While national headlines warn of housing market slowdowns and rising foreclosures, Bergen County’s real estate market continues to run on a different track. Local agents report strong buyer demand, multiple-offer situations, and inventory levels still near historic lows, more than four years into the pandemic.
Sergio Sciortino, broker associate at Keller Williams Village Square Realty and a 25+year Bergen County veteran, describes a market at odds with broader national trends. “I just bid on a property for a client in Ramsey, and they had 25 offers on that one property; it went tremendously over list price,” he says. This experience is common across much of Bergen County, where the market remains highly competitive and inventory scarce.
Lock-In Effect Keeps Sellers on the Sidelines
The main reason for Bergen County’s persistent inventory shortage is the low mortgage rates many homeowners secured during the pandemic. With rates locked in between 2% and 4%, homeowners are reluctant to give up these deals, creating what agents call the “lock-in effect.”
Sciortino regularly hears from clients who want to move but hesitate to sell because of their low rates. Instead, many choose to rent out their current homes while buying another, preserving their cheap mortgage and effectively removing more inventory from the market. “People have mortgages under 4%, 2%, 3%, and I get calls from people looking to move who say, ‘We have such a low rate, we’re going to rent our house,’” he says. “With that difference, they could pay the bulk of the mortgage on the next one.”
This approach is increasingly common, especially among younger buyers and move-up families. Rather than selling to move up or relocate, they keep their original property as a rental, which further limits the pool of available homes for new buyers.
Construction Costs Push New Builds Into Luxury Tier
The inventory squeeze extends to new construction, as land scarcity and rising building costs reshape what gets built in Bergen County. In established towns like Wyckoff, where Sciortino’s office is based, opportunities for new builds have dwindled. “There are no empty lots. You have to buy an existing house, and you’re going to pay about a million dollars, probably, if you can find it,” he says.
Before the pandemic, teardown properties in the area typically cost around $800,000, with builders constructing homes in the $2 million to $2.5 million range. Now, teardown lots are rarely available for less than $1 million, and construction costs have soared. “Now you’re lucky if you can get a knockdown for a million, $1.1 million, and then you have to build it for $3 million plus to make money, because construction costs have gone through the roof,” Sciortino explains.
This change has shifted most new construction firmly into the luxury segment. Sciortino’s current new build listing in Wyckoff is priced over $3 million, reflecting both the higher cost of land and the expense of materials and labor. While experienced builders can still make projects work by targeting high-end buyers, the risk and capital required have increased significantly.
Buyer Behavior: Patience and Preparation Required
Despite rising prices and limited options, buyer demand remains strong at nearly all price points. Sciortino now focuses more on listings than on buyers, a typical evolution for experienced agents, but he still works with both first-time and repeat buyers. The current market requires careful preparation for anyone looking to purchase.
“You really have to prep them,” Sciortino says of his buyers. “The people who have been on the market for a while trying to buy, and they lose multiple homes, the frustration is high. You have to set the tone early to tell them this is what we’re in, but you will find that perfect home, you have to be super patient.”
Multiple-offer situations remain the norm, and well-priced homes often sell for $100,000 to $200,000 above the asking price. Proper pricing and marketing can draw 40 to 100 people to an open house over a weekend, leading to a flurry of offers by Monday. “If people don’t see value in that price, they just won’t act on it,” Sciortino notes. But when value aligns, demand is immediate and intense.
Regional Migration Patterns Return to Normal
The dramatic migration from urban areas into Bergen County, which peaked during the early pandemic, has largely subsided. In 2020 and 2021, open houses would attract crowds of buyers from New York City and other urban centers, all seeking more space and suburban amenities. Now, buyer patterns have shifted back to pre-pandemic norms, with most demand coming from within the region.
“During COVID, we absolutely saw it,” Sciortino recalls. “We’d have 100 people, 50 people at an open house, and the majority were from New York or urban areas because they wanted to get out of their apartments. But now, when I’m doing an open house, there aren’t a ton of people from urban areas. It’s more localized, like it was before COVID.”
Recent reports of wealthy New Yorkers fleeing the city due to tax or policy changes have not resulted in a noticeable uptick in Bergen County’s northwest corridor. Sciortino says he hears little discussion of this among his clients, suggesting that such trends are either exaggerated or concentrated elsewhere in the region.
Mortgage Rates Are the Key to Unlocking Inventory
Looking forward, Sciortino sees mortgage rates as the single factor most likely to change the current market dynamic. For homeowners with rates below 4%, there is little incentive to sell unless mortgage rates drop significantly.
“I think we need to see rates stay in the fives. It’s got to have a five in front of it,” he says. When rates briefly touched the high 5% range recently, activity picked up, but they quickly returned to the 6% level, slowing movement again.
Sciortino compares today’s market to the 2004-2006 period, noting key differences. “It was crazy then, but it was nowhere near as busy with multiple offers. When you got multiple offers, you would go over ask, but here we’re seeing $100,000, $150,000, $200,000 over ask. It wasn’t a frenzy of 30, 40, 50 offers.” The intensity and frequency of bidding wars now surpass anything he saw during the previous boom.
Long-Term Strength Built on Fundamentals
Bergen County’s market resilience is grounded in factors that have driven demand for decades: top-ranked schools, proximity to Manhattan, and access to beaches and mountains. These fundamentals continue to attract buyers even as broader economic conditions fluctuate.
“It’s been a steady market. I’ve been in it for 25, 26 years,” Sciortino says. “During the big crash in ’07-’08, Northwest Bergen didn’t go down as much as southern Bergen, but it recovered much faster.”
The area’s demographic profile and economic stability help insulate it from larger market swings. Train towns with direct commuter access to Manhattan are beautiful to buyers who prioritize location and lifestyle over price alone.
Lessons for Other High-Demand Markets
For agents and buyers in similarly constrained markets, Bergen County’s experience offers several practical lessons. Traditional seasonal slowdowns are less relevant when inventory remains tight year-round. Buyer education and expectation management are crucial, as multiple-offer scenarios are now routine.
The market also demonstrates how local conditions can diverge sharply from national trends. While broader indicators suggest cooling demand, Bergen County’s combination of location, schools, and mortgage-rate dynamics has kept it solidly in seller’s-market territory.
As the region moves forward, the relationship between mortgage rates, construction costs, and buyer preferences will determine whether these conditions persist or eventually give way to a more balanced market. For now, Bergen County remains a notable exception to the national slowdown, shaped by factors unique to its geography and history.
