Central Jersey Price Trend Update

Here are the current statistics from select Middlesex County towns, comparing the 4th quarters of 2007 & 2008. These are all based on Single-Family home Closed sales from the Middlesex County MLS.

Average Price Change by Town

East Brunswick: -13%
Edison: -5.5%
Monroe: -11.8%
North Brunswick: -13.5%
Old Bridge: -12.3%
Piscataway: -4.4%
South Brunswick: -1.5%
Woodbridge Area: -7.7%

Average Change in Number of Homes Sold by Town

East Brunswick: -23%
Edison: -28.3%
Monroe: -3%
North Brunswick: -36%
Old Bridge: -27.7%
Piscataway: 13.6%
South Brunswick: -12.5%
Woodbridge Area: -8.5%

What Does It All Mean?

Some towns have taken a bigger hit than others, but why? For each area, there's a number of local factors, along with national factors, that affect prices and number of homes sold. Nationally speaking, this past quarter was when everything really hit the fan with the banks, along with the first bailout. As a national trend, we've also send a massive reduction in number of new construction and McMansion style homes sold, which includes some of these areas.

On the flip side, as prices come down and rates stay low, some of these areas have become much more affordable, and thus, home purchases. Similarly, I can't imagine that the strength in numbers in Piscataway, Edison, and South Brunswick isn't also due to recent positive reports about these towns and school systems.

Keep an eye out. We'll be taking a closer look at price trends in different price ranges next week.