Essex & Union County · Market Intelligence · July 2026

by Lisa Turek

We recently wrote about what the calendar does to prices. This issue is about what it does to your choices.

Essex & Union County

The state has more homes for sale. Essex and Union have fewer.

Start with the local numbers, because they do not match the statewide headlines. Across New Jersey, single family inventory in May was up 3.1% from a year ago. In Essex and Union counties it moved the other way. Essex had 630 single family homes on the market, down 7.8% from last May; Union had 525, down 12.6%. Both counties sit at barely over two months of supply. The state is loosening, slowly; Essex and Union are tightening.

Demand has not blinked either. The average Essex County single family home sold in 30 days at 112.4% of its list price; twelve percent over asking is the average here, not the exception. The median sold price reached $855,000, up 2.9% from last May. Union County reads much the same: 28 days on market, 106.3% of list price received, and a year-to-date median of $675,000, up 4.0% over the same period last year.

Essex and Union County single family, May 2026 and year-to-date, vs. 2025. Source: New Jersey Realtors, Local Market Updates and Monthly Indicators, May 2026 (data as of June 9, 2026).

The Inventory Cycle

Right now is the most choice you will get all year.

Why does that matter this month in particular? Because inventory in New Jersey runs on a cycle as reliable as the school year. Sellers list in the spring, the pipeline stays full through midsummer, and then the flow of new listings thins sharply into the fall. Last year, active statewide inventory peaked in July; this year is tracking the same way, with homes for sale climbing every month since February.

Then it turns. Statewide, sellers brought 8,892 single family homes to market in April. By November of last year that monthly flow was 4,546; by December, 3,230 — barely a third of the spring pace. So if you have been on the fence about getting into this market, weigh this: inventory is likely at its annual peak right now, and waiting does not buy you a calmer market; it buys you fewer choices, in two counties where supply is already tighter than it was a year ago. That should hold prices at least where they are, if not push them higher.

8,892

New listings in April

The 2026 spring peak, statewide

4,546

New listings last November

About half the spring pace

3,230

New listings last December

Barely a third of the spring pace

Single family homes, statewide. Monthly new listings, June 2025 – May 2026. Source: New Jersey Realtors, Monthly Indicators, May 2026 (data as of June 9, 2026).

The calendar does not just move prices; it moves the shelves. By December, two-thirds of today’s selection is gone.

Looking in Essex or Union County this summer?

The right move depends on your town, your budget, and your timeline. These counties run from under $400K to well over $2M, and the cycle does not hit every corridor the same way. If you want to know what the inventory picture looks like where you are actually searching, that is worth a conversation. Reply to this email or call anytime.