Hoboken - Taxes, Wall St. Blamed, Really!

According to Ms. Turoff's own blog at
http://hobokenrealestatenews.com/about/
she received some feedback from her local Board of Realtors for the enclosed comments. Fortunately, her law degree should help keep those "pressures" in check should they get out of line on transparency matters in the consumer field.

Taxes, Wall St. blamed

Thursday, January 08, 2009

By CARLY BALDWIN

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hoboken's real estate market is softening. And a recent 47 percent hike in overall property taxes - 85 percent on the municipal side of things - hasn't helped.

But has the economic swoon and tax avalanche completely turned off buyers to the Mile Square City, once the crown jewel of the gentrified Hudson County waterfront?

Not totally, but "the market has been very difficult over the past few months," said Nick Costantino, owner of Empire Realty Group, at Fourth and Washington streets.

"I haven't seen people say no to homes because of the tax increase, but people are making lower offers on homes because of the tax increase," Costantino added. "If your taxes go up 47 percent your price will have to come down. They just have to."

Other real estate agents agree.

"It's definitely affected home sales because it makes the cost of owning the home more expensive," said Lori Turoff, a real estate agent with Prudential Castle Point Realty who writes the blog HobokenRealEstateNews.com. "Having a city that has financial problems is a deterrent (to buyers)."

Hoboken's real estate tax hike this past fall couldn't have come at a worse time, these real estate experts said.

"It's really been the perfect storm - the economy getting crushed, job losses on Wall Street, no bonuses, and then that tax increase - it all happened within four weeks of each other," said Costantino.

Hoboken resident Ed Joback, 39, rents at The Shipyard. He considered buying a condo at Maxwell Place last year but decided to hold off after his portfolio "took a 50 percent hit" in the stock market this past fall.

"It is a concern," said Joback of the property tax increase. "Of course it's going to affect the market. People selling property are going to take a hit in terms of the market value.

Costantino said many out-of-state buyers are unaware of the fiscal straits the city finds itself in - or that they'll have to pay more taxes than they expected.

"It's the 2008 taxes on the listing forms," said Costantino. "When I see property at Eighth and Grand, it was $8,000 a year (for taxes) and now it's going to be $10,000 or $11,000. I have to sit down and tell the buyer that. I know some people aren't explaining that, but that's a violation of our ethical duties."

But Turoff said buyers are well aware of what they are facing.

"It's all over the media," she said of the 47 percent tax bump.

Like many in town, the tax increase prompted Costantino to attend last month's rally in front of Hoboken City Hall.

"For years and years and years most Hoboken residents didn't care about what was going on in their community or getting involved in local politics and it's only after it hit them in their pocketbooks that they're getting involved," Costantino said.

Staff Writer Amy Sara Clark contributed to this story.

©2009 Jersey Journal