October 17, 2026
Two platforms published Scotch Plains data this month. One says homes sell in 19 days at 106.1% of list. The other says 37 days at about 101%. Both are correct — because they are not measuring the same place. One reports a ZIP code that spans six municipalities. The other reports the township.
The two Scotch Plains figures circulating this month disagree because they cover different ground. ZIP 07076 includes portions of six municipalities — Scotch Plains Township plus parts of Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark — so a ZIP-level median absorbs sales from towns that trade differently. A township report measures the township. That single fact explains most of the gap between 19 days and 37 days, and between 106.1% and about 101% of list. Underneath it, the closings say something a median cannot: one month produced sales from roughly 11% under list to roughly 25% over. Ask which map a number is drawn on before you price anything against it.
Every figure below is point-in-time, from the source named, measuring a different thing over a different area. Several of them conflict, and we report rather than reconcile them. None applies to a specific property. Verify comparable sales, the municipality on each record, lot dimensions, condition and tax assessment for any address you are considering, with the Township and your own professionals.
Start with the thing that explains almost everything else. ZIP code 07076 is not coterminous with Scotch Plains Township. Published ZIP data places portions of six municipalities inside it — Scotch Plains Township, Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark Township — across roughly nine square miles and a population near 24,700.
Westfield, Mountainside and Watchung do not trade at Scotch Plains prices. When a ZIP-level median absorbs parcels from towns that sit above the township on the county ladder, the resulting figure is pulled upward — and it is describing a market no single municipality actually has.
It also means a sales count tied to the ZIP is not a count of Scotch Plains sales. Seventy-five closings across six municipalities is a different statement from seventy-five closings in one township, and the two are routinely quoted as if they were interchangeable. The same platform publishes a separate township-level series. Ask which one you are being shown. The discipline is the same one we apply across every market we cover — our Union County price ladder ranks towns against each other on comparable terms.
75 homes sold in September, reported as a 16.1% increase year over year
Median sale price near $891,738 — a rolling three-month figure ending in September, not a September median — down 4.1% year over year
19 days median on market, against 16 a year earlier
About 67.6% of homes sold above asking, with a sale-to-list ratio of 106.1%
Median sold price about $875,000 in September, against $995,000 in August
Median listing price $800,000 — an asking figure, not a transaction
63 active listings, up 7.7% against September 2025 but down 20% from August
37 days median time on market, with an average sale-to-list near 101%
The platform continued to classify Scotch Plains as a seller's market
Read those two columns side by side and the pattern is consistent rather than contradictory. The wider ZIP, carrying parcels from more expensive neighbouring towns, shows a higher median, a faster pace and a stronger sale-to-list ratio. The narrower township view shows a lower median, a slower pace and a ratio much closer to list. That is what you would expect if the two were drawn on different maps — and they are.
One further mismatch worth naming, because it is the most common error in reading any market report. A $800,000 median listing price and an $875,000 median sold price are not a $75,000 discount. They are different instruments measuring different populations — what sellers are currently asking across everything available, against what actually closed. An asking price is a hope. A closing is a fact. Never subtract one from the other.
Individual closings say what a median cannot. These are reported September and early-October transactions, each with the sale measured against its list price. They are a selected sample, not a complete record of the month.
Four bedrooms, about 3,259 square feet on a 0.56-acre lot. Reported as roughly 25% above an original asking price of $1,275,000 — a figure measured against the original rather than the final list, and the largest premium in this set by a wide margin. Verify it against the closed record before using it as a comparable.
Five bedrooms, new construction built in 2026, about 4,200 square feet. Roughly $339 per square foot — the lowest per-foot figure among the large sales here, which is what new construction at volume square footage tends to produce.
A 1736 farmhouse, seven bedrooms on 1.19 acres, listed August 7 at $1,299,900 and closed about 3.9% over. The same house last sold in August 2020 for $525,000 — a 157% increase in roughly six years, and the single most informative number in this report.
Five bedrooms, closed about 8.9% above a $1,180,000 asking price.
Four bedrooms, reported at roughly 14% above asking. The underlying list price is not published in the sources available to us, so the percentage is reported as given rather than recalculated.
Three bedrooms, closed about 10.7% below a $699,999 list price. The only sale here that finished under list, and the reason the headline ratios need reading carefully.
