1st quarter sales are up compared to 2015 and by quite a good margin. According to the New Jersey MLS data, 2016 sales are up an average of 21% over the number of sales we had last year. In plain numbers we went from 1,740 in 2015 to 2,109 this year. What’s even more impressive is that this increase was pretty even in all 3 months of the 1st quarter sales.
Typically January isn’t a great closing month but this year is different. All 3 months of the 1st quarter had similar numbers. January was up 116 sales, February 118 and March 135.
Looking at pricing, both average sales and median prices were flat. Average was -1% and median -0% Hmmm….Can anyone explain what -0% means? Seriously, the market held the gains made last year during the 1st quarter sales.
What about the future? For that we need to compare Under Contract units and taking a look at those figures shows us that the gains we’ve had so far this year will continue.
Under Contract figures are higher by 19% this year. The pattern for Under Contract follows the traditional pattern of a weak January with stronger figures for the following 2 months. Increases this year, however, were very aggressive in both February (29%) and March (20%) over what we had last year. This strong performance means that 2016 is developing into a very strong year for residential sales. 
Now let’s check out a few towns (using UC for Under Contract) –
Bergenfield – Sales up 22% and UC up 50%
Cresskill – Sales are even and UC up 50%
Dumont – Sales up 20% and UC up 13%
Englewood – Sales up 74% and UC up 25%
Leonia – Sales up 50% and UC up 60%
New MIlford – Sales up 15% and UC up 21%
Paramus – Sales up 10% and UC down 5%
Ridgewood – Sales are even and UC up 28%
River Vale – Sales up 33% and UC up 33%
Teaneck – Sales are even and UC down 5%
Tenafly – Sales up 19% and UC down 17%
If there’s a town you’d like me to analyze for you, just get in touch. You can see that the trend is decidedly positive for 2016 when you factor into the negative UC figures that this represents a severe lack of inventory rather than a lack of demand.
