Cresskill NJ Housing Market 2026: Prices, Townhomes and Tax Math

Cresskill's headline number looks alarming. In the three months ending May 2026, the median sale price in ZIP 07626 was $999,990, down 34% from $1,524,500 a year earlier, according to the Redfin Data Center. Most of that drop is about what sold, not what homes are worth. A year ago all 26 sales in the window were single-family houses. This spring, 5 of 17 were townhouses selling around $940,000, and the 12 single-family houses had a median of $1,400,000, 8% below the prior year.

The steadier measures tell a quieter story. Single-family price per square foot averaged about $492 over the year to May 2026, up about 1.4% from the year before, after a 17% jump the previous year. That is a stall, and it stands out because Tenafly, Demarest and Closter all kept rising. At the same time, listings rose: 47 new listings in March to May 2026 versus 28 a year earlier, and 46 homes for sale at the end of May versus 33.

For buyers, that means more choice and more room to negotiate than in 2025, with a rate backdrop that turned worse in September 2026 when the 30-year fixed rate passed 7%. For sellers, well-prepared homes still sell quickly (52% went under contract within two weeks in the latest window), but pricing off the spring 2025 comparables is likely to miss.

How to read Cresskill's numbers

Cresskill is a small market. Redfin's ZIP series for 07626 is a rolling three-month window, and the busiest windows in the last two years recorded 32 to 35 sales. A few large or small houses can move the median by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So this analysis separates property types, uses price per square foot alongside the median, and builds full-year figures by adding four non-overlapping windows (ending August, November, February and May). Medians below are the average of the four quarterly medians, an approximation rather than a true annual median.

Total sales rose to 94, the highest of the three years, so buyers did not disappear. Townhouse sales went from 4 to 15, which pulled the all-residential median down about 11% while single-family values held roughly flat.

Two years of prices against mortgage rates

The site's chart starts in June 2024 at a three-month median of $1,012,500. By May 2026 it was $999,990, almost unchanged, after a volatile path.

Sale-to-list, sold above list and homes for sale cover all residential sales.

Fall 2024: rates rose and bidding cooled

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the 30-year fixed at 6.08% on September 26, 2024, a two-year low, then 6.81% by late November and 7.04% in mid-January 2025. Cresskill's competition measures moved with it. The share of homes selling above list fell from 63% in the June 2024 window to 27% by October, and the average sale-to-list ratio dropped below 100% from September through January.

Some of that is seasonal, but the October to December 2023 windows were stronger (sale-to-list of 100.4% to 100.8%, 46% to 53% above list). The fall 2024 cooling looks like a modest response to rates. Single-family price per square foot did not drop in any lasting way.

Spring 2025: the high-water mark

A few months after rates peaked at 7.04% in mid-January, spring 2025 still produced Cresskill's highest numbers: a single-family median of $1,639,500 in the window ending March, $555 per square foot and 104.3% sale-to-list in April. The mix did much of the work. Single-family price per square foot in the spring 2025 windows was 9% to 17% above a year earlier, while single-family medians rose 45% to 93%. That spring is now the comparison base, which is why 2026 year-over-year changes look so negative.

Winter and spring 2026: lower rates, softer competition

Rates reached 5.98% on February 26, 2026, the first reading below 6% in about three and a half years. Cresskill did not respond with a bidding surge. In the windows ending January and February 2026, median days on market was 95 to 96, up from 84 to 89 a year earlier, and sale-to-list (100.3% to 100.4%) and the share sold above list (29%) stayed near early-2025 levels.

By May, pending sales were 31, up from 28 a year earlier, but sellers were listing faster than buyers were buying, which is why inventory reached 46. Rates then climbed: 6.46% on April 2, 6.67% on August 13 and 7.03% on September 24, 2026. Redfin's data ends in May, so the summer climb is not yet visible here.

Is the 34% drop real?

Mostly no, but not entirely. Compare the two windows:

• May 2025: 26 sales, all single-family, median $1,524,500, $519 per square foot.
• May 2026: 17 sales, 12 single-family (median $1,400,000, $483 per square foot) and 5 townhouses (median $940,000, $501 per square foot).

Looking only at single-family houses cuts the decline from 34% to 8%. That lines up with a 7% drop in single-family price per square foot, so there is some real softening, based on just 12 sales. The March 2026 window (down about 35%) is similar: single-family price per square foot was down 5%.

The full-year view is the fairest test. Single-family price per square foot rose 1.4% in the year to May 2026, while Bergen County's rose about 5.6% (averaging Redfin's monthly county single-family figures, $424 to $448). A year earlier, Cresskill's 17% gain beat the county's 11%.

