May marked the seventh consecutive month of housing inventory growth across the nation, signaling that the number of homes for sale may slowly be returning to normal.

“The biggest eye-catcher for me is the fact that inventory is rising sharply, said Realtor.com’s Senior Economist Ralph McLaughlin. “There are 35.2% more homes on the market than this time last year, an incredible trend in the direction of normality.”

Despite this inventory increase, the national median listing price increased by 0.3% in May compared to last month. While median listing prices have remained similar to what was seen this time last year, the median list price per square foot has increased by 3.8%. And, overall, homes have spent more time on the market in May, the second month in a row, compared to last year.

This is how the North Jersey real estate market performed in May, according to data from Realtor.com.

How much has North Jersey’s housing inventory changed?

In New Jersey, 13 counties saw an increase in new home listings compared with May 2023, and 11 counties saw new home listings increase compared with April.

Passaic County was the only North Jersey county to see inventory increase from this time last year. With 332 new listings in May, Passaic County saw an increase of 9.21% from May 2023 and 9.93% from last month. And, while not an increase in inventory, Hudson and Morris counties had 480 and 544 new listings, which was about the same compared with May 2023.

Bergen County was the only North Jersey county to see inventory decreases compared with May 2023 and last month. The county had 874 new listings in May, a 2.02% decrease from May 2023 and a 2.89% decrease from last month. Then, Essex and Sussex counties had 492 and 246 new listings in May, respectively — a 3.91% and 4.65% decrease from last year.

How long are North Jersey homes staying on the market?

Overall, active listings are staying on the market for a shorter period of time in nearly all New Jersey counties.

In North Jersey, homes stayed on the market for the shortest period of time in Morris and Passaic counties, at 17 and 19 days, respectively. Listings are staying on the market for about 24 days in both Bergen and Essex counties, and 31 days in both Hudson and Sussex counties.

What about North Jersey median listing prices?

Nearly every New Jersey county had an increase in median home prices compared with May 2023, but four counties saw prices decrease from last month: Atlantic, Essex, Hunterdon and Warren.

Morris County had the highest median price increase in North Jersey at 15.35%, with a median listing price of $749,725. Bergen and Hudson counties had median listing prices of $807,500 and $675,000 — a 7.7% and 4.01% increase from May 2023, respectively — while Passaic and Sussex counties had increase of 8.58% and 1.89%, with median listing prices of $499,450 and $407,475.

Story continues

Essex County was the only North Jersey county to see a slight decrease in median listing prices from April. At $580,000, Essex County had a median price increase of 8.51% from May 2023, but a .39% decrease from last month.

Here’s how all 21 New Jersey counties stacked up in May:

Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@gannett.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ real estate: How much did housing inventory increase in May?