West Orange residential home sales continued in October with 33 homes selling for the month. This is exactly the same amount of homes that sold last month in Millburn/Short Hills, Maplewood, South Orange and Verona combined. This just goes to show even as the cool weather sets in, home buyers do continue their quest to find the perfect home and make an offer when they do.
Of the 33 West Orange residential homes sold in October, one sold over asking price, six sold at asking price and nine sold within $10,000 of the asking price. The one that sold over asking price had been on the market for only 23 days at its original list price. Four of the six that sold at asking price also sold at the original listing price. The most expensive sale for October can be found at 65 Park Way for $915,000. While there were two short sales and zero foreclosures, a overwhelming majority were regular sales. A regular sale is when the homeowner can sell their home without distress in an arms-length transaction. A is when the homeowner owes more on a home to one or more banks than a home is worth and is asking the bank(s) to accept a lower amount than what is owed. A foreclosure is when a bank entity has now taken ownership of a property and sells it independently.
The chart below gives you a snapshot of how the residential home prices are trending and how many are selling. You will see West Orange is hovering in the mid-to-low $300,000s in median sales price.
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West Orange 2011 Real Estate Sales
Find out what's happening in West Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Single-Family Homes
MONTH
TOTAL SOLD
AVERAGE LIST PRICE
MEDIAN LIST PRICE
AVERAGE SALES PRICE
MEDIAN SALES PRICE
AVG
SP/LP%*
MED
SP/LP%*
AVG
DOM
October
33
$390,503
$349,999
$374,194
$330,000
96.4%
96.7%
89
3Q2011
(Jul-Sept)
100
$415,968
$349,000
$389,183
$341,000
96.1%
96.6%
104
2Q2011 (Apr-Jun)
97
$395,115
$335,000
$376,442
$320,000
95.5%
96.2%
94
1Q2011
(Jan-Mar)
74
$387,862
$342,000
$369,857
$323,750
95.4%
95.1%
136
*SP/LP% = property sold XX% of list price. **A home sales were added after this month report was published. DOM = Days on Market for final listing period; MED = median; AVG = average.
The average sales price number is the total of all the properties divided by the number of properties. The median sales price number is the midpoint of all the properties. We normally write about average sale prices because that’s what people are used to. However, Bob and I believe the median sales price tells you more, as the National Association of Realtors has stated, so we are writing more about median pricing the way we have been discussing it during our one-on-ones with clients. Median pricing is especially important since West Orange has Llewellyn Park and the newer, high-end construction of Bel-Air, The Reserves at Bel-Air and Vizcaya that easily skew the average sale prices.
We are seeing a 4.5%- 6% contraction since 2009 in the West Orange real estate market when comparing the first 9 months of the year. A lot of this is somewhat expected if you consider more of the new, more expensive, high-end construction was selling during these years than this year, which raised overall pricing. The median sales price between January – September 2011 was $325,000, for 2010 it was $345,000, and for 2009 it was $340,000. This shows a $15,000 - $20,000 negative spread in the median sales price. The October 2011 median sales price of $330,000 is almost $100,000 less than the $424,500 October 2010 median sales price. We know this large spread may just be an anomaly for the month, however, since the fourth quarter of 2010 (October – December) ended with a median sales price of $330,000.
Check the list to the right to see a list of all of the West Orange homes sold in October and and a list of homes sold in September. To keep your pulse on the West Orange real estate market, click here and check out our weekly pending sales update.
Many home buyers will always consider West Orange because they can get a lot for their money, in a great neighborhood, with easy access to almost everything. Five more homes have already sold in the first five days of November.
All of this data has been compiled using information from the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS) as of November 5, 2011. If changes were made in GSMLS after November 5, 2011 they are 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.
