By Mike Lentz | The Mike Lentz Team - Keller Williams Realty
Fewer homes are going under contract. With mortgage rates back above 7 percent, some buyers have paused, so listings sit longer and stack up. By mid-October, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, and Salem counties had the most homes for sale since June 2020, while homes under contract across our five counties were down about 9 percent from a year earlier.
If you have been wondering why there are more homes for sale around you this fall, the answer is mostly on the buyer side. Mortgage rates are back above 7 percent, and that is changing how fast homes sell here in South Jersey.
Inventory is growing because homes are selling more slowly. Unsold homes stay on the market while new listings keep arriving, and the total climbs. Here is what our local numbers show and what it means if you are buying or selling.
South Jersey Has the Most Homes for Sale Since 2020
We track active and coming soon listings every week across Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, Salem, and Cumberland counties using Bright MLS data. The week of October 11, there were 4,172 homes for sale across the five counties. The same week last year it was 3,637, so inventory is up about 15 percent.
The increase has been steady. Our year-over-year gain has held between about 12 and 17 percent every week since June, with no sudden surge.
It also helps to keep the bigger picture in view. In Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, and Salem counties, where our weekly records go back to 2018, mid-October inventory is the highest since June 2020. It is still about 40 percent below October 2019, before inventory fell sharply during the pandemic. South Jersey has more choices than a year ago, but it is not an oversupplied market.
Why Are There More Homes for Sale? Fewer Are Going Under Contract
When rates rise, some buyers hit pause, and fewer homes go under contract each week. That is exactly what our numbers show this fall.
Through the spring and summer, more South Jersey homes went under contract each week than in 2025. Late June ran about 11 percent ahead of last year. That changed in September. By the week of October 11, there were 1,470 homes under contract across the five counties, down from 1,612 a year earlier, a drop of about 9 percent.
Here is how it breaks down by county for the week of October 11:
| County | Homes for sale | vs. last year | Under contract | vs. last year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester | 787 | +15% | 343 | −10% |
| Camden | 1,377 | +20% | 450 | −13% |
| Burlington | 1,347 | +17% | 465 | −1% |
| Salem | 246 | 0% | 79 | −9% |
| Cumberland | 415 | +1% | 133 | −14% |
| Five counties | 4,172 | +15% | 1,470 | −9% |
Camden County has the biggest jump in homes for sale, with Burlington and Gloucester counties close behind. In Salem and Cumberland counties, inventory is about where it was a year ago, but fewer homes are going under contract there too.
Closed sales followed the same direction. In September, closings were lower than a year earlier in all five counties, from a dip of about 2 percent in Burlington County to a drop of more than 25 percent in Salem County. When fewer buyers write offers, homes sit a little longer, and the count of homes for sale rises even without a wave of new sellers.
Homes Are Spending More Time on the Market
Time on market is the other place this shows up. The median home sold in September took 19 to 20 days in Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington counties, 32 days in Cumberland County, and 41 days in Salem County.
That is slower than the last few years, but still much faster than before 2020. In September 2019, the median home took 38 or 39 days to sell in Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington counties, 50 days in Cumberland County, and 61 days in Salem County. From 2020 through 2024, most homes here sold in about two weeks. Since then, days on market have been climbing, fastest in Salem County, which went from 19 days in September 2024 to 41 this year.
Well-priced homes still move here, and close to half the homes sold in Gloucester and Camden counties in September went for more than list price. Buyers are simply taking more time to decide.
What More Homes for Sale Means for Your Move
What all of this means for your plans depends on which side of the move you are on.
If You Are Buying
If you are buying, more homes for sale means more choices and less pressure to rush. It also means more room to negotiate. A house that has been on the market for a few weeks could have a seller who is more willing to talk about price, repairs, closing costs, or a credit to buy down your mortgage rate.
Not every seller will negotiate, and well-priced homes in Gloucester and Camden counties still often sell over list price. Compared to the frenzy of a few years ago, though, buyers have more leverage now. Reading your local market conditions by county helps you decide when to move fast and when you have room to negotiate.
If You Are Selling
If you are selling, buyers have more homes to compare yours against, so standing out matters more than it did a year ago. That starts with pricing it right from day one, then making a strong first impression and showing buyers what makes your house worth choosing.
Homes are still selling in every county we cover. The difference is that an overpriced listing now sits, and a home that sits for weeks invites lower offers. Timing matters too: last year, the number of South Jersey homes under contract fell about 20 percent between mid-October and the end of December, so a listing priced right now has a better shot than one that gets adjusted in December. If you want a realistic timeline, our guide on how long it takes to sell a house breaks it down, and we can show you what is happening on your street.
Bottom Line
There are more homes for sale in South Jersey because fewer are going under contract each week, and the ones that sell are taking a little longer to do it. The market has not stopped. It is moving at a different pace, and your strategy should account for that.
Whether you are buying or selling, let’s look at how long homes are taking to sell in your neighborhood so your offer, or your price, fits the market you are actually in. Schedule a quick call and we will walk through it together.
For the full monthly numbers in your county, see our county market reports for Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, Salem, and Cumberland counties.
