Unlike the last week of April when 87 residential homes went under contract, the first week of May dropped to 52 residential homes going under contact in 8 northern New Jersey towns. West Orange is the leader with 16 and Livingston and Nutley bring up the rear with 3 homes each.

Is this just a blip or is this more of a settling of things with the end of the tax credit deadline passing? We have been seeing buyers still out looking and buying so the next few weeks will really tell. Sellers just need to keep listening to the market to make sure their home is priced right and as the saying goes, "they will come".

Below are the number of homes that made it under contract between May 2 - May 8, 2010; open the document to the right to see the addresses:
Livingston = 3
Maplewood = 4
Millburn/Short Hills = 4
Montclair = 13
Nutley = 3
South Orange = 4
Verona = 5
West Orange = 16

Knowing the price a home was listed when it went under contract gives you an indication of the price point that brings in a buyer ready to purchase. It doesn't tell you exactly what the home sold for, but it gives you a recent view of the market. Your real estate agent can check with the listing agent to see if there were multiple offers or to try to obtain other useful information.

Once a home is under contract, the buyer is happy that he found a home worthy of purchasing and the seller is happy she received an acceptable offer; both are happy they made it on the same page during attorney review to get to a pending/under contract deal. Now the goal is to actually get both parties successfully through home inspection and the mortgage to make it to the closing table.

Most of the towns continue to have relatively the same amount of single-family homes on the market this week, compared to last week. Here is the list of residential homes for sale in each town as of May 8:
Livingston = 128
Maplewood = 153
Millburn/Short Hills = 112
Montclair = 168
Nutley = 152
South Orange = 135
Verona = 80
West Orange = 376

This information is brought to you by Bev and Bob Meaux, your source for everything real estate in and around Maplewood, Millburn/Short Hills, West Orange and South Orange, New Jersey and your short sales resource. Work with a team who will get you across the finish line, watching your back every step of the way -- Bev and Bob Meaux.