BERGEN COUNTY PROPERTY GUIDE

Bergen County Cap Rates: What Fort Lee, Hackensack, Teaneck, and Paramus Actually Look Like for Investors

Bergen County has 70 municipalities. That number is relevant to investors because it means the county is not one market — it's dozens of markets with different price points, rental demand profiles, and property tax burdens sitting next to each other on the same map.

Of those 70, a handful see consistent investor activity: properties that trade at prices where the income math is at least worth running, with enough rental demand to underpin the numbers. Four of the most active are Fort Lee, Hackensack, Teaneck, and Paramus — and each one tells a different story about what Bergen County investing actually looks like in 2026.

One thing runs through all four: property taxes. Bergen County's municipal tax rates vary more than most investors realize — by a factor of two across the towns covered here — and that spread shows up directly in net operating income. A gross yield that looks reasonable before expenses can compress significantly once the tax line is added. This article walks through each town, what the numbers show, and what drives the differences. It is general market and property information only — not tax, legal, financial, or real estate advice.

Fort Lee: The NYC Adjacency Premium

Fort Lee sits at the base of the George Washington Bridge. That geographic fact explains most of what's happening in its real estate market — and most of the challenge for income-focused investors.

As of June 2026, Fort Lee's median sale price is $482,238, up 15.4% year-over-year, with a median price per square foot of $450.^[1] Average rent runs $3,398 per month, with one-bedrooms averaging $2,975 and two-bedrooms at $4,089.^[2]

At those figures, gross yield on a median-priced property works out to roughly 8.5% before expenses — which sounds reasonable until you run the tax line. Fort Lee's 2025 general tax rate is 2.700 per $100 of assessed value, per the New Jersey Division of Taxation's 2025 General Tax Rate schedule.^[3] On a $482,000 property, that's approximately $13,020 per year — roughly $1,085 per month — before insurance, maintenance, vacancy, or management. Net operating income compresses quickly from there.

The honest framing for Fort Lee is that it's an appreciation market more than a yield market. The 15.4% year-over-year price growth and the $450-per-square-foot figure reflect the NYC adjacency premium as much as anything. The product mix is predominantly high-rise condos, not two-families — which means HOA fees are often a second major expense line after taxes. Investors who have bought here in recent years have generally been rewarded on equity; investors underwriting purely for current income should model the expenses carefully before committing.

One notable signal: homes are sitting 84 days on market, and only 26.6% of properties sold above asking price in June 2026 — down from 34.4% the prior year. The market is still appreciating, but the urgency of 2021–2022 is not present.

Hackensack: The Most Accessible Bergen County Investor Market

Hackensack is Bergen County's seat and its most active residential investor market for one simple reason: the price point. The median sale price is approximately $465,000 as of 2026 — the lowest of the four towns in this guide — and 63% of households are renter-occupied, one of the highest renter concentrations in the county.^[4]

Average rent runs $2,652 per month, with one-bedrooms at $2,363 and two-bedrooms at $3,189.^[5] Gross yield on a median-priced property at those rent levels is approximately 6.8% — a more workable starting point than Fort Lee, but still before the most important expense line in Hackensack: property taxes.

Hackensack's 2025 general tax rate is 3.209 per $100 — the highest of the four towns in this guide by a meaningful margin.^[3] On a $465,000 property, that's roughly $14,920 per year — nearly $1,245 per month. The combination of the lowest purchase price and the highest tax rate means Hackensack's gross yield is more attractive than the other three towns, but the expense structure is also more punishing. Net yields after taxes, insurance, vacancy, and management are tighter than the gross number suggests.

What makes Hackensack worth watching beyond the current income numbers is the downtown story. NJ Transit direct service to Midtown Manhattan runs through the city center, and a sustained downtown redevelopment effort has brought new mixed-use construction, restaurant density, and residential demand to blocks that were largely vacant a decade ago. The question for investors is whether appreciation will outpace the tax burden — and whether entry prices today reflect the redevelopment story already.

Teaneck: Stabilized Demand, Compressed Yields

Teaneck sits between Hackensack and Fort Lee in both geography and price. The median sale price is $646,667 as of June 2026, with an average home value of $702,107 per Zillow's Home Value Index — up just 1.0% year-over-year in appreciation, though rents have grown faster, rising 5.4% over the same period to an average of $2,934 per month.^[6] Two-bedroom units average $3,078.^[7]

At those figures, gross yield on the median price is approximately 5.4% — the tightest starting point of the four towns. Teaneck's 2025 general tax rate is 2.292 per $100, which is more moderate than Hackensack but still meaningful: approximately $14,820 per year on a $646,000 property.^[3]

The Teaneck case for investors has always rested less on the yield math and more on the stability of the demand base. The township has a large, diverse, and relatively stable population with consistent rental demand from households who are priced out of owner-occupancy in this price range. The modest price appreciation (+1% YoY) combined with stronger rent growth (+5.4%) suggests the gap between rents and prices is gradually closing — which improves the income math over time for properties acquired at today's prices.

That said, at $646,000 median, Teaneck is not generating cap rates that make a straightforward income argument. It's a market where the long-term hold case rests on rent growth and eventual appreciation rather than current yield.

Paramus: Commercial Ratables, Low Taxes, and a Different Kind of Market

Paramus is the outlier in this group — in more than one way.

The median residential sale price is $1,329,277 as of June 2026, up 18.7% year-over-year.^[8] At those prices, Paramus is not a residential income market in any conventional sense. Two-families are scarce; the dominant product is single-family homes. The rental market is thin, and gross yields at $1.3M entry prices — even with Bergen County rents — don't support a traditional income underwriting.

What Paramus does have is the lowest general tax rate of the four towns: 1.499 per $100 for 2025 — less than half the rate of Hackensack.^[3] The reason is structural: Paramus is home to one of the densest concentrations of retail commercial property in New Jersey — Garden State Plaza, Bergen Town Center, and the Route 17 and Route 4 commercial corridors generate an enormous tax base that significantly reduces the burden on residential property. A homeowner in Paramus effectively benefits from the property tax revenue of some of the most productive retail real estate in the state.

For investors, Paramus is more relevant as a commercial market than a residential one. Retail, industrial, and mixed-use commercial properties along Route 17 and adjacent corridors are the investment product here. Residential buyers in Paramus are predominantly owner-occupants paying a premium for the school district, the amenity base, and the low tax burden relative to purchase price.

The Through-Line: Property Taxes Are the Variable Investors Underestimate Most

Running these four towns side by side makes one thing clear: Bergen County's property tax spread is large enough to materially affect investment outcomes, and it doesn't always align with price or rent.

Hackensack has the most accessible price point and the most renter demand — and the highest tax rate. Paramus has the lowest tax rate — and the highest prices and the thinnest rental market. Fort Lee has strong rents and a premium location — and a tax rate that costs $12,500 a year on a median-priced property. Teaneck sits in the middle on both price and tax rate, with the tightest gross yield of the group.

For an investor comparing these four markets, the gross yield figure alone — NOI before expenses divided by price — is not a reliable basis for a decision. The tax burden needs to be modeled explicitly for the specific municipality and the specific assessed value of the property you're underwriting, not estimated from county averages or regional rules of thumb.

The official source for New Jersey municipal tax rates is the General Tax Rate schedule published annually by the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The 2025 schedule is publicly available at nj.gov. For any specific property, the local tax assessor can confirm current assessed value and the resulting annual tax obligation.