OTHER CHANGES:
Standard Deductions: For those who do not itemize, the standard deductions will go up as follows:
Single – from $6,350 to $12,000
Head of Household – from $9,350 to $18,000
Married filing jointly: from $12,700 to $24,000
Child Tax Credits: (Age 16 and younger) will go up from $1,000 per child to $2,000 per child (threshold is $400,000 income for joint returns)
Estate Taxes:
The Individual Exemption rose from $5.6 million to $11.2 million.
Married Couple Exemption rose from $11.2 million to $22.4 million.
Interest on Home Equity Lines of Credit:
In 2017 were completely deductible; now in 2018 are not deductible at all.
What does this mean for the housing market?
Given that we live in a part of the state that is likened more to NY than to other parts of NJ, we do not expect any big changes. Certainly homes that have excessive tax bills may struggle a bit more than they otherwise would have but overall what this area offers cannot easily be found elsewhere. The truth is that property taxes are on the higher side in Westchester, Connecticut and other places that the people from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens may have considered in their list of places to explore so we do not think our towns will “fall from grace”.
At this exact moment, there are already many buyers out there waiting for the inventory to show up. Multiple offers are happening as we speak. As you can see from the chart below, inventory is extremely low.
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF SELLING, PLEASE CALL US IN NOW FOR A DETAILED CONSULATION.
This is not meant to be personalized tax advice. For personalized tax advice please contact your tax preparer or accountant.
LOCAL MARKET STATISTICS – as of January 14th … These stats are for single family homes that do not have offers at this moment:
|
Active NOW
(active as of 12/17) |
Under Contract (since 12/15) |
Maplewood |
22 (23) |
15 |
South Orange |
27 (26) |
12 |
West Orange |
95 (101) |
29 |
Montclair |
28 (32) |
15 |
Millburn/Short Hills |
68 (70) |
8 |
Summit |
64 (56) |
6 |
Orange |
32 (32) |
8 |
Bloomfield |
39 (41) |
20 |
Union |
138 (140) |
47 |
|
|
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