Montclair First Quarter Real Estate Review

Last weekend was the state-wide Open House Weekend. So, with spring upon us, how's Montclair's real estate market shaping up?

As of Saturday, there are 204 single-family Montclair homes on the market (74 of those were listed in March and 25 were listed since April 1), 72 are under contract, and 14 are marked as being in attorney review.

The number of homes in attorney review helps give us a sense of the movement of the market. It means the seller has accepted an offer, the buyer and seller have signed the contract, and the attorney review process has begun. Once the attorneys provide written agreement that the attorney review process is completed, the property is then under contract.

Forty-five single-family homes sold in the first quarter of this year. Click here to see the list.

The New Jersey Association of Realtors (NJAR) declared last week’s Open House Weekend a success. Many Montclair Realtors participated by having 68 open houses according to the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS). When you add Montclair, Maplewood, Millburn/Short Hills, South Orange, and West Orange together, there were 247 Open Houses.

After talking with various Realtors there was a sense that buyers really took advantage of this time to see a wide selection of what was on the market. It was important for them to map out their schedule in advance to truly leverage the few hours. It was also a great chance for sellers to showcase their home.

NJAR is planning the next Open House Weekend for June 4 and 5.

Since the future of the real estate market lies in the strength of the buyer’s belief, need, and ability to purchase a home it was good to see them out and about last weekend as home sales continue into the second quarter.

The four-year chart below gives you a visual of the average sales price and the number of homes sold during the first quarter of 2008-2011. As far as the number of homes sold, it shows the highs of 2008, the preceding drops in 2009, and the attempts to stabilize over the past two years. When you look at the average sales price, again there are the general highs of 2008, then preceding drops in 2009 with all three months remaining in a consistent price range. The past two years show constant fluctuations in the average sale prices, which is something we are seeing in many towns. It’s interesting to note the average sales price for March 2011 surpassed that of March 2008.

MONTCLAIR SINGLE-FAMILY REAL ESTATE STATS

MONTH

2011

# Homes Sold

2011

Avg Sales Price

2010

# Homes Sold

2010

Avg Sales Price

2009

# Homes Sold

2009

Avg Sales Price

2008

# Homes Sold

2008

Avg Sales Price

MARCH

12

  $842,695*

    22**

$480,625

14

$631,189

25

$840,358

FEBRUARY

12

$605,416

12

  $792,458*

11

  $613,686*

24

  $785,378*

JANUARY

21

$544,440

25

$612,060

8

$634,263

24

  $710,853*

First Quarter

45

$640,235

59

$599,741

33

$626,100

73

$779,705

The Spring market is upon us and the selling season has begun. Take advantage of the opportunities by understanding the market, negotiating well and if you are a seller, by pricing your home right from the start with today’s market in mind.  

*These months each have at least one property that sold over $2 million.

**This is probably a reflection of the Home Buyer Tax Credit where people were trying to meet the initial April 30 deadline to complete a home sale transaction.

All information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed and includes homes listed on the GSMLS.