Find out the latest real estate market information for Chester NJ (Chester Borough & Township) through 2011 in addition to a look back at the years in between to 2005. See what the trends are indicating and what is next for the Chester NJ real estate market. If you are considering buying and or selling a home in 2012 in Chester NJ, this valuable annual market report is an absolute must read.
Attention… All residential real estate is local! Not everything you read about online, in the papers and hear through major media outlets about the housing market is correct or relevant, especially when information is presented on a “national” or “regional” basis. There are many factors that make up the differences in local real estate markets, even from town to town and especially in a state like New Jersey with its inordinate amount of municipalities making it a challenge for some to drill down and obtain the correct market value of any given home. This is why it is important for both buyers and sellers to start with the latest “local” market data before they make any real estate decisions.
Closed Sales & Listings in Chester Township NJ from 2005 through 2011
As you can see from the chart above the volume of both Closed Sales and Listings in Chester Township has dropped off significantly from the period of 2005 through 2007. Inventory is still high at 12.6 months, although it is down about 15% from last year at this same time. Simply stated, “inventory” represents the number of homes currently available or For Sale in a given market, or in this case a specific town. This means that with all things remaining equal, at the current rate of sales, it will take 12.6 months to sell all of Chester’s current inventory. This figure indicates that Chester is still in a “Buyer’s Market” and will remain so for at least the short term. A normal or “Balanced Market” would have 5 to 6 months worth of inventory.
On a positive note, recent data indicates that some of the older inventory (houses on the market for long periods of time) has finally begun to clear out. These sellers are finally getting serious about facing reality by lowering their price and moving on with their lives. This is an important indicator that the market may be starting to slowly turn itself around.
Average & Median Sales Price in Chester Township NJ from 2005 through 2011
The chart above indicates a steady and significant decline in both Average and Median Sale Prices in Chester Township NJ over the past 7 years. Prices were in the low to mid $900′s in the first 4 years and then dropping down into the mid $700′s over the past 3 years.
Average & Median List to Sale Price Ratio in Chester Township NJ from 2005 through 2011
Sale to List Price ratio is the difference between a home being sold at full asking price and what a buyer actually paid for the home. According to the chart above, 2009 had the lowest ratio at 93.6%, which means that the buyers paid 6.4% below List Price. The higher the ratio indicates that sellers are pricing their homes closer to what the correct or true market value will bear.
Average & Median Days on Market in Chester Township NJ from 2005 through 2011
While this metric (the number of days a home is on the market) can be a bit misleading based on the way the data is reported on the Multiple Listing System, it does provide a broad indicator of current market conditions. The longer it takes to sell a home, the lower the price it will bring and vice versa. The good news is that 2011 reported the lowest amount of Days on Market since 2005, which is another sign that the market may be finally starting to turn around.
13 Month Rolling Snapshot of Listing & Sold Activity in Chester Township NJ
Unlike the previous charts, the chart directly above focuses entirely on 2011 on a month to month basis of Listings and Sales activity. As you can see, the amount of Listings in December 2011, is a little less than it was in December of 2010, although there were an extraordinary amount of Closed Sales in 2010.
What does the Chester real estate market hold for 2012?
While it is impossible to make any long term predictions regarding the residential real estate market, especially at the national level, more experts and real estate prognosticators appear to agree (more so than in any of the previous 5 to 7 years) that 2012 may be the year the market finally hits the bottom in terms of pricing. In addition, there is a pent up amount of demand in terms of both buyers and sellers who have been sitting on the sidelines for a long time now with their plans on hold (in some cases up to several years) who now feel they need to make a decision and get on with their lives.
Many of us would like to have the ability to time the market perfectly in order to avoid selling at the bottom or in the case of buyers to do exactly the opposite. Unfortunately, the rate at which information is gathered, (especially for real estate) does not lend itself to such timely decision making scenarios. It may take anywhere up to 6 to 12 months before we will know for sure when the market finally begins to reverse itself and by that time the opportunity to time the market will be lost.
Why Chester NJ is a great place to live…
Chester offers a very high quality of life to its residents beginning with an outstanding public school system with a stellar reputation, a new state of the art public library and plenty of choices available nearby in the private school sector, as well. In addition to the Chester Borough historic shopping district, there is a newer contemporary shopping center (Streets of Chester) which is home to some of the nation’s most well known retail designer clothing stores. Open space and public parks and recreation are all in abundance with a wide choice of uses for outdoor enthusiasts and people of all fitness levels.
All you need to know about Chester NJ
I also serve the surrounding towns in Morris County including Morristown, Morris Township, Madison, the Chathams, the Mendhams, the Chesters and Long Valley (Washington Township), the Somerset County towns of Basking Ridge, Bedminster, Bernardsville, Far Hills and Peapack Gladstone along with the Hunterdon County towns of Lebanon and Tewksbury Townships.
Bob Zorechak does Business in Accordance With the Federal Fair Housing Law. (The Fair Housing Act of 1988) It is illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or notional origin in the sale or rental of housing or residential lots, in advertising the sale of rental of housing, in financing of housing, in the provision of real estate brokerage services or in the appraisal of housing. For more on fair housing, please visit 