By Donna Rolando, special to the Record
Many think condos and families are like oil and water—they don’t mix. While condos can be good starter homes, families generally pack their bags before the stork arrives and head for houses in suburbia.
Meet Johnny and Lizza Cruz. They are raising 3-month-old Diego in a condo at Canco Lofts in Jersey City and say they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We bought the place before we knew we were expecting,” said Johnny. “The study’s now the nursery and it worked out beautifully, I think. We both love the lifestyle—all the amenities Canco has to offer.”
Six or so families with children have moved in since Canco opened. The development has an indoor playroom and is breaking ground soon on a public park across the street.
“The prior generation was motivated to be in a condo as just a first home,” said Jodi Stasse, director of sales and marketing for Canco. “The younger buyer isn’t so quick to want to move out from this environment.”
Kaitlyn Barbagallo has witnessed this trend both as a broker for Weichert in Clifton and as a parent living in Cambridge Crossings, a gated town house community in Clifton.
“Four years ago, during the day, the pool would be a ghost town. Now it’s very busy” with parents and kids, she said.
Barbagallo herself has resisted moving to the suburbs and loves the security of a gated community to raise her 1-year-old.
A bonus is freedom from home maintenance chores at a time when she is busy with a child and career.
Robert Oppenheimer, broker/owner of Re/Max Fortune Properties, Englewood Cliffs, reported a trend in Bergen County.
The reason, he said, is “in a nutshell, real estate taxes. Young families cannot afford real estate taxes in single-family homes.”
Nationally, Virginia Mendez of Condo.com said metro areas especially are seeing more young families in condos.
“It’s become more apparent since the recession due to the cost of owning a home and the burden of maintenance costs,” she said.
Not everyone sees a strong trend, however.
Gary Large, first vice president of New Jersey Association of REALTORS®, who is most familiar with Morris County, said, “I wouldn’t say there’s any dramatic change one way or the other,” and that single family homes are still slightly ahead of condos in popularity.
He did recognize that Hudson County could be a magnet for young families in condos because of its vast inventory, especially along the Gold Coast. Many young buyers like the amenities and lifestyle in condos—kids or no kids, he said.
Among those drawn to amenities is Juan Gali, a new father, raising his daughter at The Residences at Dixon Mills in Jersey City.
“We’re happy there, happy with the space we have, the amenities the building has. We only have one child now but even with two kids, living in that apartment would be manageable for us.”
To accommodate young families, Dixon Mills has a playroom, which Gali said is “great” when the weather’s not good.
Kristin Hurd of Dixon Mills’ leasing office said she started seeing more families with children last summer.
“The couples we talk to love the urban lifestyle—love the convenience of it,” she said.
“Jersey City as a whole is seeing a tremendous number of new families,” said Brian Fisher, a principal of Fisher Development Associates, developing Crystal Point’s 269 condos in Jersey City. With young families making up 15 percent of Crystal Point residents, Fisher said, “we put in a lot of amenities for children.”
Michelle Wardlaw of the National Association of REALTORS® said that condos have doubled in market share over the past 20 years, accounting for 12 percent of home sales. Those in an affordable range are drawing first-time buyers, which can mean young families.
E-mail: rolando@northjersey.com
Originally published by E-mail: rolando@northjersey.com.
(c) 2010 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Join the discussion
(0)Login to join the discussion