Real Estate Market in Union County NJ (Westfield, Cranford: for sale, how much)

[workinggal]

My husband and I are looking at homes in Union County (Summit, Westfield, Mountainside, Cranford, Fanwood). We know how much we would *like* to spend on a home and have found some homes in our price range. We have also found some homes that are listed at higher than our range and would like to put in low offers.

We were wondering if anyone has any information on home sales in these areas and if homes are selling for less than the listing prices.

Any thoughts on the market in these areas in general?

Thanks in advance!

[Sergio M]

Cranford is still a sellers market. It is a very desirable town. (More in demand than even Westfield). Cranford and Westfield are very similar and you will get more for your money in Cranford ( bigger home, bigger lot) as opposed to Westfield for the same money. Both towns rank very high when it comes to schools. Mountainside is also an excellent choice, their taxes are lower, however, house prices tend to be a little higher. Sellers that are highly motivated to sell (have already bought, or are being relocated) are the ones that will be more negotiable.

[JamesBoyer]

I would not call Cranford a sellers market.

Your questions are too general because homes are selling below asking price in all our local markets. Of course there are some homes in all these towns that are selling at asking price or above asking price. I had a listing sell this spring for 7% above asking price.

At best all of the towns you have talked about are currently in what is called a even market. That means that homes will sell for fair value in someplace between 2 weeks and 4 months. On a over all basis it means that there is about a 6 month supply of homes on the market at the current rate of homes selling.

Additional advice, never be afraid to make a offer on a home, even if your offer is significantly lower than the current asking price. Just make sure you know how much you really want that home. Some sellers will take low offers personally and refuse to ever work with you, even if you come up in price.

James Boyer

[ira]

Originally Posted by workinggal

My husband and I are looking at homes in Union County (Summit, Westfield, Mountainside, Cranford, Fanwood). We know how much we would *like* to spend on a home and have found some homes in our price range. We have also found some homes that are listed at higher than our range and would like to put in low offers.

We were wondering if anyone has any information on home sales in these areas and if homes are selling for less than the listing prices.

Any thoughts on the market in these areas in general?

Thanks in advance!

Ask your realtor to provide you this information. They can get it from MLS - listing price vs. sold price

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by Sergio M

Cranford is still a sellers market. It is a very desirable town. (More in demand than even Westfield). Cranford and Westfield are very similar and you will get more for your money in Cranford ( bigger home, bigger lot) as opposed to Westfield for the same money. Both towns rank very high when it comes to schools. Mountainside is also an excellent choice, their taxes are lower, however, house prices tend to be a little higher. Sellers that are highly motivated to sell (have already bought, or are being relocated) are the ones that will be more negotiable.

my ancedotal evidence is that i wouldn't call cranford a seller's market either. my friend just purchased a home she's had her eye on for about 9 months - no takers. when the seller dropped the price by a bundle, she bought. YMMV.

[Sergio M]

Originally Posted by tahiti

my ancedotal evidence is that i wouldn't call cranford a seller's market either. my friend just purchased a home she's had her eye on for about 9 months - no takers. when the seller dropped the price by a bundle, she bought. YMMV.

There may be a number of reasons why your friend's home didn't sell quickly. Perhaps it was not priced correctly, It may not have been marketed to the maximize it's exposure, or there may have been other factors to consider. The current absorption rate in Cranford for the week of August 28th, 2008 is 5.6. Anything under 7 is considered a seller's market. There are currently 85 homes on the market in Cranford. There were 21 homes that closed between August 1st and today Sept. 1st, with an average DOM of 54 days
Yeah, there is a market.
I could e-mail you the stats if you'd like.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Sergio M

There may be a number of reasons why your friend's home didn't sell quickly. Perhaps it was not priced correctly, It may not have been marketed to the maximize it's exposure, or there may have been other factors to consider. The current absorption rate in Cranford for the week of August 28th, 2008 is 5.6. Anything under 7 is considered a seller's market. There are currently 85 homes on the market in Cranford. There were 21 homes that closed between August 1st and today Sept. 1st, with an average DOM of 54 days
Yeah, there is a market.
I could e-mail you the stats if you'd like.

At first look i said to myself are some impressive numbers (I talk to myself ALOT)
Until i realized 1 of those homes that sold in the high 300's
i showed a client last jan (as in 2007)when it was listed in the mid 500's

Makes me wonder home many others are the same (withdrawn/expired/relisted)

We are all in the same market and it seems to me things are starting to level off and the buyers are coming out

So Whether you are working for the buyer or the seller ,Just be honest with them about what is going on and they will respect you and more importantly
They will recommend you to their family and friends...

[Sergio M]

Right on Brian, and thank you for your input. A 300K home will not sell for 500K. Yes we took a *hit* and the sellers that are motivated are willing to negotiate. However, they are also more likely to wait for another buyer in a town with this level of activity.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Sergio M

Right on Brian, and thank you for your input. A 300K home will not sell for 500K. Yes we took a *hit* and the sellers that are motivated are willing to negotiate. However, they are also more likely to wait for another buyer in a town with this level of activity.

Agreed

[JamesBoyer]

I agree totally with Brian and Sergio. Sellers who are willing to be reasonable will negotiate the price to a certain extent.

I had the misfortune to be seated next to a lady on my flight back to New Jersey this afternoon who has had her home on the market for 12 months now. I really cannot remember how we got on the subject of it but she really really wanted to talk about it and I had nothing else to do so I indulged her. Keep in mind the home is totally not in an area I would ever consider listing a home in, Just to far away from me to properly market and service a listing in that local.

She talked about how nice the home was and how much it had gone up in value since she had purchased the home 10 years ago. Then she went on to say that she could not understand why she had not gotten a offer in the whole 12 months it had been for sale.

I asked her if the REALTOR they were working with had recommended the price their home was at or how did they come up with the price, her responce was that they had decided on the price, and then went to one of these companies that will put their home in the MLS for $700.00.

So as nice as I could I said, with the proper amount of professional marketing and the proper price any home will sell in 6 months or less. It it takes longer than that, then ether the price is wrong (usually the case) or the marketing stinks (usually the case for FSBO's) or both are the problem.

Needless to say she did not like that answer and that ended the conversation about her house. I was thankful as it was a tired conversation in which she only wanted to tell and not to learn anything.

It does not matter what the market condition there will always be some home sellers who think the market value of their home is somehow effected by what they as the home owner think it should be, not what the overall market is willing to pay for it.

James Boyer