Do You Know How Much Maplewood Homes Are Selling For?

Have you ever wanted to have one place you can depend on to find out what your neighbor’s home sold for, whether Real Estate prices are going up or down, or what’s changing in the housing industry? Our new blog will deliver this information and more to become your source for Maplewood Real Estate. Let’s first look at the first half of this year, from January to June, where 116 residential (single-family) homes and seven multi-family (2-4 family) homes sold. Of the 116 residential homes that sold 23 were over asking price, 13 were at asking and 26 sold within $10,000 of the asking price.

With over 70% of Americans agreeing that buying a home is a good financial decision today, according to the 2011 National Housing Pulse Survey released in July by the National Association of REALTORS^®, it’s good to know Maplewood is on so many home buyers’ lists as a town to call home.

The chart below provides a snapshot of the 1H2011 (first half of 2011) residential home sales. The documents to the right provide a list of all homes sold during 1H2011 and other useful information.

Maplewood First Half 2011 Monthly Snapshot: Residential Homes 

MONTH

TOTAL SOLD

AVERAGE LIST PRICE

AVERAGE SALES PRICE

SP/LP%

DOM

June

33

$493,882

$484,167

96.8%

63

May

27

$513,396

$499,137

96.9%

62

April

10

$566,770

$559,600

98.5%

30

March

15

$582,327

$568,867

97.5%

73

February

16

$428,612

$417,285

97.0%

75

January

15

$425,726

$418,213

97.5%

73

SUMMARY

116 

$498,328

$487,353

97.2%

64

 SP/LP% = property sold XX% of list price and DOM = Days on Market for final listing period.

For the seven multi-family homes that sold 1H2011 the average sales price was $326,771 with $342,614 as the average list price, which means the homes sold for 97.1% of list price. The average days on market was 199.

Back to the Future: It’s All in the Numbers

What’s happened in our market since Y2K? In 1999, Y2K was our fear: what would happen when the computers shifted from 1999 to 2000? A lot of planning, money, and jobs went to preparing for this. When we woke up on January 1, 2000, though, all was calm and quiet. What we didn’t realize was the anxiety over the final year of the 20^th century wasn’t ending because of the Y2K disaster that didn’t happen it was really just beginning as the United States began to change due to the volatility of the stock market, the world market, the job market and the housing market. Many events happened during these first 10 years of the 21^st century but regardless of the national climate always remember, Real Estate is local.

Maplewood First Half (January – June)2011 Numbers

Year

Average Sales

Price

Number of Single

Family Homes

2011

$487,353

116

2010

$502,373

125

2009

$455,068

93

2008

$523,180

103

2007

$523,014

151

2006

$560,423

155

2005

$461,877

147

2004

$454,801

184

2003

$396,965

177

2002

$360,370

187

2001

$326,292

138

2000

$277,876

138

Comparing the first half results of the Real Estate market for the past 11 years, we see that the most number of residential homes sold in 2002 with 187 and the highest average sales price of $560,423 was attained in 2006 when 32 fewer homes sold, compared to 2002.  The stats show 2006 was also the year for South Orange when the year reigned as the one with the most single-family homes sold, at 138, for the highest average sales price of $675,731.  

Last year’s Home Buyer Tax Credit did not create a big splash in Maplewood. Only nine less homes sold this year, compared to 1H2010, at a 3% price difference. Since the high of 2006 first half sales, the Maplewood Real Estate market experienced a 13% reduction in the average sales price while South Orange had a 21% negative change.  

$650,000 Doesn’t Mean the Same as of This Saturday

As of this Saturday, October 1, the buying pool will shrink a little for homeowners selling just above the mid-600s. The temporary higher conforming loan limits authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allowed loan limits in Essex County to be raised to $729,750, will be lowered to $625,500, according to Erdine Skelton, a home mortgage consultant with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

This means to obtain a loan amount for over $625,500 the buyer would be moved into a jumbo loan category where the underwriting guidelines are different, the interest rates are higher and the maximum loan value is 80%; which requires the buyer to have at least a 20% downpayment.

This change will mostly affect the well-qualified buyer who is looking to purchase a home for say $700,000 today using an FHA loan with 3.5% down, according to Fred Burt, a senior loan officer at Superior Mortgage Corp., a direct lender. Today this buyer would need a downpayment of just $24,500 and would get a mortgage for $675,500.  As of October 1, this same buyer would now need to get the loan amount down to $625,500, forcing the buyer to now put down a minimum of $74,500: these numbers do not include the monies needed for closing costs. If this buyer does not have the extra $50,000 on hand, then as of October 1, this same well-qualified buyer will now have to look at homes with a maximum sales price of $648,500 instead of $700,000.  

“There aren’t any exceptions to this date so it’s important that you do not let your scheduled closing date slide into October or the buyer may no longer be able to afford to purchase your home,” continued Burt.  

How will the numbers look at the end of the year? Stay tune for more Real Estate reports from us and you’ll be able to easily know what’s happening in town. If you’d like an email of all the pictures and listing details of the homes sold just send me a note. And, remember, if you own a home in Maplewood you are the town’s #1 advocate potential home buyers will listen to, even when you may not realize it. What you say about the town verbally or online may just be the deciding factor on whether someone will choose to buy here.

All of this data has been compiled using information from the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS) as of September 26, 2011; if changes were made in GSMLS after September 26, 2011 it is not reflected here. The MLS is used by Real Estate agents selling properties in West Orange, New Jersey. This data does not include private sales or new construction not listed through a Real Estate agent. Towne Realty Group, LLC. Independently Owned and Operated. Bev and Bob Meaux, Salespersons, Towne Realty Group.