West Essex Real Estate Market Turns Around

Sellers are seeing multiple offers, and they are getting more than their asking price. 

Those are just some signs the local real estate market is turning-around, Andrew Mensch, Broker-Sales Manager of the Prudential New Jersey Properties West Essex Office in Verona, said this week.

Low interest rates and a low inventory have led to sellers getting more for their homes, Mensch said.

The average selling price in Verona is up from $315,100 for the first-half of 2012 to $354,000 for the same period in 2013. That's a 12.3% increase. In Cedar Grove, the average selling price has also jumped, from $397,100 to $412,500, or 3.9%, year over year for January through June.

Prices are up 6.7% for West Essex as a whole, with double-digit percentage increases in Bloomfield, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Glen Ridge and Roseland. 

Mensch said the rise in selling price is part of a nationwide trend due primarily to the lowest inventory seen since 1999. He said sellers may be holding on waiting for prices to get better. 

"We're past the bottom," he said, "and it's encouraging. Not only here but all across the U.S."

Properties are also spending less time on the market. The average number of days on the market is down in Verona from 99 to 88, and in Cedar Grove from 111 to 86, year over year for January through June.

"All the numbers that we have are improving," Mensch said, with the exception of the number of closings. 

"And that is purely due to the lack of inventory," he said. "I would love to have more houses. I could sell them."

Closings in Verona for January — June*