January 2023 Market Watch

January, 2023

2022 Bridgewater Review

    There were 501 homes sold in Bridgewater during 2022, down 25.3 percent from 2021. The large majority, 365 or 72.8 percent were single family units. The remaining 136, or 27.2 percent were condos or town homes. Homes sold last year represented approximately 3.1 percent of the total households in the Township.

57.9 percent of the homes sold (290) last year, sold during the July to December time period. The remaining 42.1 percent (211) sold during the first half of the year. Interestingly, the percentages were nearly identical for town homes and single family homes. During the first half of 2022, 41.2 percent (56) of all town homes were sold, compared to 42.5 (155) percent of single family homes. From July through December, 57.5 percent (210) of all single family homes were sold, while 58.8 percent (80) of town homes sold during the same time frame.

For the year 2022, the average selling price for a home (condo, town home, single family) was $589,299. That is an increase of approximately 7.9 percent from the 2021 figure of $546,339. Similarly, the median selling price for 2022 jumped 4.1 percent, going from $528,500 in 2021 to $550,000 this past year. During just December 2022, the average selling price for a home was $581,821 and the median price was $557,000. The average price was a 5.2 percent increase over the 2021 December price of $553,087 while the median price jumped 4.1 percent over the prior December median price of $535,000.

One of the biggest yearly gains came in the larger room sized homes. For homes with five plus bedrooms, the average price for the year jumped 10.3 percent, going from $830,339 in 2021 to $915,629 for 2022. The median price showed a similar leap, increasing 10.1 percent from $800,000 in 2021 to $881,000 in 2022. During December 2022, the average and median price for a five plus bedroom home was $788,250 and $725,500. That is a significant decrease from the December 2021 average and median price of $842,250 (6.4 percent) and $860,000 (15.7 percent, yep correct).

     Homes with four bedrooms also showed yearly gains. The average selling price for a four bedroom home during 2022 was $700,579 an increase of 6.5 percent from the average 2021 price of $658,089. The median price jumped 7.2 percent, going from $650,000 during 2021 to $697,050 during 2022. During December 2022, a four bedroom home had an average selling price of $668,100 and a mean selling price of $645,000. That is a 9.2 percent decrease from the December 2021 average selling price of $735,471 and a 9.8 percent decrease in the median selling price of $715,000.

    Three bedroom homes continued the trend with an average selling price of $497,522 during 2022, a 6.0 percent increase from the 2021 average selling price of $469,459, while the median price increased 6.6 percent, going from $469,000 during 2021 to $500,000 this past year. In the month of December 2022, the average selling price was $525,806 compared to $482,071 the year prior, a 9.1 percent increase. The median price in December increased 13.7 percent, from $477,000 in 2021 to $542,500 in 2022. A complete reversal from the higher bedroom classifications.

For two bedroom homes (mostly condos and town homes) the average selling price in 2022 was $348,044, an increase of 10.5 percent over the 2021 figure of $314,971. The median selling price showed a 11.1 percent rise, going from $310,500 during 2021 to $345,000 during 2022. At the end of 2022, the average price for a two bedroom home in Bridgewater was $330,833 increasing 2.6 percent from $322,353 in December 2021. The median price stayed the same. The December 2022 median price was $310,000 while the 2021 price was $310,500.

The time homes stayed on market, or days on market (DOM), dropped from 2021 to 2022. DOM refers to the time a home is first listed till it finishes the attorney review period. It does not mean till the closing date. During 2021, the average days on market was 31. This average dropped to 27 during 2022. This compares to 2020 when DOM was 47 days. Days on market for five plus bedroom homes actually increased from 37 in 2021 to 41 in 2022. Four bedroom homes saw a drop going from 30 to 28 days. Days on market for three bedroom homes decreased from 29 in 2021 to 25, while two bedroom homes saw its time on market go from 31 days down to 21 days. During December of 2022, DOM for all homes stood at 26, a decrease from the 2021 DOM of 33.

Sale price to list price (SP/LP) and sale price to original list price (SP/OLP) also showed gains between 2021 and 2022. Homes sold at 103 percent of final list price (SP/LP) during 2022, compared to 102 percent during 2021. This compares to 99 percent during 2020. Similarly, homes sold at 98 percent of SP/OLP in 2022, down from 101 percent during the year prior. Although all bedroom groups saw an increase in SP/LP, two bedroom homes sold at the highest,104 percent in 2022 versus 101 percent in 2021. Four bedroom homes followed going from 102 percent in 2021 to103 percent in 2022. Three bedroom homes stayed the same at 103 percent for both 2021 to and 2022, while five plus bedroom homes jumped from 100 percent to 101 percent. SP/OLP in each bedroom group showed similar movements.

During the last month of 2022 and 2021, SP/LP and SP/OLP showed no change. SP/LP was 101 percent while SP/OLP was at 100 percent looking at all homes sold. Three and four bedroom homes sold at the highest SP/LP ratio at 102 percent. Two bedroom homes sold at 100 percent for SP/LP while five bedroom homes sold at 101 percent. For SP/OLP, two bedroom homes sold at 98 percent, three bedrooms at 101 percent, and four and five bedrooms at 100 percent.

At the end of 2022 the supply of available homes was still below one month’s supply. There was only a .91 month’s supply. This compares to .43 month’s supply at the end of 2021, .73 month’s supply at the end of 2020 and 2.68 month’s supply at the end of 2019. The importance of month’s supply of available homes has been discussed at length in Market Watch. Month’s supply is a key contributor to the seller’s market that has characterized the Bridgewater housing market for the past 40 or so months. And it will continue to overshadow the market unless a significant amount of homes are made available for resale or built. Remember, a balanced market where supply matches demand has a five to six month’s worth of available homes. Right now we are far from balancing that equation.

Al Fross is a Coldwell Banker Realty Sales Associate based in the Bedminster/Bridgewater office. Al has lived in the Bradley Gardens section of Bridgewater since 1993 and has been an active volunteer in many recreational and community organizations including serving as past Chairman of the Township’s Planning Board and past member of Bridgewater’s Board of Adjustment. His knowledge of the Bridgewater and surrounding areas makes him the perfect “partner” when selling your existing property or buying your new home.