Is 07042 or 07043 The Winning Zip Code?

Everyone knows that if you're looking to buy a home now, then you'd better be prepared to lose value before you ever start gaining any. The key mantra for potential buyers? Long-term investment. But not all neighborhoods are created equal when you evaluate price fluctuations.

In the New York Times, for example, an article published Sept. 22 pointed out that median sales prices have been declining in Montclair—no kidding—but that they've been declining in different ways in different areas. 

According to the article, in the area often called Upper Montclair (ZIP code 07043), the descent to $615,000 from $700,000 was herky-jerky, up and down, between April 1 and the middle of September, according to Altos Research. But in the rest of town (ZIP code 07042), the median skied nonstop down a steep mountain: $700,000 all the way to $400,000.

The article went on to describe the housing stock as being more homogeneous in the northern half of Montclair: "mostly well-groomed Victorians with three to six bedrooms. The south end has far greater range: everything from run-down, run-of-the-mill triplexes on narrow lots to peerless mansions on manicured grounds, in the 'estate section'."

Of course all of Montclair boasts access to the Midtown Direct New Jersey Transit train service, a service that some reports say can boost property values by as much as 20 percent.

Meanwhile, Montclair real estate agents hesitate to make comparisions between neighborhoods.

But Roberta Baldwin, partner at New Keller Williams NJ Metro Group, said that those houses—wherever they are—selling well are those with gorgeous everything. They have granite or marble master baths and spectacularly updated kitchens and light and bright everywhere and no water problems whatsoever and no old electrics, etc., etc., "whatever part of town they're in."

Baldwin said she has one such home on the market this weekend at 216 Montclair Avenue.

"And, honestly, there are some massive homes in the Estate section that have dipped mightily from their 2006 assessed values," she said.

Likewise, other communities are experiencing similar fluctuations in pricing.

According to the article, median prices harmonized in Millburn Township and its Short Hills section—another area with its own ZIP code—while clearly singing different parts. Millburn/Short Hills is one of the very few communities in the state where sales values are climbing again, according to Karen Eastman Bigos, a broker with the Towne Realty Group.

The median for the township jumped to $620,000 from $570,000 from April 1 to mid-September. Over the same period, the median for Short Hills climbed to $1.6 million from $1.5 million. That means property in Short Hills escalated more in value—by about a percentage point—even though it is more than twice as expensive.

So hold on to your hats Montclair residents. You may be in for an even bumpier ride in the near future—before the dust hopefully settles.

To read the New York Times article, go here.