Our Bergen County Real Estate Spring Trends looks at the official Bergen County Tax Record changes from Fall '25 to April '26.
Official New Jersey tax records from April 2026 show Ho-Ho-Kus residential assessed values surging from a median of $673,800 to $1,202,900 — a 78.5% increase in a single assessment cycle. This is a municipal revaluation, not a market spike. NJ municipalities are required to maintain assessments at or near 100% of market value; when a town falls behind, a revaluation corrects the gap in one move.
What the revaluation confirms is what the market already knew: Ho-Ho-Kus — a small-borough enclave of just under 1,500 homes — has been trading at prices that outpaced its tax rolls for years. Small-borough scale, classic colonial and split-level inventory, and top-tier Bergen County schools have sustained demand in a supply-constrained environment. Now the tax records reflect it.
"When the tax records finally catch up to where prices have been, it changes every number in the deal — your monthly carrying cost, your buyer's PITI, and the anchor for your listing conversation."
— Sarah Caprio, Licensed NJ Contractor + Realtor Associate®
For sellers: the new assessment anchors tax-adjusted pricing at a materially higher baseline. Buyers will model monthly costs at the new rate — your pre-listing preparation and pricing strategy need to account for that. For buyers: a contractor's walkthrough before you offer changes your negotiating position on a home whose tax bill just fundamentally changed.
↑ Relevant to Buyers & SellersA revaluation changes every number in the deal. Know your number before the market does.
Franklin Lakes has the largest post-2020 new construction pipeline among the eight focus towns. With 215 residential properties bearing a build year of 2020 or later, the borough is absorbing luxury demand that Bergen County's older housing stock simply can't satisfy. These are purpose-built on acreage — the median lot size across Franklin Lakes runs nearly a full acre — replacing or supplementing existing 1970s and 1980s stock.
The median recorded sale price on that new construction cohort: $1,561,100, at a median size of 3,560 square feet. The town's overall median assessed value is $964,400 — new homes aren't being built to the market median. They're setting a new ceiling for it.
For buyers considering Franklin Lakes, the conversation moves from "what's wrong with this house" to "what was substituted in the build spec, and what will it cost me in three years?" New construction hides future costs in builder-grade selections. A trained eye at showing — not just at inspection — changes what you offer.
↑ Buyers: Walk it like a contractorNew construction hides future costs in builder-grade finishes. See what others walk past.
Allendale's median residential assessed value rose from $794,500 to $888,900 — an 11.9% increase between the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 official tax records. Nearly half of all residential properties in town now carry assessments above $900,000.
That's a fundamental shift in how buyers read the tax line on a listing. When a buyer models affordability, they're calculating principal + interest + taxes + insurance. A 12% assessment jump can add several hundred dollars per month to a buyer's carrying cost. In a rate-sensitive market, that changes who can qualify and what they're willing to offer.
For sellers, this means pricing strategy must include a tax-adjusted monthly cost model — not just comparable sales. Buyers' agents will do that math. Get ahead of it.
Ramsey also moved up 3.0%, reflecting ongoing appreciation pressure in Bergen County's most accessible entry-point town — walkable Main Street, direct NJ Transit rail. Glen Rock posted a stable 0.7%. Wyckoff showed zero change, suggesting its assessments were already aligned to market in a prior cycle — which means less revaluation risk for buyers now.
Median assessed values, residential properties (Property Class 2) only.
NJ public tax records: Fall 2025 export vs. April 7, 2026 export.
Reassessments affect your buyer's carrying cost before they ever make an offer. Know what you're selling into.
Across most of Bergen County, homes sell above their assessed value. Saddle River operates differently. The borough's median residential assessed value is $1,674,600, while the median recorded sale price on arms-length transactions is $1,533,510. Sale-to-assessment ratio: 0.97×.
This is a rare signal. It means Saddle River's assessments are tightly calibrated to actual market values — and for buyers, that removes the typical cushion of acquiring below assessed value. The tax line is the market line. For sellers, you can't rely on a favorable assessment gap to create perceived value. Preparation, staging, and condition are the only price levers.
The estate scale reinforces this. Median home: 5,025 square feet on 2.0 acres, built circa 1986. Nearly 37% of all residential properties carry assessed values above $2 million. Saddle River is its own market category — and it prices accordingly.
↑ Sellers: Preparation is your price premiumWhen the market trades at assessment, your preparation is your price premium.
Eight Bergen County towns. One data set. And a spread between median recorded sale prices that runs from $515,000 in Ramsey to $1,533,510 in Saddle River — a difference of more than $1 million. The takeaway isn't that one town is better. It's that Bergen County is not one market. It's eight distinct markets with different price ceilings, tax cultures, housing stock, commuter profiles, and buyer demographics — all within the same county boundary.
Ridgewood and Glen Rock anchor the village-walkability tier: pre-war streetscapes, tree-lined downtown cores, and Main Line rail access, with medians in the $600K–$700K range. Wyckoff and Allendale offer deeper lots and quieter character at similar price points — but Allendale's 12% assessment jump now demands a closer look at carrying costs. Ramsey remains Bergen County's most accessible entry point, with a walkable Main Street and direct NJ Transit rail. Ho-Ho-Kus is the standout: small-borough intimacy, now priced at a $765K median sale, with assessments that just caught up to $1.2M.
Franklin Lakes and Saddle River occupy a different category — estate-scale living, near-acre and multi-acre parcels, and price points that reflect both the product and the privacy. What the data can't tell you is which of these eight towns matches your life, your commute, and your financial picture. That's what the conversation is for.
↑ Buyers & Sellers
Median Sale Price: Median of all recorded arms-length residential transactions on file.
Assessed Value: Median residential assessed value (Property Class 2), Spring 2026 tax records.
Assessment Change: Percentage shift, Fall 2025 export vs. April 7, 2026 official tax records.
The spread between the lowest and highest median sale in this group is more than $1 million. Bergen County is not one market — and your strategy should reflect which one you're actually in.
As a licensed Realtor Associate® and a licensed New Jersey contractor (Lic. #13VH08541000), Sarah Caprio reads every Bergen County property at two levels most agents can't: the market and the building. Whether you're preparing to sell, evaluating a purchase, or trying to understand what your assessment change actually means for your carrying costs — start here.