The township of Westfield was formed in 1794. The first railroad line through Westfield was established in 1838. The first newspaper "The Townsman" followed in 1875 and by 1895 electric, telephone, water and sewer services were available.

Fast forward to December 2006 and this township is one of the most desirable residential communities in central New Jersey.

There were 218 residential properties for sale in December 2006 with an average price of $1,044,007, most of which had lingered on the market for nearly four months.

During the month 26 new listings were introduced to the market with an average list price of $1,132,038. This same period 18 residential properties went under contract. The average list price of the properties with offers was nearly half that of those that just came on the market, at $653,961.

The residential properties which actually sold and closed title in December, sold for an average sales price of $811,250 and there were only 18 of them, with an average of 93 days on the market.

As of today there are 165 residential properties on the market for sale, ranging in price from $194,900 to $3,895,000. A number of these properties have been on the market for more than 130 days.

In the last 365 days 344 residential properties were sold in Westfield, 21.5%  or 74 were priced at $1,000,000 and higher.

What does all of this mean? Well, sellers can expect to have their properties on the market for an average of 114 days before going to a closing. Most sales will be for homes well under $1,000,000 and the market continues to be heavily tilted toward buyers. However, properties appropriately prepared for marketing (necessary repairs completed and the home properly staged) and properly priced, continue to get offers!