Princeton needs inventory.
While I sound like a broken record, it is worth repeating it. Princeton needs inventory. On paper, there were 15 Units Listed in February 2024. Two of them were in Coming Soon status and unable to show until 3/1. Another 5 properties were listed in the last three days of the month. That left only 8 listings that were available to sell in February. So when you compare the 8 active listings to the 22 from February 2023, that is a -64% decrease in Units Listed. Five of the 8 properties are already under contract, and the two in Coming Soon status had multiple bids once they could be shown at the beginning of March. While there is lower inventory, the market is very productive.
It’s remarkable to think that with such little inventory, 10 units went pending, and 9 units sold last month. February 2024 saw the fewest Units Listed in the previous six years, so unsurprisingly, it also had the fewest Units Pended and Units Sold. It’s hard not to wonder what Units Sold and Units Pended would be like if we had more houses to sell. The story of resilience continues for Princeton residential real estate; we undoubtedly need new inventory.
Due to the continued buyer demand and the low inventory, multiple bid situations remain, especially for appropriately priced properties. This phenomenon persistently affects the Average Sale Price (ASP), which increased +14% over the same period last year and was the highest since 2019 (pre-pandemic). The competition for available inventory is causing Average Sale Price increases.
How is Princeton performing year-to-date (YTD)? Units Sold (-16%), Units Pended (-34%), and Units Listed (-41%) all decreased while DOM (+23%) increased compared to January-February 2023. As for January-February 2024 versus January-February 2019 (pre-pandemic), Units Sold (-24%), Units Pended (-40%), Units Listed (-58%), and Days On Market (-25%) all decreased. Year-to-date, there were fewer Units Pended because there were fewer Units Listed.
The January-February 2024 ASP (-1%) and MSP (-14%) decreased versus January-February 2023. Relative to January-February 2019, the January-February 2024 ASP and MSP increased +40% and +22%, respectively. Please note that the data I share includes properties sold via BrightMLS. Every year, sales occur outside BrightMLS. For both consistency and to present timely information, I exclude the data associated with these off-market sales in my analysis.
So what is happening now? There are currently only 25 Active Units between $599,000 and $3,950,000, 11 Active Under Contract Units between $525,000 and $12,000,000, and 13 Pending Units between $315,000 and $2,750,000 in Princeton. Lastly, of the 3 properties introduced thus far in March, 2 are in Coming Soon status, and one is already under contract.
If you are considering selling your house but have been on the fence, now may be the time to list. Local and out-of-town buyers are looking to purchase a home, and it would be an honor to provide you with a competitive market analysis for your property.
As always, if you are thinking about buying or selling or want to learn more about the Princeton area real estate market, please don’t hesitate to call (917-396-5880) or email!
Sylmarie Trowbridge 