30 AM
Every year around this time we see headlines about property taxes.”Which counties in NJ have the highest, lowest property taxes?” is one from NJ.com. “See what town had the highest property tax rate in Bergen County,” is another.
Headlines like these are deceptive – written expressly to get attention rather than inform the public.
The problem with these headlines is readers infer these areas have the highest/lowest tax rates, when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the case of one of the aforementioned articles, the first paragraph identifies Alpine, NJ, as having the highest average tax bill. While that is true, the article fails to mention the average home sale in Alpine over the last 12 months was $3,939,944. Or that Alpine has the lowest effective tax rate in Bergen County.
And Carlstadt, which is identified in the article as one of the areas with the lowest tax bills, has a tax rate over three times that of Alpine.
Wouldn’t you think some mention of home values in an area would be relevant when you’re talking about who pays the highest taxes?
The table below shows that actual tax rates of each area in Bergen County. And even more importantly, it lists the Effective Tax Rate. The latter takes into account that assessed values are not equal to market values. One town may be assessed at 95% of market value and another at 80%. They may have the same tax rate, but because the assessments are lower in the second town, the effective tax rate is also lower.
If you have any questions about property taxes in Bergen County, or are deciding which area to buy a home in, please call me at 201-421-0506 cell.
Michael Shetler has made the list of Ridgewood’s top agents at Keller Williams Village Square Realty
For the second year in a row, Michael Shetler has made the list of Ridgewood’s top agents at Keller Williams Village Square Realty (KWVSR.) Michael has been selling real estate in the area for 10 years and is an investor in the office. He also serves on the office’s Agent Leadership Council, an agent “board of directors” actively involved in the leadership decisions that make the office more productive and profitable.
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
