August 2023 was a pretty active month for Princeton residential real estate, especially given how busy it can be with vacations and preparations for the new school year.
Last month, there was an increase (+16%) in Units Pended with effectively the same Units Listed (31 vs. 30) and Units Sold (32 vs. 33), while the Days on Market experienced a significant increase (+42%, 37 vs. 26) compared to last year. There were about the same number of sales and listings but properties sold at a slower rate.
The decrease in the August 2023 Average Sale Price (-4%) and the Median Sale Price (-22%) compared to August 2022 was most likely due to a higher percentage of sales occurring in the Under $1M price range. The shift to a more even sales distribution in the under $1M and $1M-$2M price ranges led to a decrease in both the Average Sale and Median Sale Prices.
When comparing August 2023 to pre-pandemic August 2019, last month experienced the lowest number of Units Sold but higher Units Listed and Pended. The August 2023 Days on Market was nearly half of what it was in August 2019. While fewer Units Closed, properties sold almost twice as fast with more properties going under contract.
How is Princeton performing year-to-date (YTD)? Units Sold (-24%) and Units Listed (-20%) both decreased while Days On Market (+18%) increased compared to January-August 2022. As for January-August 2023 versus January-August 2019 (pre-pandemic), Units Sold (-19%), Units Listed (-35%), and Days On Market (-48%) all decreased. Year-to-date there are fewer Units Sold compared to last year because of the low inventory levels and properties continue to sell at a faster pace.
The January-August 2023 ASP (+13%) and MSP (+16%) increased versus January-August 2022. Compared to January-August 2019, the January-August 2023 ASP and MSP increased +37% and +41%, respectively. Please note that the data I share includes properties sold via BrightMLS. Every year there are sales occur outside BrightMLS. For both consistency and to present timely information, I exclude the information associated with these off-market sales in my analysis. The competition for available inventory has most likely caused the consistent Average Sale Price and Median Sale Price increases.
So what is happening now? There are currently only 43 Active Units between $77,179 and $8,500,000, 20 Active Under Contract Units between $525,000 and $12,000,000, and 19 Pending Units between $699,000 and $5,000,000 in Princeton. Lastly, 11 properties were introduced thus far in September and two are already under contract while another two were withdrawn.
We are looking forward to seeing what the next months will bring and as always, if you are thinking about buying, selling, or want to learn more about the Princeton area real estate market, email us! Sig & Syl
Sylmarie Trowbridge 