4 "Must Know" Facts About Marlboro Real Estate

If you live in Marlboro or if you’re thinking of buying a house in Marlboro, you need to know 4 things about the real estate market there. If you’ve been following my posts you already know what they are: they’re the 4 key objective, measurable indicators for residential real estate.

Here they are for Marlboro when we compare 2012 to 2011: (1) sales were up 11%, (2) listings are down 12%, (3) the median selling price was 3% lower, and (4) the real estate absorption rate is now consistent with a “normal market”.

More sales and fewer listings normally result in higher sales prices, and yet the median Marlboro price actually decreased by 3% compared to 2011 (the median is the price at which 50% of the homes sold for more money and 50% for less).  However, at the end of October the year-to-date median sales price was down by 8%, so we’ve seen a significant improvement in just 2 months.

I predict that Marlboro home prices will increase significantly in 2013. Here’s the reason why: the real estate absorption rate. It’s VERY important because it’s an indicator of demand for houses compared to the supply of houses. It’s a calculated value, in months, of the time it would take to sell all of the homes currently on the market, assuming that homes continue to sell at the rate they have in the past 12 months. In a so-called “normal market”, the real estate absorption rate is between 5 and 7 months; numbers higher than 7 months indicate a “buyer’s market” and rates lower than 5 months indicate a “seller’s market”.

The present Marlboro real estate absorption rate is 6.0 months, and it was 7.5 months a year ago. In one year we’ve moved from being in a “buyer’s market” to being in a “normal market”. With higher sales, fewer listings and a 6.0 month absorption rate, I expect buyers will have to pay significantly higher prices for Marlboro homes in the near future. Here are all of the year-end numbers:

As a real estate professional, I look at the real estate market on a daily basis. The take home message here is that if you live in Marlboro and you’ve been thinking about selling your home, 2013 might be a good time to sell. I’d be glad to give you a free estimate of what your home is worth in today’s market. On the other hand, if you’ve been thinking about buying a home in Marlboro, you might want to start looking sooner rather than later. We know that mortgage rates will be staying low for the next year or so, but home prices may take a big jump. A 5% increase for the median Marlboro home price works out to be $26,500; do you want to take out a $26,500 higher mortgage?

-Len

Leonard “Len” Dunikoski, GRI

REALTOR® Associate

Diane Turton Realtors – Rumson Office

8 West River Road

Rumson, NJ 07760

(732) 239-0739  (cell)    (732) 530-6686 (office)

ldunikoski@dianeturton.com