Not sure where to start? We offer a free complimentary strategy session to build your winning real estate plan! Click here to book your session now!
Are Mortgage Rates and Global Tariffs About to Price You Out — or Help You Win?
Let’s break down what’s happening in this month’s real estate market and what it means for your next move.
Tariffs and Inflation — What’s the Connection?
When tariffs are imposed on goods like steel, lumber, and international building materials, it increases costs across the board. That added cost fuels inflation, which affects everything from construction to shipping. When inflation stays high, the Federal Reserve delays cutting interest rates—keeping mortgage rates elevated.
As of March 2025, mortgage rates are hovering around 6.6 percent. That’s lower than the 2023 highs but still high enough to impact affordability and buyer confidence.
Local Market Snapshot: North Jersey
While national trends are mixed, the North Jersey market continues to show strong performance:
Hackensack: Prices up over 13 percent year-over-year, with a median home value above $650,000
Hawthorne: Up nearly 11 percent, approaching $620,000; homes selling about 5.4 percent over asking
Clifton: Home values up about 10 percent, averaging $621,000; selling 6 percent over list price
Wayne: Leading the region with an average sale price just under $795,000
Fair Lawn and Teaneck: Gains of almost 5 percent in both towns
Fair Lawn was particularly competitive last month, with homes selling 8.8 percent over asking
What’s Driving This?
One word: scarcity.
With less than two months of inventory in these areas, buyer demand continues to outpace supply. This keeps sellers in control and creates strong competition for buyers—even with higher mortgage rates.
Next Steps
If you're planning a move, strategy matters more than ever. Text or DM Market Plan to schedule your complimentary strategy session. We’ll go over your goals, the numbers, financing options, and timing to help you make a smart move—regardless of the headlines.
Looking forward to connecting soon.
Our agents get to know you — Need to move for a job? Want a shorter commute? Getting married? Having a baby? Need to upgrade or downsize? At this stage in the process, we’ll send you notifications about the listings that you’re most likely to be excited about. Be sure to let us know if one (or more) jumps out at you so that we can skip to the next step and schedule a viewing. be there for you every step of the way.
Success for each person looks different. A growing family or new empty-nesters have different needs. Our goal is to map out your goals financially to get a good understanding of what you need in a home but also what makes the most sense for your specific situation - both from a time and money perspective.
We’ll introduce you to our mortgage partner, who can help you determine your buying price range with confidence. Be prepared to dig into paperwork during this part of the process such as pay stubs, W2’s, and tax returns. The lender will do a full review and then tell you what you will be able to borrow in order to purchase a home. This is a vital step in the home buying process!
During this process, we will be sending you some listings to evaluate and provide us with feedback. This helps us to understand, update and revise your criteria and preferences. Our agents are always super involved in the community so they can provide you with tons of information about the areas you are interested in. We will also use this information to setup notifications of listings to you and evaluate any office exclusives (homes that are not yet listed in the MLS) so you are the first to see the property.
Here’s where the buying process gets really fun! We’ll attend open houses together and schedule viewings of the homes that you’ve loved from our listing alerts. Many of our clients prefer us to consolidate to one day of searching or have specific times that work for them. We handle all the coordination so you just have to show up! We’ll talk about how the budget will work and make sure that we find you the perfect home.
When you’re ready to make an offer, your agent will present a written offer to the seller. We also present your offer using video to help make a bigger impact and showcase our commitment to the sale of the home. And while everyone loves getting their offer accepted right away, the seller could come back to us with a counteroffer, or reject your initial offer all together. We’re happy to walk you through each of these possibilities and exactly how to handle them. Once the offer is accepted, it’s time to get your financing in order and move forward to the next step!
The sellers accepted your offer, and the home is going through appraisal and inspection. The appraisal guarantees that the price of the property matches the condition of the property while the inspection makes sure that everything in the home is functioning properly and there are no major issues inside. These are the last steps before the shiny keys to your home are placed in your hand... for good!
Get excited because it’s time to close on your home! This process includes going through all of the final paperwork and signing your name (a lot!). Don't forget to bring all of the paperwork you’ve collected along the way and your down payment.
But we know it doesn't stop here. You likely have a lot to coordinate, movers, painters, handymen etc. We will help you to SEGue into your next chapter seamlessly. Even make some introductions to some neighbors! You can count on us!
25 Washington Street, Tenafly NJ 07670
Stacy Esser Consulting LLC
Copyright @ 2025