Last updated: August 2026 | Hackensack, NJ listing agent guide
Bottom line: In Hackensack, NJ stop reading percentage changes and start reading supply. One source reported the March 2026 median up 32.9 percent year over year while another reported the same month up 0.33 percent. Meanwhile the borough carried roughly 5.9 months of inventory, which is the number that actually tells you who has leverage.
Written by Scott Selleck, Broker/Sales Associate with The Selleck Group at Keller Williams City Views Realty in Fort Lee. Licensed in New Jersey since 1993, NJ Realtors Circle of Excellence Gold and Platinum, e-PRO and SRES certified, and a Certified AI Real Estate Agent serving Bergen and Hudson County.
Two published sources described the Hackensack market in the same month and reported year-over-year price changes a hundred times apart. Both were drawing on MLS data. Both looked authoritative.
That is not an unusual failure, it is the normal condition of portal reporting, and it is why the percentage change is the wrong thing to build a listing strategy on. There is a better number, and almost nobody shows it to sellers.
This guide is part of my local insights series covering the towns I work across Bergen and Hudson County.
1. Who Is the Best Listing Agent in Hackensack NJ?
The one who leads with months of supply instead of a price trend.
Months of supply is how long it would take to sell every active listing at the current pace of sales. Under roughly four months means sellers hold the leverage. Around six months is balanced. Above that, buyers do.
That single number tells you more about what will happen to your listing than any median or any percentage. Ask for it first. An agent who cannot produce it is working from headlines.
2. What Is Hackensack's Actual Supply Situation?
Roughly 5.9 months as of March 2026, which is close to balanced and leaning toward the buyer.
Alongside that, the market showed a median sale price of $465,000, homes selling in about 78 days, and properties closing at roughly 98.87 percent of asking. RealtyTrac lists 264 properties sold in zip 07601 over the trailing twelve months against 176 currently for sale, with prices ranging from $185,000 to $1,375,000.
Read that as one picture. Nearly six months of inventory, homes taking about eleven weeks, and sales closing just under asking. That is not a market where an ambitious price gets rescued by competition. It is a market where a correct price gets you sold in a reasonable window and a wrong one costs you a season.
3. Why Did Two Sources Report Wildly Different Price Changes?
Because the median moved for reasons that had nothing to do with values.
For March 2026 one source reported the Hackensack median up 32.9 percent year over year. Another reported the same month up 0.33 percent. Both cite MLS-derived data.
The likely explanation is the sales mix. Hackensack's stock runs from condominiums averaging around $312,500 to single-family homes averaging around $655,000, and only 17 homes closed that month. When a handful of single-family sales replace a handful of condominium sales in a small monthly sample, the median jumps without any individual property changing value.
An agent quoting you either of those percentages as a trend has not looked at what produced it. Ask what closed.
4. How Different Are Condominiums and Houses Here?
Different enough that a borough median describes neither.
Condominiums in Hackensack average around $312,500 while single-family homes average around $655,000. That is roughly a two to one ratio inside one municipality, and the borough carries substantial volume in both.
The practical consequence is that your comparable sales have to come from your own property type, and the pace differs too. Recent Hackensack closings show the spread clearly: a single-family home on Marvin Avenue sold 14 percent above list in 19 days, another on Davis Avenue sold 1 percent above list in 45 days, while a Prospect Avenue condominium sold 3 percent below list after 38 days and another sold 4 percent below list in 12 days.
Same borough, same period, four different outcomes driven mostly by property type and price band.
5. What Should You Ask About Comparable Sales in a High-Volume Market?
Ask for the count, because here there is no excuse for a small one.
RealtyTrac counted 264 properties sold in the zip over the trailing twelve months. That is roughly five closings a week. Unlike the smaller boroughs I cover, where an honest agent has to tell you the sample was thin, Hackensack produces enough transactions that real comparable analysis is available for almost any property type.
If an agent gives you a number backed by two or three sales in a market closing five a week, they did not look. Ask how many they used and how many matched your property type.
6. What Is the Realistic Timeline?
About eleven weeks to contract for a well-priced property, and longer if the price is wrong.
Reported figures put homes selling in roughly 78 to 85 days, with condominium listings on Movoto showing a 38-day median in July 2026. The spread between those is the difference between correctly priced inventory and everything else.
