07/18/2026
Happy Summer, everyone.
I spent this week doing something I have wanted to do for years. I pulled every residential sale in Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Red Bank and Middletown going back to January 2021. That is 6,650 homes. Then I sorted them by the month they went on the market, to answer the question every seller asks me first. When should we list?
Homes that came on in April sold above asking 68% of the time. Homes that came on in October, 43%. Same towns, same houses, twenty five points of difference from timing alone.
The reason is not that buyers vanish after Labor Day. It is that the competing houses do not. New Jersey inventory holds near its summer peak all the way through October and only drops in November and December. So a fall seller faces a summer sized field of competition with a smaller pool of buyers.
I wrote the whole thing up, including what I would do if your timing is not flexible, because most people are not selling on a calendar. They are selling because of a job, or a school, or a parent who needs care.
April sellers win. October sellers negotiate. What 6,650 Sales Taught Me.
