Montclair Housing Market Slows, but Still Strong for November

November Montclair real estate activity, while down from a record setting October, was seasonally strong.

Good weather, a late Thanksgiving, and limited travel plans led to more listings and sales than usual. Buying and selling real estate in the Montclair area typically slows markedly in November, but not this year. We have observed a flattening of seasonal peaks in the industry this year and expect that there is a market with potential activity every month during the year, not just in the traditional Spring and Fall seasons. 

Case in point, buyers were still out in the market into the holidays and weekends were marked by a lot of cars with NY plates traveling from open house to open house or just scoping out prospective Montclair neighborhoods. 

• 49 houses closed at an average price of 12% above ask versus 33 closings last November at 4% above ask. 
• 40 houses were under contract in November, down from 70 in October, but well above 29 in November 2019, pushing months inventory (active listings/contracts) down to 2.8 from 4.0 at this time last year.  

Price increases in general and more activity among larger homes drove the median sale price in November to $888k from $650k last year. Just throwing a big house out on the market doesn’t guarantee success though. The upper end of the Montclair market (1.8 million +) is still a rarefied buyer group, but we have been active with “luxury segment” buyers and sellers over the past year so look for an analysis of this market from us in the coming weeks. 

We expect December to be a quieter month, but a few listings came on this week in that sweet spot of $700k – $1 million and buyers were lined up up to see them as soon as first showings started.  

The market should pick right back up at the start of the new year with the Spring market shifting much earlier than usual. 

Contact me today for ideas and tips on how you can make the most of this environment to get what you want. 

Best,

Rich Stanton
3rd Generation Owner
Principal Broker