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June 2011 – week 2 Issue
Bergen County real estate market in line with national trends
Summer enrichment programs in Cliffside Park
Englewood property faces contaminant hurdle
Fort Lee’s annual music and dance festival
Bergen County real estate market in line with national trends
Real estate experts indicate that prices of homes in Bergen County and the nation continued to spiral downwards. Trends indicated that home prices slid into a double dip, with prices going down by more than 3% as compared to March 2010. This double dip was indicated by Standard & Poor’s after a federal tax credit expired in 2010 and home demand plummeted. As per the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index values of homes in North Jersey and the New York metropolitan area went down by 3.4% as compared to the similar phase last year. Nationally too, home prices were seen to reduce by 3.6%, indicating that a steady housing market would still take time to come. The trends indicated that home prices in North Jersey had returned to values during the year 2004, while across the nation, home values matched those of 2002. The housing market continues to show signs of strain with tight mortgage standards and high unemployment rates taking their toll. Foreclosures taking place on distressed properties have also dampened housing prices. Also the economy continues to be weak. Experts indicated that a stronger economy would help little in housing market recovery as the inventory of distressed properties and low homeowner equity continues to be high. More detailed information is available in my blog, where you can read the latest Tenafly Soldreport as well as other Bergen County towns SoldReports.
Summer enrichment programs in Cliffside Park
Children in Cliffside Park have reason to look forward to the coming months. Enrollments for summer enrichment programs are on, offering a range of fun and educational courses for students. These courses, normally not offered in regular Bergen county schools, provide the opportunity for children to learn and enjoy at the same time. A few of the programs include marine science investigation, where students get an opportunity to study the ecosystem and perform dissections. ‘What’s cooking’, is another class where children learn to read recipes, measure ingredients and cook healthy meals. A few other courses include lego robotics, summer reading and basic HTML. All these classes are being taken by certified professionals, and provide a great learning platform for the children. For this year, students can register themselves for the courses by using the online form available at www.cliffsidepark.edu. The fees for the classes is $50 for one week. The enrolment cut off date has been slated at June 24, 2011. More details can be availed either through emailing [email protected] or through phoning at 201-313-8158.
Englewood property faces contaminant hurdle
A mixed-use development being planned in Englewood is facing a whole set of new hurdles, this time related to pollution. The ERA South site located on the east bank of Overpeck Creek had original plans of constructing a residential complex, office space and a hotel. The construction constantly faced hurdles ranging from an economic downslide, to remedy lawsuits and expensive environment cleanup. However recent developments indicate that the biggest hurdle for the site owners would be their dispute with the neighboring property. Previously housing the Royal Glass Factory, owners of the ERA site claim that the former were responsible for tainting the groundwater with alarming contaminants like degreasers, vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene. ERA South stated that the contaminants must have traveled from the underground water of Royal Glass to the ERA property, located downhill. What also speaks in favor of ERA is the fact that Royal Glass has been on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection‘s contaminated sites list. However officials from Royal Glass argue that the contamination of the ERA site belongs to the ERA itself as the company once used chlorinated solvents like degreasers. Officials state that further tests would be conducted to determine where the contaminants came from and who should pay the bill. Experts added that this problem is on the rise in North Jersey as many industrial sites are being brought down to give way to residential properties.
Fort Lee’s annual music and dance festival
As the month of June begins, the town of Fort Lee attracts crowds to its annual Arts and Music festival. Being held on June 5, 2011, this festival would feature bands, music and the arts. The venue for the event would be the Main Street between Center and Lemoine avenues. The festival has been a tradition of the borough of Fort Lee since 2003, and every year officials try to bring in something special to the festival. This year the Office of Cultural and Heritage affairs will bring in new performers to add that something special to the event. Of these, one band is led by a Fort Lee resident who is in charge of Sly Blue, a swing band from New York City. Other performers in this year’s program would include an all time favorite band called Pedal Pushers, which is an all female punk rock band. The members of this band are students of the Fort Lee High School who have participated in the High School Band competition organized by the Fort Lee Films commission.
Luxury homes at good location rebound
While the housing market may look non-lucrative, for many sellers, the right mix is bringing in good revenues. Home developers and realtors state that home sales through the year will be driven by a variety of factors, the most important one being of location. A home that offers a good view will have a good advantage, coupled with factors like a good neighborhood and low crime rates. In the Bergen county town of Edgewater, that houses the Vela Town homes project on the Edgewater waterfront, sales are again picking up for the same reason. When homes were selling in 2005 the economy was booming. But recession soon hit the market and sales went down. However homes continued to sell, albeit slowly, and one luxury home sold at the record price of $3 million, the highest priced during that time. Over the past few months, sales in this region have picked up again and developers state that the major reason behind this is the location of homes. Another main belief that has rebounded for Rosen Global Partners, the developers behind the project, is that luxury homes will be the first to rebound.
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