Bergen County Home Supply Lowest in Seven Years Just Before The Key Selling Season

Home Inventory Lowest in Seven Years

The number of homes for sale in New Jersey  fell to a 7-year low in January,leaving would-be buyers chasing a shrinking supply of homes just before the spring selling season.

Unsold inventory in the state declined 18% to the levels of 2005  at the height of the housing bubble. The combination of rising demand and falling supply portends slim pickings for home shoppers during the season which kicks off in March and traditionally is the year’s busiest time for transactions

The current level of unsold inventory is 7.3 months of sales compare to 10.7 months of sales a year ago. We see that in select  East Bergen County towns there is a shortage in properties of under $1 Million and a relative abundance of unsold homes in the $1 Million and higher range.

More competition is good for home owners who saw their property values decline during the last six years. Coupled with the forecast of mortgage rates inching up will likely accelerate the trend toward market stabilization and modest price increases.

According to the Otteau report  the level of unsold inventory for properties priced

• $400 to $1,000,000 is about 6.5 months of sales.
• $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 the rate of sales is 11 months of sales
• $2,500,000 and higher it is 18 months of sales 

Below is the current inventory ( as of 2/22/2013) of single family homes in select towns  showing the total and the number of homes priced $1 Million to $2 Million and, $2 Million and higher.