What is changing in the housing stock

Cresskill is mostly single-family houses, but the attached-housing share of sales has grown.

Townhouses

Townhouse sales rose from 3 and 4 in the prior two June-to-May years to 15 in the most recent one. The average of quarterly townhouse medians was about $882,000 and price per square foot about $453. In the latest window, the five townhouse sales had a median of $940,000 and $501 per square foot, higher per square foot than the single-family median of $483.

That is consistent with newly built attached homes entering the market. This article could not verify which developments produced these sales, so buyers should confirm the project, year built and HOA terms for any townhouse.

Condos

Condos are fewer and cheaper: 9 sales in the year to May 2026, quarterly medians averaging about $595,000. One condo building is Cresskill Commons, a 67-unit, 55-and-over building completed in 2006, according to Homes.com. Age-restricted units have a narrower resale pool.

Single-family tiers

Single-family houses are still about three-quarters of sales (70 of 94). Dividing the latest single-family median ($1,400,000) by $483 to $520 per square foot implies roughly 2,700 to 2,900 square feet, a rough guide since the two medians do not describe the same house. In practice, condo medians since late 2024 have mostly run about $510,000 to $620,000; townhouse medians since mid-2025 about $750,000 to $950,000; and three-month single-family medians since June 2024 between $925,000 and $1,639,500.

Supply and competition in detail

Supply measured against closed sales looks loose: 46 homes for sale against 17 sales in three months is about 8.1 months of supply. Measured against pending sales, it is about 4.5 months (46 divided by 31 per three months). Pending sales are the better guide to summer closings and point to a balanced market, close to Bergen County's 5.0 months in May 2026. Competition is weaker than the county's: Bergen's May sale-to-list was 104.2% with 61% sold above list, versus 101.8% and 47% in Cresskill.

Comparison with Tenafly, Demarest and Closter

The same Redfin ZIP series and June-to-May method for three Northern Valley neighbors:

Tax rates are from the New Jersey Division of Taxation's 2025 General Tax Rates table.

Cresskill now has the lowest single-family price per square foot of the four, about 21% below Tenafly and 19% below Demarest, with similar effective tax rates. Two years ago Cresskill was slightly ahead of Closter ($416 versus $401); Closter has since pulled ahead. Lot size, house age and new construction all affect price per square foot, and this data cannot separate them, so explanations for the gap are hypotheses.

Cost of ownership

Property tax

Cresskill's 2025 general tax rate is 2.269 per $100 of assessed value and its effective tax rate is 2.014%, according to the state's 2025 General Tax Rates table. Dividing 2.014 by 2.269 suggests assessments averaged about 89% of market value. Applying the effective rate to recent prices gives rough annual estimates:

• $940,000 townhouse: about $18,900
• $1,000,000 (latest all-residential median): about $20,100
• $1,400,000 (latest single-family median): about $28,200

The state's 2024 average residential assessment report put Cresskill's average residential assessment at $837,612. At the 2025 general rate that implies about $19,000, a rough guide since 2025 assessments may differ. Actual bills depend on each property's assessment, which buyers can check with the borough assessor.

Other costs

• HOA fees for townhouses and condos vary by development and were not verified here.
• New Jersey restructured its "mansion tax" in 2025. For deeds under contracts fully executed on or after July 10, 2025, sales over $1 million carry a seller-paid Graduated Percent Fee of 1% to 3.5% of the full price, replacing the old buyer-paid 1% fee. With Cresskill's median at $1 million, many sales cross this line; confirm the exact rate for a given price with an attorney.
• Eligible owners may qualify for New Jersey's ANCHOR benefit or Senior Freeze.
• Flood risk was not assessed here. Check the FEMA flood map and get an insurance quote for a specific address.

Monthly payments and income needed

30-year fixed loan, 20% down, tax at the 2.014% effective rate. Insurance and HOA fees are excluded, so real payments are higher.

"Income for 28%" is the gross income at which P&I plus tax equals 28% of income, a common lender guideline.

The move from 5.98% in February to 7.03% on September 24 adds about $553 a month on a $1,000,000 purchase, about $6,600 a year. A 10% lower price at 7.03% would save about $534 a month in principal and interest, so the rate swing roughly equals a 10% price change.

Judy Zhou's Cresskill area guide lists a median household income of $173,293, a figure not re-checked against the Census for this article. If accurate, a median-price purchase needs well above the local median income at either rate, so many buyers rely on equity from a prior home or larger down payments.

