Welcome to another edition of Lowball!

Lowball! takes a look at home sales from a different perspective. For those new to Lowball!, a lowball offer is when a buyer offers a significantly lower bid than asking in hopes that the seller accepts the offer. We take a list of home sales from the past month and pick out the sales that have the highest percentage difference between original list price and selling price.

The purpose of Lowball! is to show buyers that the market has changed and buyers now have considerably more leverage than sellers. Just a short time ago, Lowball! offers would have been laughed at and discarded, however, not any more. The fact that so many under-asking offers are being accepted is clear proof that the market is changing.

The first table contains Lowball sales of 25% or greater off the Original List Price.

MLS Town OLP LP SP % off OLP $ off OLP
2307965 Saddle River Boro $1,999,999 $1,799,000 $800,000 60.0% $1,199,999
2283696 Allamuchy Twp. $439,900 $380,000 $210,000 52.3% $229,900
2288787 Phillipsburg Town $105,000 $65,000 $52,000 50.5% $53,000
2235610 Newark City $249,777 $174,777 $130,000 48.0% $119,777
2255200 Delaware Twp $1,125,000 $699,000 $600,000 46.7% $525,000
2324021 Middlesex Boro $359,000 $309,900 $200,000 44.3% $159,000
2246907 Alexandria Twp $1,125,000 $850,000 $695,000 38.2% $430,000
2256953 Mountainside Boro $675,000 $575,000 $425,000 37.0% $250,000
2292034 Phillipsburg Town $110,000 $85,000 $70,000 36.4% $40,000
2302885 Plainfield City $499,900 $384,900 $320,000 36.0% $179,900
2307626 Elizabeth City $399,900 $329,000 $257,500 35.6% $142,400
2289615 Demarest Boro $1,396,500 $999,900 $950,000 32.0% $446,500
2265095 Holland Twp $489,850 $409,900 $340,000 30.6% $149,850
2341512 Roselle Boro $179,000 $179,000 $125,000 30.2% $54,000
2318592 West Paterson Boro $429,000 $379,000 $300,000 30.1% $129,000
2282170 Washington Twp $324,000 $250,000 $230,000 29.0% $94,000
2285964 Plainfield City $224,900 $179,900 $162,000 28.0% $62,900
2278414 Hillsborough Twp $850,000 $649,000 $615,000 27.6% $235,000
2302233 Parsippany-Troy Hills $399,900 $309,000 $290,000 27.5% $109,900
2325135 Plainfield City $110,000 $110,000 $80,000 27.3% $30,000
2289264 Morris Twp $618,000 $499,000 $450,000 27.2% $168,000
2307086 Oxford Twp $279,900 $249,900 $205,000 26.8% $74,900
2291575 Franklin Twp $360,000 $299,900 $265,000 26.4% $95,000
2265649 West Milford Twp $379,900 $292,250 $280,000 26.3% $99,900
2252471 Midland Park Boro $750,000 $580,900 $553,000 26.3% $197,000
2290851 Parsippany-Troy Hills $541,000 $399,000 $399,000 26.2% $142,000
2312727 Hampton Boro $249,900 $220,000 $185,000 26.0% $64,900
2259132 Glen Rock Boro $559,900 $449,000 $415,000 25.9% $144,900
2258204 Wanaque Boro $249,000 $215,000 $185,000 25.7% $64,000
2258696 North Plainfield Boro $359,900 $293,900 $267,500 25.7% $92,400
2307803 Scotch Plains Twp $1,275,000 $1,150,000 $950,000 25.5% $325,000
2304857 Kenilworth Boro $435,000 $349,900 $325,000 25.3% $110,000
2268887 Hoboken City $879,900 $659,900 $659,000 25.1% $220,900
2322193 Westfield Twp $799,000 $629,000 $599,500 25.0% $199,500

The second table contains Lowball sales of greater than $250,000 off of the Original List Price.

MLS Town OLP LP SP % off OLP $ off OLP
2307965 Saddle River Boro $1,999,999 $1,799,000 $800,000 60.0% $1,199,999
2231774 Mendham Twp $3,950,000 $3,750,000 $3,400,000 13.9% $550,000
2255200 Delaware Twp $1,125,000 $699,000 $600,000 46.7% $525,000
2315375 Harding Twp $3,975,000 $3,975,000 $3,500,000 11.9% $475,000
2289615 Demarest Boro $1,396,500 $999,900 $950,000 32.0% $446,500
2274563 Franklin Lakes Boro $2,050,000 $1,795,000 $1,610,000 21.5% $440,000
2246907 Alexandria Twp $1,125,000 $850,000 $695,000 38.2% $430,000
2233988 Summit City $1,850,000 $1,600,000 $1,450,000 21.6% $400,000
2263229 Montgomery Twp $1,895,000 $1,695,000 $1,500,000 20.8% $395,000
2297692 North Bergen Twp $1,450,000 $1,285,000 $1,100,000 24.1% $350,000
2295882 Madison Boro $2,175,000 $1,899,000 $1,825,000 16.1% $350,000
2307803 Scotch Plains Twp $1,275,000 $1,150,000 $950,000 25.5% $325,000
2270088 Wayne Twp $1,520,000 $1,299,000 $1,200,000 21.1% $320,000
2268625 Harding Twp $1,289,000 $1,095,000 $975,000 24.4% $314,000
2271457 Nutley Twp $1,400,000 $1,400,000 $1,100,000 21.4% $300,000
2234317 Denville Twp $1,895,000 $1,895,000 $1,600,000 15.6% $295,000
2292948 Bernardsville Boro $3,200,000 $2,950,000 $2,925,000 8.6% $275,000
2269094 Green Brook Twp $1,559,000 $1,399,000 $1,285,000 17.6% $274,000
2276163 Raritan Twp $1,100,000 $849,990 $830,000 24.5% $270,000
2287617 Bernardsville Boro $1,595,000 $1,495,000 $1,325,000 16.9% $270,000
2278859 Mahwah Twp $1,249,938 $999,900 $985,000 21.2% $264,938
2256953 Mountainside Boro $675,000 $575,000 $425,000 37.0% $250,000
2333015 Summit City $2,500,000 $2,500,000 $2,250,000 10.0% $250,000
2323644 Watchung Boro $2,950,000 $2,950,000 $2,700,000 8.5% $250,000

Additional sales data can be found here: Sales-Dec06.xls (In Excel Format)

Caveat Emptor!
jb