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Alpine in Top 15 New Jersey Towns
Closter goes green
Bergen County housing appealing for International buyers
New Jersey Housing market sends mixed signals
Zoning makes construction difficult
Alpine in Top 15 New Jersey Towns
In a ranking of the hundred best places to live in New Jersey, many towns of Bergen County were featured.Alpine real estate ranked very well, as did Mahwah, Rockleigh, Leonia, Little Ferry, Wood Ridge, Ho Ho Kus, Teterboro, Haworth, Ridgewood, Tenafly, Fort Lee, Lyndhurst, Parkridge, Ridgefield, Closter, Harrington, Waldwick, River vale and Glen Rock. Amongst the above townships, Alpine was seen to rank 15, Fort Lee ranked 69, Leonia ranked 31, Tenafly and Closter ranked 65 and 78 respectively. On the top of the list was Chatham township of Mahwah while Upper Township and Verona of Cape May and Essex County ranked second and third respectively. This ranking of top towns was conducted by the New Jersey Monthly, a monthly magazine for New Jersey for the year 2007. In order to come up with the above list, researchers of Monmouth University Polling Institute kept eight parameters in consideration. From the 566 municipalities of New Jersey, hundred were short listed based on the criteria of property taxes, home values, land development, growth in population, proximity to services, schooling, crime rate and employment. Parameters that were not given importance were household income while home values were measured based on their degree of increase over a five year period, rather than current rates.
In its efforts to make the township of Closter more eco friendly, the environmental commission of Closter has introduced a green component in the master plan of the borough. As part of this plan, a kick off meeting was conducted on February 2, 2008 where the topics of discussion revolved around ‘Sustainable Closter Initiative’. The meeting took place at the Closter Public Library and many residents of Closter participated in the event. Strategies, goals and objectives for sustainability were discussed through various presentations made by Jeremiah Bergstrom, principal of TRC Environmental Corporation, among other people. Strategies used in other New Jersey municipalities were also discussed. The funding for the project will come from the Smart Growth Grant awarded to Closter in 2007. The funding would be a part of the $6000 received by the borough from Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC).
Bergen County housing appealing for International buyers
As the dollar gets weak, Bergen County and the neighborhood has become a good haven for international buyers. Differences in currencies are helping people from various countries like Korea, Latin America and Europe to make large savings on their home purchases. Also many of these buyers are considering the Gold coast region as a good place to invest, as prices are lesser than areas like Manhattan. Also these regions are providing good options for luxury housing. The international buyer’s scene which realtors say started picking up over nine months ago, is so promising, that many real estate organizations like the Trump developers have hired international sales directors who travel through different parts of the world looking for foreign buyers. A survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors in 2007 also revealed that between April 2006 and April 2007, all NAR members have had at least one international client. Approximately 25% of realtors also stated that their business in international markets has picked up over the past five years. The survey also revealed that 47% of these buyers planned to use these locations as vacation homes.
New Jersey Housing market sends mixed signals
Trends recorded by the National Association of Realtors indicated that the number of homes sold in New Jersey reduced by 9.3% in 2007. As per the association, 2008 has been equally depressing, with home sales continuing to slow down. However the trends are also indicative that while home sales have reduced, the pricing of houses continues to be steady, without showing a decline. In the region of Bergen County, home prices have remained consistent through 2006 and 2007, with the median price of a single family home remaining at $540,300 through 2007. On the other hand, figures on home sales by the NAR showed that in New Jersey, 139, 700 single family homes, condos and co ops were sold in 2007. The chief economist of NAR stated that new home sales are likely to decline by approximately 18% this year. However realtors from Fort Lee and the neighborhood indicate that the market is improving and must not be compared to the boom period of 2005 from where the slowdown began. They also stated that number of people looking to buy homes has increased this year and the trend is likely to continue. Many home sellers are even reducing home prices, a strategy likely to boost sales.
Zoning makes construction difficult
After plans for constructing 196 residential town house and condos in the neighborhood of Teaneck and Bogota were rejected on a seven acre site, the developer made new plans. However these plans for expanding a chemical factory in Palisades Park have been put on hold too, in new developments. The proposal for the chemical factory of Stanley and Robert Holuba asks for doubling the size of the factory which is located near Harrick Park. This means that the existing 34,000 sq ft of the household chemicals factory be expanded to 76,000 sq ft. However this change requires a use variance as a portion of this property is zoned for residential use only. In this case, the attorney of Stanley and Robert argue that this is not the case as the residential area has not been used for calculating the maximum allowable building size and lot coverage. The attorney also states that construction would not be done on the residential area at all. However the board refuted the above arguments and stated that any construction or use of the property must meet the requirements of both residential and commercial zones. Thus it was finally decided that the Zoning board of adjustment would decide whether the expansion plans should go forth and not the Planning Board.
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