Schools

Cresskill runs its own pre-K through 12 district, while Demarest and Closter send high school students to the Northern Valley Regional district. According to Wikipedia's summary of Cresskill Public Schools, the district has two elementary schools serving grades through 5 (Edward H. Bryan School and Merritt Memorial School) and a combined middle and high school. Cresskill High School enrollment is listed at about 474 students in grades 9 to 12, with about 398 in the middle school.

Third-party ratings change year to year and were not re-verified here. The state's New Jersey School Performance Reports are the primary source for test results and graduation rates.

Commuting

Cresskill has no passenger rail station, so most commuters drive, typically via Route 9W south to the George Washington Bridge. Judy Zhou's Cresskill area guide lists NJ Transit bus 166 to Port Authority at roughly 1 hour 21 minutes to 1 hour 34 minutes end to end; check NJ Transit's current schedule, as these times were not re-verified. For daily Manhattan commuters, the lack of rail is a real trade-off.

Development and policy to watch

Under New Jersey's 2024 affordable housing law (P.L. 2024, c.2), the Fourth Round of obligations (2025 to 2035) requires every municipality to plan for regional affordable housing, which can bring multifamily or inclusionary townhouse projects. Cresskill's specific obligation and sites were not verified here; check planning board agendas for a given street. More attached housing would keep pulling the all-residential median below single-family figures even if house values hold.

Strategy for buyers

• Use single-family price per square foot, not the headline median. Windows since mid-2025 ranged from $464 to $532. A listing well above that needs a reason, such as new construction or a full renovation.
• Negotiate on stale listings. With 46 homes for sale and 63 median days on market, older listings have room; fresh, well-presented ones still go fast.
• Compare townhouses and houses per square foot. Townhouses recently sold for more ($501) than single-family houses ($483), before HOA fees.
• Plan the rate lock. A 0.5-point move changes P&I on an $800,000 loan by about $260 to $270 a month.

Strategy for sellers

• Price off the last 12 months, not spring 2025, whose $1.46 million to $1.64 million single-family medians reflected an unusual mix of large houses.
• Expect competition. New listings were up 68% year over year, so presentation and pricing matter more.
• Use the neighbor gap. Cresskill houses cost less per square foot than Tenafly or Demarest, which can attract buyers priced out of those towns.
• Budget for the seller-paid Graduated Percent Fee (1% to 3.5%) on sales over $1 million before negotiating near that line.

Outlook for the next 6 to 12 months

Pointing to flat or slightly softer single-family prices: rates rose to 7.03% after spring contracts were signed; May inventory (46) was near the series highs of 47 (September 2024) and 48 (August 2025); and Cresskill's price per square foot stalled for a year while the county rose.

Supporting prices: sales volume was the highest in three years, pending sales in the window ending May (31) beat the prior year's 28 after trailing in the March and April windows, 52% of listings went under contract within two weeks, and the price-per-square-foot gap to nearby towns may draw buyers.

What would change this view: if summer 2026 data shows pending sales falling below about 20 per three-month window while inventory stays above 40, prices are more likely to soften. If inventory falls back toward 30 and sale-to-list stays above 102%, the stall is more likely to be a pause. Also watch the townhouse pipeline, because it will keep affecting the headline median regardless of what individual homes are worth.

FAQ

Did Cresskill home prices really fall 34%?

Mostly no. Five townhouses near $940,000 joined a mix that was all single-family a year earlier. Single-family houses alone were down 8% on 12 sales, and up 1.4% per square foot over the full year.

How much is property tax on a $1 million home in Cresskill?

About $20,100 a year using the 2025 effective tax rate of 2.014%. The real bill depends on the home's assessment, which the borough assessor can confirm.

Is Cresskill cheaper than Tenafly?

Per square foot, yes. In the year to May 2026, single-family houses averaged about $492 per square foot in Cresskill versus about $621 in Tenafly, based on Redfin ZIP data. Effective tax rates are close: 2.014% versus 2.086%.

Is it a buyer's or seller's market in Cresskill?

Closer to balanced than in 2024 or 2025. Supply was about 4.5 months based on pending sales in the latest window, 47% of homes sold above list, and inventory was up 39% year over year. Competition is lower than the Bergen County average.

Sources

• Redfin Data Center (ZIP 07626, 07670, 07627, 07624 and Bergen County series, through May 2026)
• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey
• New Jersey Division of Taxation, 2025 General Tax Rates
• New Jersey Division of Taxation, 2024 Average Residential Assessments
• Homes.com, Cresskill Commons
• Wikipedia, Cresskill Public Schools
• Wikipedia, Cresskill High School
• Judy Zhou, Cresskill area guide