FIRST QUARTER MARKET REPORT 2023

from First Quarter 2023 Market Report I Turpin Realtors

FIRST QUARTER MARKET REPORT 2023

About the Data

• This study includes all residential home sales in the towns indicated as reported by Garden State Multiple Service LLC (GSMLS), including condominiums and townhomes. It does not include land sales, commercial sales or rentals.

• Year to Date “Overview” sales data is as reported to GSMLS on 4/10/23.

• When considering Supply and Demand, it is generally accepted that a supply of six months represents a balanced market. Below six months tends to be a seller’s market, with prices rising, and above six months generally indicates a buyer’s market with downward pressure on pricing.

• Average Sales per month is calculated on the number of sales for the current year.

• The relatively tiny amount of transaction data in some categories can lead to wild swings that do not necessarily point to a trend in one direction or another.

The narrative around our region’s residential real estate market during the first quarter of 2023 remains largely unchanged from our last quarterly report. Historically low inventory amid continued strong buyer demand is causing prices to remain stable, especially in the popular under $2 million price range.

Inventory Challenges Remain

Our regional results indicate that overall, new listings taken are down 27% versus Q1 2022, and 50% compared with the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. Standing inventory is down by 8% versus the same period last year and a staggering 76% compared to Q1 2019. These numbers are driven by the under $1 million price range, where the largest number of transactions occur. Inventory in the $1 million to $2 million range actually increased despite fewer new listings coming to market, and in the $2 million to $3 million range both new listings and inventory are on the rise. Though the over $3 million market represents only a small number of transactions, it nevertheless seems to be holding steady compared with the same period last year.

Values Hold

We continue to see strong buyer activity relative to the available supply, with correctly priced homes in popular price ranges generally finding a buyer quickly, though at a somewhat more moderate pace than we saw during the pandemic frenzy. The result is that home prices have remained stable in most cases or even increased in some cases, which is significant considering the strong price appreciation of the preceding two years.

Because trends vary greatly from town to town, and even within the same town, this report contains aggregated county-level data in addition to granular results for 39 municipalities in our region. With that in mind, I invite you to reach out to one of our knowledgeable sales agents who would be pleased to explain exactly what is happening in your neighborhood and arrange for you to receive regular updates via email.

John Turpin, President

REGIONAL RESULTS | MARCH 2023

Aggregated results for all of Hunterdon, Morris and Somerset counties, plus the following towns in Essex and Union counties: Berkeley Heights, Essex Fells, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, Mountainside, New Providence, Scotch Plains, Summit, South Orange, West Orange and Westfield.