Data on Princeton NJ Real Estate Market Vitality

1. Market Confidence Meter
Zillow reported this week
Home Prices were up for
the 2nd quarter of 2012 for
the first time since 2007.
The Wall St. Journal’s David
Wessel reported on July 12,
“The housing bust
is over.”

2. Market Confidence Meter
The Commerce
Department said June
housing starts were up
23.4% from a year ago, at
their highest rate since
October 2008

3. Market Confidence Meter
Lawrence Yun, Chief
Economist for the National
Association of Realtors
reports that “The latest
increase in home contract
signings marks 13
consecutive months of year-
over-year gains.” He expects
to see a 9 to 10%
improvement in total sales
for 2012.

4. Market Confidence Meter
The Labor Department
reported Unemployment
claims for the week ending are
down, at 353,000, a decrease
of 35,000 from the previous
week's revised figure. The
four-week moving average
was 367,250, a decrease of
from the previous week's
revised average of 376,000.

5. Historic Home Prices
When adjusted for inflation,
American home prices increased by
an average of about half a percentage
point per year from 1890 through
2008, according to data compiled by
Yale University Professor Robert
Shiller.
(www.USNews.com/money - Luke Mullins, March 4, 2010)

6. With an eye to Moving This Year!
If you are a Buyer,
• with today’s low interest rates, hovering around 3.5% for 30-year
fixed-rate mortgages, AFFORDABILITY is HIGH !
• consult with an experienced New Jersey mortgage counselor to
assess your buying power and position yourself in the market.
If you are a Seller,
• Pinpoint pricing is all important in this challenging market.
• Professional staging can make all the difference in getting a good,
negotiable offer.
• Pre-inspections prevent later fall-throughs once you have a
contract for sale!
• Marketing for today’s buyers and the way they search for homes–
on the INTERNET, makes all the difference.

7. Top Five Rules for Understanding
the Real Estate Market:
1.

8. Understand the Local Market That
You are Buying into or
Selling out of!

9. How do we assess strength and vitality
in our real estate markets?
By checking the “Absorption Rate.”
This is the number of homes available
divided by the number of homes
that have gone under contract
in the past 30 days.
It is our most accurate measure
of current market strength.

10. Sample Market Absorption Rate
Anyt ow n., NJ
100 cur r ent act ive list ings 25
= Mont hs’
4 r epor t ed sales in last 30 days absor pt ion
r at e
5-6 Months Market Absorption Rate indicates a normal market.

11. 11
Market Absorption Scale
(Absorption Rate in Months)

12. Market Scale for Supply & Demand
Weichert, Realtors has
been studying market
conditions for more than 3
decades and has found a
direct correlation between
market absorption rates
and property values.
As absorption rates increase
beyond a normal market
level of 5-6 months,
property values depreciate
annually. As they decrease
below 5 months, they
increase—inverse
proportion. Although
different markets may not
see the amount of decrease
shown here, the pressure on
prices will be similar.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
12
11
Normal

13. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Listings Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in in 30 Days (Loss) to Reduced in Invent. Listings Listings Listings
30 Days Months Market 30 Days Reduced
West
Windsor: 125 31 4.0 32 1 34 27.2% 3 6 43
All Styles
West
Windsor 23 10 2.3 11 1 7 30.4% 0 2 8
Condo/
T.Houses
West
Windsor 11 0 99 4 4 _ _ 0 0 3
55+
West
Windsor 91 21 4.3 17 (4) 27 29.7% 3 4 32
Single
Family
Lawrence:
All Styles 200 16 12.5 37 21 48 24.0% 8 6 30
Lawrence:
Condo/ 66 8 8.3 14 6 21 31.8% 2 1 9
THouses
Lawrence:
55+ 4 1 4 3 2 _ _ 1 0 3
Lawrence:
Single 130 7 18.6 20 13 27 20.8% 5 5 18
Family

14. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Listings % of Expire W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in Gain Reduced Invent. d Listings Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days (Loss) in 30 Reduced Listing
to Days s
Market
Plainsboro
All Styles
80 11 7.27 24 13 13 16% 11 0 22
Plainsboro
Condo/
40 7 5.7 14 7 9 23% 4 0 13
THouses
Plainsboro
55+
10 1 10 4 3 0 0 2 0 1
Plainsboro
Single
30 3 10 6 3 4 13% 5 0 8
Family
Cranbury:
All Styles
22 0 22 3 3 5 23% 2 0 0

15. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in (Loss) to Reduced in Invent. Listings Listings Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days Market 30 Days Reduced
Ewing:
All Styles
274 17 16 36 19 54 20% 9 8 23
Ewing :
Condo/
35 0 999 9 9 9 26% 2 2 3
T.Houses
Ewing
55+:
8 0 999 0 0 --- --- 0 0 1
Ewing:
Single
231 17 14 27 10 45 19% 7 6 19
Family
East
Windsor:
193 14 14 34 20 33 17% 8 5 22
All Styles
East
Windsor:
106 5 21 21 16 18 17% 6 2 10
Condo/
Thouses
East
Windsor:
16 1 16 0 -1 --- --- 1 0 0
55+
East
Windsor:
71 8 9 13 5 15 21% 1 3 12
Single
Family

16. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in (Loss) to Reduced in Invent. Listings Listings Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days Market 30 Days Reduced
Hopewell
Twp. 159 20 8 29 9 40 25.2% 4 7 29
All Styles
Hopewell
Twp. Condo/ 16 5 3.2 5 0 5 31.2% 1 1 3
T.Houses
Hopewell
Twp.: 7 1 7 2 1 -- -- 0 0 4
55+
Hopewell Twp
Single Family 136 14 9.7 22 8 35 25.7% 3 6 22
521 57 9.1 84 27 123 23.6% 18 13 56
Hamilton: All
Styles
90 5 18 10 5 18 20% 1 1 9
Hamilton:
Condo/ THouses
27 3 9 2 -1 -- -- 1 1 7
Hamilton:
55+
404 49 8.2 72 23 105 26% 18 11 40
Hamilton:
Single Family

17. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/draw Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings (Loss) to Reduce Invent. Listings n Listings
30 Days Months in 30 Market d in 30 Reduced Listings
Days Days
123 25 5 32 7 31 25% 8 4 22
Robbinsville
All Styles
59 12 5 22 10 17 29% 6 0 11
Robbinsville
Condo/
T.Houses
64 13 5 10 (3) 14 22% 2 4 11
Single Family
50 4 12 5 1 6 11% 7 1 1
Hightstown
Boro: All
Styles
23 5 5 3 (2) 7 30% 0 2 10
Pennington
9 2 4.5 1 (1) 2 22% 1 0 2
Hopewell Boro

18. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/draw Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in (Loss) to Reduced Invent. Listings n Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days Market in 30 Reduced Listings
Days
46 3 15.3 6 3 7 15.2% 0 3 7
Princeton Boro:
All Styles
21 1 21 3 2 4 19% 0 0 3
Pton -Boro
Condo/ Thouses
25 2 12.5 3 1 3 12% 0 3 4
Pton-Boro
Single Family
146 17 8.6 20 3 26 17.8% 0 7 19
Pton Twp: All
Styles
21 5 4.2 4 -1 5 23.8% 0 1 2
Pton Twp:
Condo/ Thouses
125 12 10.4 16 4 21 16.8% 0 6 17
Pton Twp:
Single Family

19. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in (Loss) to Reduced in Invent. Listings Listings Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days Market 30 Days Reduced
South
Brunswick 250 20 13 56 36 48 19 26 0 36
All Styles
South
BrunswickCon
do/ T.Houses
93 9 9 24 15 22 24 10 0 10
South
Brunswick 31 1 31 5 4 0 0 4 0 4
55+
South
Brunswick 126 10 13 27 17 26 21 12 0 22
Single Family
Monroe:
All Styles 475 37 13 101 24 3 1 38 3 75
Monroe:
55+ 322 32 10 66 34 1 3 24 1 56
Monroe:
Single Family 153 5 51 35 30 2 13 14 2 19

20. 7/23/12
Towns Active Pending Absorption New Net Gain Listings % of Expired W/drawn Closed
Listings in Last Rate in Listings in (Loss) to Reduced Invent. Listings Listings Listings
30 Days Months 30 Days Market in 30 Reduced
Days
162 39 4.1 25 -14 35 22% 8 4 38
Montgomery
All Styles
27 7 3.8 7 0 5 18% 1 1 9
Montgomery
Condo/Twnhms
135 32 4.2 18 -14 30 22% 7 3 29
Single Family
261 46 5.7 33 -13 60 23% 15 12 47
Hillsborough
All Styles
100 24 4.1 16 -8 22 22% 8 8 12
Hillsborough
Condo/Twnhms
161 22 7.3 17 -5 38 24% 7 4 35
Hillsborough
Single Family