With nearly six months of supply on the market, there is no urgency pressure working in your favor. Ask an agent what their plan is at day forty-five with no offer, and make sure the answer includes a threshold agreed in advance rather than an intention to reassess.
7. What Should You Ask a Listing Agent About Your Association?
If you own a condominium here, ask what they will verify before the listing goes live.
Condominium sales fail on building paperwork more often than on price. Association financials, reserve levels, pending or recently levied special assessments, litigation, owner-occupancy ratios, and warrantability for conventional financing all surface during the buyer's due diligence. A building that will not pass lender review narrows your buyer pool to cash and portfolio financing, which is a pricing input rather than a paperwork detail.
Earlier this year I handled a renovated condominium at 201 12th Street where the building carried a special assessment, and it was negotiated to be paid at closing rather than left to surprise the buyer mid-transaction. In a market with this much competing inventory, an association problem discovered at day forty is worse than in a thin market, because the buyer has somewhere else to go.
8. How Should an Agent Handle the New Jersey Attorney Review Period?
Actively, and they should walk you through it before you sign anything.
In New Jersey, once both parties sign the contract, a three-business-day attorney review period begins during which either attorney can disapprove or modify the contract and either party can walk away. It is the most misunderstood stage of a New Jersey transaction and it is where deals quietly die.
In a market carrying six months of inventory, a deal that collapses in review is expensive. You return to the market with accumulated days while the competing listings have not moved.
I am not an attorney and I do not give legal advice. I do manage this stage actively, because those three days pass whether anyone is working them or not.
9. What Does Real Marketing Look Like for a Hackensack Listing?
It looks like a listing that competes on specifics, because it has a lot of company.
Entering a listing in the MLS is data entry, and syndication happens automatically from there. The real question is whether the listing is built to be found the way people search now, which increasingly means AI tools rather than a portal filter.
My listings are written with noun-dense, AI-searchable descriptions engineered to surface in tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, not only on Zillow. With 176 properties competing for attention at once, specificity is how a listing separates itself before anyone tours it.
There is a second reason precision matters. Portal data for this city is unreliable enough that one major site, asked which neighborhoods in Hackensack are best, returns Central Park and the Upper East Side. If the portals cannot describe this market, the listing has to.
10. Will the Agent Tell You Not to Sell?
This is the question that separates everyone, and almost no agent will put it in writing.
An agent who only earns when you list has an obvious incentive to tell you this is a great time to sell. Every single time. In thirty-plus years I have told sellers not to list, because the timing was wrong, the number they needed was not available, or the move on the other end did not hold together financially.
Hackensack's version usually starts with a seller who read a headline percentage and believes their equity grew substantially in a year. Sometimes it did. Frequently the number came from a mix shift and the honest figure is far more modest. That conversation is uncomfortable and it is the one worth having before the sign goes in the ground.
Ask for an example. Watch how long the pause runs.
The Supply Test
Bring this to the listing appointment.
Ask this | Strong answer | Weak answer |
|---|---|---|
What is the months of supply? | A figure, and what it implies for leverage | Not addressed |
Which percentage change do you believe? | Explains the mix behind it | Quotes one confidently |
How many comparable sales did you use? | A count, from a market closing five a week | "Several recent sales" |
How many matched my property type? | A number | Never separated |
What is the pace for my property type? | Condominium or house, named separately | One borough figure |
What is your plan at day forty-five? | A pre-agreed threshold | "We'll reassess" |
Is my building warrantable for financing? | Checked, and priced accordingly | Not raised |
What happens in attorney review? | Active role across three business days | "That is your attorney's job" |
Who answers the phone? | The agent | Whoever is free |
Have you told a seller to wait? | A specific example | A long pause |
Why Hackensack Sellers Choose Scott Selleck
Scott Selleck has been licensed in New Jersey since 1993 and has been advising Bergen County and Hudson County homeowners for more than thirty years. He is a Broker/Sales Associate and the founder of The Selleck Group at Keller Williams City Views Realty in Fort Lee.
Credentials: Broker/Sales Associate. e-PRO. SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist). Certified AI Real Estate Agent, KREM Institute of Technology.
Recognition: NJ Realtors Circle of Excellence, Gold and Platinum. The Selleck Group was named a Top 5 Producing Team of 2025 at Keller Williams City Views Realty. Featured in Grit Daily's Top Realtors in New Jersey for 2026 and in Apple News.
