Morristown NJ Real Estate 2011 Annual Market Report

Morristown NJ Real Estate 2011 Annual Market Report

by Bob Zorechak - GRI, ABR, e-PRO

Find out the latest real estate market information for Morristown NJ through 2011in addition to a look back at the years in between to 2005. See what the trends are indicating and what is next for the Morristown NJ real estate market. If you are considering buying and or selling a home in 2012 in Morristown 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.

As you can see from the chart above the volume of Closed Sales in Morristown has been trending steadily downward for the past 7 consecutive years, with Listings doing the same for the past 4 years. This is mixed news at best for the Morristown real estate market. Inventory has increased modestly by 9% from this same time last year up from 11.2 to 12.2 months, which is a step in the wrong direction.

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 a little more than 12 months to sell all of Morristown's current inventory. This figure indicates that Morristown, like some of the surrounding towns is experiencing what we call a strong "Buyer's Market" and will remain so for at least the short term. A Buyer's Market is considered to be a market with an inventory of 7 or more months worth of homes to sell at any given time. With more homes to choose from, not to mention record low interest rates and low prices, things remain very advantageous to buyers right now. A "Balanced" or normal market is considered to have 5 to 6 months worth of inventory with no distinct advantage to either Buyers or Sellers.

The chart above indicates a somewhat steady level in the Sale Price of homes in Morristown NJ over the past 7 years from highs in the mid $400's to lows near $400K. Based on the reasonable and consistent pace of Closed Sales, it is safe to assume that prices are not far off from true market value, however it would help reduce the current inventory if sellers made the adjustment. Incorrect pricing causes inventory to rise, and listings to become "stale" because they are on the market much longer than the norm, resulting in a stagnant local market condition like the one we are currently experiencing.

Based on the excess amount of inventory, I would expect to see prices in Morristown continue to decline moderately, at least for the short term until some of the older inventory is finally sold off or withdrawn from the market.

What Does the Market Hold for 2012?

Follow the link below to find out in addition to reading the rest of this Morristown 2011 Annual Market Report:

Morristown 2011 Annual Market Report

For more information on Morristown including the school system, follow this link:

All you need to know about Morristown NJ