These neighboring N.J. homes each just sold for 50% over asking price

Two houses that are next to each other on the same street in Montclair each just sold for 50% more than their asking prices.

Karin Carson, a realtor with NJ Metro Group Keller Williams Realty, listed both 92 and 94 South Fullerton Avenue within weeks of each other.

92 South Fullerton Avenue Montclair — It was listed in July for $1,095,000 and sold after nine offers for $1,650,000.

92 South Fullerton Avenue is a five bedroom, three and a half bathroom home on .32 acres. It was built in 1890, but the home had undergone a gut renovation. It has central air conditioning, a tankless hot water heater, an updated kitchen and bathrooms and the attic was finished into two bedrooms and a bathroom. It was listed in July for $1,095,000 and sold after nine offers for $1,650,000.

94 South Fullerton Avenue Montclair — It was listed in May for $799,000 and sold after eight offers for $1,125,000.

94 South Fullerton Avenue is a four bedroom, two and a half bathroom home on a 0.31 acre lot. Built in 1900, it does not have the same upgrades as its neighboring home — the kitchen is outdated, with green formica countertops, it doesn’t have central air conditioning and an attic level is unfinished. It was listed in May for $799,000 and sold after eight offers for $1,125,000.

“There’s a buyer for every home,” Carson said. “For 94 (South Fullerton) that buyer is going to want to do home projects. For 92 (South Fullerton) you don’t really need to do anything.”

Low inventory and the desirability of Montclair helped the homes sell for way over asking price, she said.

“Buyer demand outstrips supply in Montclair, therefore prices are going to rise.”

Inventory is low throughout New Jersey. In September 2019 there were roughly 40,000 homes for sale in the Garden State. In September 2023 there were just 12,000, according to data from the Otteau Group.

“This is why home prices have not begun to decline,” Jeffrey Otteau, a real estate economist and president of the Otteau Group said. The low inventory is “propping up home prices for the time being.”

The median sales price of a single family home in Montclair was $1,357,500 in August, according to the most recent data available from New Jersey Realtors. That’s a 20% increase from August 2022 when the median sales price was $1,130,000.

And inventory of single family homes in Montclair is down nearly 54% from a year ago, according to New Jersey Realtors data.

One day in the spring of 2006, Carson recalled, there were 226 homes for sale in Montclair. Now there are about 25. “Yet we seem to have more buyers than we had then,” she said.

Homes in Montclair in August sold for 129% of list price, according to New Jersey Realtors data. Statewide, homes were selling for about 104% of list price.

Brett Jackson, who lives on South Fullerton Avenue where the homes just sold for 50% above asking, said he and his wife just returned from visiting friends and family in North Carolina. The high prices homes in his neighborhood are getting are making him think about selling.

“When seeing comparable houses to mine [in North Carolina] that are newer, in very nice neighborhoods, selling at a fraction of what I could sell my home for, it is tempting,” Jackson said. “Especially when the property taxes would be 1/25 of what we are currently paying.”

Carson said she sold a fixer-upper in Montclair last week that had 32 offers. And another home, on Park Street, she listed just closed for $1,502,000, 50% above the asking price of $999,000.

Ginge Calhoun of the Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group of Compass represented the buyers on the Park Street home and said they had bid on three or four homes before landing this one. Those homes sold for 49%, 51% and 43% over asking price.

“We definitely take the time to educate buyers — show them market reports and homes that sold recently,” Calhoun said. “So it’s not a surprise when they do come to make an offer.”

They also advise buyers that if their budget is $1 million, they shouldn’t bid on homes that are listed at $950,000. They should look at homes that are listed at around $700,000, Allison Ziefert of Compass said.

“We’d look at list price, how renovated it is, how many bedrooms and bathrooms and give them a rough idea of where we thought the price might go,” Calhoun said.

Many of the buyers in Montclair are moving from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken or Jersey City.

“A lot of buyers gravitate to Montclair because they’re trying to have an easier transition of moving from the city to the suburbs,” Ziefert said. “Montclair is known for its eclectic shops, diversity, walkability, good restaurants. It’s moving to the suburbs without feeling like you’re losing all the pluses of the city.”

And they’re able to get more house for their money.

“If you look at what you can get for $1.5 million in Brooklyn and Manhattan, it’s not going to match up with the amount of space, bedrooms, bathrooms and parking as well — that’s a big deal for people,” Ziefert said.

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.