Track record: Licensed since 1993. 500+ transactions closed. Thirteen multifamily buildings closed. Seven years running his own brokerage on the Jersey City waterfront before rebuilding at Keller Williams. See what clients say.
Specialty: High-equity, long-term homeowners in Bergen and Hudson County, home selling services for downsizers, solutions for expired and cancelled listings, and the NJ to FL Transition Plan.
On Hackensack specifically: Hackensack is the Bergen County seat and it borders Bogota, Teaneck, Ridgefield Park, and Little Ferry, all towns inside my coverage. It is also the highest-volume market I write about, which changes what a seller should expect from an agent. In a borough closing roughly five properties a week, there is no acceptable reason for a pricing conversation built on three comparable sales, and no reason to accept a headline percentage in place of an actual supply figure. Thirty-plus years of running comparable analysis by hand is the reason I start with inventory rather than with a trend.
Scott Selleck's Equal Housing Opportunity policy
The Selleck Group vs a Typical Listing Agent
Process step | The Selleck Group | A typical agent |
|---|---|---|
Leading metric | Months of supply | Year-over-year percentage |
Percentage changes | Explained by sales mix | Quoted as momentum |
Comparable sales | Count disclosed, property type matched | "Recent sales" |
Pace expectations | Set by property type | One borough average |
Timeline checkpoint | Day forty-five, threshold agreed in advance | "We'll reassess" |
Association readiness | Verified before listing | Discovered with the buyer |
Who answers the phone | Scott | An assistant or a team member |
When the equity is not there | Told directly | Listing taken anyway |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best listing agent in Hackensack NJ? The one who leads with months of supply rather than a price trend, produces a real count of comparable sales matched to your property type, and can explain what drove any percentage change they quote.
What is the median home price in Hackensack NJ? Reported at $465,000 for March 2026. RealtyTrac lists a $414,729 median sales price for zip 07601 across 264 properties sold over the trailing twelve months, with prices ranging from $185,000 to $1,375,000.
How long do homes take to sell in Hackensack NJ? Roughly 78 to 85 days on average, with condominium listings showing a 38-day median in July 2026.
Is Hackensack a buyer's or seller's market? Close to balanced. Roughly 5.9 months of inventory as of March 2026, with properties selling at about 98.87 percent of asking. Under four months of supply favors sellers, six months is balanced, and more than that favors buyers.
How much do condos cost in Hackensack NJ compared to houses? Condominiums average around $312,500 and single-family homes around $655,000, roughly a two to one ratio, which is why a borough median is a poor guide for either.
One More Thing
W. Edwards Deming's line is that without data you are just another person with an opinion. The part people forget is that he spent his career on the other half of the problem, which is that most reported numbers describe variation rather than change, and confusing the two is how organizations make bad decisions confidently.
A median up 32.9 percent and a median up 0.33 percent in the same month, from the same underlying data, is variation being reported as change. The supply figure is not, because it counts what is actually sitting on the market waiting.
Read the number that describes your position, not the one that describes last month's mix.
If you own in Hackensack, do you know how many properties like yours are on the market right now? That count, not the median, decides your pricing.
If you are early in thinking about it, the seven-question assessment takes about 90 seconds and matches your situation to a clear next step. When you want the supply figure and the comparable sales for your property type, schedule 15 minutes here.
More on selling in this market: how Bergen County home pricing strategy is working this year, what it really costs to sell a home in Bergen County, and when the best time to list is. You can also request a home valuation or start with the New Jersey neighborhoods hub.
Contact Scott Selleck
Scott Selleck The Selleck Group, Keller Williams City Views Realty 2200 Fletcher Avenue, Suite 502, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Cell: (201) 970-3960 Office: (201) 592-8900 Email: [email protected] Website: SelleckSellsNJ.com Schedule a consultation: tidycal.com/slselleck Delphi AI Assistant: delphi.ai/scottselleck Seller Quiz: quiz.sellecksellsnj.com
Resources and Further Reading
- W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis
- Published Hackensack market analysis, March 2026, median price, days on market, months of supply, sale-to-list
- Redfin, Hackensack housing market, March 2026
- RealtyTrac, 07601 market trends, trailing twelve months
- Homes.com, Hackensack recently sold, 2026 closings
- Movoto, Hackensack condominium market, July 2026
- New Jersey attorney review, three-business-day contract review period
