Dear Friends and Neighbors:
The Ridgewood real estate market is alive and well. It was a very strong 1Q19 across the board and we are happy to report that 2Q19, the heart of the Spring selling season, is off to a very strong start also.
The national and local economies are doing better than expected and interest rates are now 50-bp ower than a year-ago (4.15% average 30-yr mortgage rate), making it an ideal to transact in Ridgewood.
In 1Q19, on a seasonally comparable year-over-year basis, average residential home prices increased 7% to $852,586, unit sales increased 13% to 51 homes, sales price as a percent of the list price improved 0.5 percentage points to 95.3% and the average days on the market improved 8% to 50.7 days. Notably, the average residential sales price, while up year-over-year, was flat with the full-year 2018 average.
The hottest segment remains the $700,000-$1,000,000 price range, however, the $1,200,000 and above
market posted very strong results during the quarter, after stagnating throughout much of 2018.
While much has been said about the relative weakness in the high-end, or luxury market (>$1,000,000,)we see a sizeable, highly qualified, well-educated buyer pool that is willing to spend top dollar for homes that are in good locations and have open floor plans, updated kitchens and bathrooms with high-end appliances, and soft color palettes.
We continue to expect the Ridgewood residential market to remain stable in 2019, following a year in which the average home sale price increased 1% to $853,040 and activity remained consistent with recent years in the range of 310 homes sold.
In terms of house size, the 4-bedroom market once again generated the highest unit volume at 19 homes while posting an average sale price of $772,974, followed by the 3-bedroom market at 16 unitswith an average sales price of $582,125. The 5+ bedroom market posted the biggest annual jump in unit sales and average sales price gains, rising to 14 units at an average sales price of $1,339,921.
Looking at the various neighborhoods in 1Q19, Ridge saw the highest number of home sales at 12 units and the highest average selling price at $1,229,367, followed by Willard at 11 units with an average sales price of $884,995. Travell and Hawes continued to provide the most value for the dollar with average home sale prices of $635,313 and $639,643, respectively. Activity in Somerville and orchard was relatively quiet during the period.
As for current inventory, there are 88 homes on the market (as of 4/19/2019) with an average of 65.6 days on the market, and the absorption rate stands at 3.4 months based on the monthly sales rate over the past 12 months. Similar to sales trends, the 3- and 4-bedroom market up to $1.0 mn remains the
strongest market segment.
Who's Taking Care of Your Biggest Investment?
Your home is one of, if not, your biggest investment(s). Your choice of real estate professional to list your home and/or help you find a new one is absolutely critical to your financial well-being.
In 2018, my on-point listing prices, concierge services and customized marketing and sales strategies for
home sellers, plus my keen understanding of what buyers are looking for resulted in the following successes;
- 21 transactions in Bergen County totaling $24.5 mn, including 18 in Ridgewood totaling $20.8mn (rank #2)
- 9 Ridgewood listings totaling $9.8 mn (rank #3)
- 9 Ridgewood buyer's representations totaling $11.0 mn (rank #2).
While the results speak for themselves, don’t just take my word for it, check out my client testimonials at Zillow thank you to all my wonderful clients.
If you are thinking of buying or selling, please call me or text me to see how I can help you achieve a successful outcome - results matter, let me put my network and market intelligence to work for you as I have with so many other clients.