Eliza Theiss 
As New York becomes increasingly pricey, a growing number of buyers are looking for homes beyond the confines of the five boroughs. After all, the gentrification of Queens and Brooklyn has drastically changed the real estate landscape of the city. Only Staten Island and the Bronx offer homes priced below $500 per square foot in each of their zip codes – and even the Bronx is now more expensive than New Jersey’s Hudson County, an increasingly attractive destination for those working in NYC who cannot or will not buy into its growing prices.
But just across the river from the Upper West Side, real estate prices tell an entirely different story in Hudson County, NJ. Of its 14 zip codes, only two feature prices above the $500/sq. ft. – in fact, 9 out of Hudson County’s 14 zips posted sale prices below $300 /sq. ft.
Intrigued by the real estate landscape across the river, we took a closer look at Hudson County prices.
Key Takeaways:
- Hoboken remains the #1 most expensive submarket in Hudson County.
- Kearny’s 07032 ranks as the most affordable zip code, with prices nearing the national median.
- Hoboken also ranks as the most active zip code, with 345 sales.
- Three zip codes feature medians below $200/sq. ft.
Double the price for views of the Manhattan skyline
Looking at real estate metrics across the Hudson River, it’s evident that Hudson County’s two most expensive zip codes – 07030 and 07302 – owe their higher prices to their proximity to Manhattan as well as attractive views of the water and the Manhattan skyline. As a result, both these zip codes have seen gentrification take hold, pushing prices up. 07302’s median price per square foot reached $701, ranking it as the #2 priciest zip code in Hudson County. This means that Jersey City’s Historic Downtown and the Waterfront’s southern half are more than 4.5 times more expensive than the national median, which stood at $150/sq. ft in the first half of 2018.
In 07030, Hudson County’s #1 most expensive zip code, prices hit a median of $721/sq. ft., bringing the median home sale price in Hoboken to $764,000. As such, Hoboken’s median sale price is just short of being twice as expensive as Hudson County’s $399,000 median. Despite ranking as the top most expensive zip code, Hoboken’s draw means that it also ranked as the #1 most active zip code, registering the highest number of sales, with 345 closed transactions in H1 2018.
Southwestern Hudson County stays below $200/SF
On the other end of the pricing spectrum sits 07032, the least expensive zip code in Hudson County, with a median home value of $290,000, well below Hudson County’s median. Less than 15 miles from Manhattan, 07032 features a median sale price of $177/sq. ft., just 18% higher than the national figure. Close by, 07002 in the city of Bayonne and 07305, which covers Jersey City’s Hackensack Riverfront, Greenville and parts of Bergen-Lafayette, also present a more budget-friendly alternative to potential homebuyers with their sales prices clocking in at $195 and $198 per square foot, respectively.
Gentrification gains ground around Hoboken and Jersey City’s Historic Core
With a median sale price of $416/sq. ft., Weehawken’s 07086 ranked as the #3 most expensive zip code in Hudson County in H1 2018. Although a significant drop-off from Hoboken’s $721/sq. ft. price, the median home value here clocked in at $749,000, reflecting growing gentrification trends. With waterfront views of Manhattan’s skyline at far lower prices than Brooklyn offers, Weehawken is growing in popularity with NYC transplants who want better prices as well as a manageable commute.
Jersey City Heights’ and Jersey City’s Journal Square round out Hudson County’s top five most expensive zip codes. Adjacent to Hudson County’s two priciest areas, 07307 and 07306 are becoming increasingly gentrified, with median home values now in the mid- and high-$300,000s.
Analyzing price evolution over the past 5 years, growth in these two counties becomes even more evident. While Jersey City Heights had a median of $138/sq. ft. in 2013, today it stands at $337/sq. ft. Price growth has been even more dramatic in Jersey City’s Journal Square area, where the median more than doubled from 2013’s $148/sq. ft. to the current $367/sq. ft.
Hover your cursor over the interactive image below to discover what the median price is in each Hudson County zip code:
Median sale prices were calculated based on residential property sales closed between January 1, 2018 ad June 30, 2018 in Hudson County, New Jersey. All residential property sales were considered, including single- and two-family homes, and condos. Package deals and sales under $10,000 were excluded.