Sale price divided by list price, scaled to 125%. The Maple Hill and Jacobs Lane bars are reported figures rather than recalculated ones; 1586 Front Street is omitted because no list price is published in our sources.
That is a spread of roughly 36 percentage points between the top and bottom of one month's reported sales. No single ratio describes it — and a seller handed the 106.1% headline while owning the kind of house that produced the 89.3% result is being set up for a disappointment that has nothing to do with the market and everything to do with which number they were shown.
One month, one township, and sale-to-list ran from about 89% to about 125%. Neither of the two published ratios describes your house.
A 1736 farmhouse on an acre and a half, a 2026 new build at 4,200 square feet, and a three-bedroom that closed eleven percent under list are not one market — and the ZIP-level figure most buyers will quote at you is drawn across six municipalities, including parts of towns that trade above this one. We comp inside the township by property type and condition, confirm the municipality on every record before it enters a set, and price against closed sales rather than an index or an asking median. Dual-licensed in New York and New Jersey.
The headline most readers will take from this month is that sales rose while the median fell. Both are reported, and the second does not mean what it appears to mean.
A township median moving from $995,000 in August to $875,000 in September is a 12% drop in one month. Nothing in a residential market of this size loses twelve percent of its value in thirty days. What changes that fast is the mix — a month weighted toward larger or newer houses prints a high median, and a month weighted toward smaller or older ones prints a low one.
Scotch Plains has an unusually wide range of product for its size, and this month proves it: a 2026 new build at 4,200 square feet and a 1736 farmhouse closed within a week of each other. A monthly median across stock that varied has no stable meaning. Watch closed sales by property type over twelve months instead, which is the method set out in our Scotch Plains buyer's guide.
The inventory figures point the same way, in two directions at once. 63 active listings is up 7.7% against September 2025 and down 20% against August. Those are not in conflict — the first compares a year, the second compares a season, and inventory ordinarily thins after the summer. Year-over-year is the one that carries information; month-over-month in autumn is mostly calendar.
And the one number in this report that genuinely describes value rather than mix is the Terrill Road farmhouse. $525,000 in August 2020, $1,350,000 in October 2026. That is the same house, six years apart, with no mix effect available to explain it away — and it says considerably more about what has happened to this township than any monthly median.
One caution on that comparison, in fairness to it. A single property is a single property, the 2020 sale sat at the start of a historically unusual run, and a house of that age may well have been improved between the two dates. It is an illustration of direction, not a township appreciation rate — and nobody should apply 157% to their own address.
Not the ZIP median, not the asking median, not the index. A month that produced both an 89.3% and a roughly 125% result is a month in which preparation and pricing decided the outcome, and the two published sale-to-list ratios sit on either side of what most houses will actually do.
Nineteen days and thirty-seven days imply very different negotiating positions. Establish which geography produced the figure before you decide how hard to compete — and note that a property sitting past the township's 37-day mark is telling you something the ZIP-level number would hide.
Scotch Plains carries genuinely old stock — a 1736 farmhouse closed here this month. Anything built before 1978 brings New Jersey's lead disclosure into the transaction, and a house with three centuries of additions needs its roof, envelope and mechanicals scoped before an offer, not after an inspection.
ZIP 07076 reaches into five other municipalities. A comp from the Westfield, Mountainside or Watchung side of that line carries a different tax rate, a different school district and a different buyer pool. The tax record says which town a property is in. A listing header does not.
The honest summary of Scotch Plains this month. Transaction volume rose, competition remains real on well-presented houses, and the township median fell for reasons that are far more likely to be mix than value. What has genuinely changed is not the market but the quality of the numbers describing it — two widely quoted readings, drawn on two different maps, now circulating as though they were one. Ask which map. Then look at the closings. Wider county context sits in our Union County price ladder.
Before you accept any Scotch Plains figure, ask one question: is this the ZIP code or the township? ZIP 07076 reaches into Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark, and those towns do not trade at Scotch Plains prices — so a ZIP-level median is pulled upward by parcels that are not in this municipality at all. That one distinction accounts for most of the gap between the 19-day and 37-day pace figures and between the 106.1% and 101% sale-to-list ratios being quoted this month. It cuts in both directions: a seller anchored to the ZIP ratio will overprice, and a buyer anchored to the ZIP pace will bid as though competition is fiercer than the township record shows. The platforms publish both series. Nobody asks which one they are looking at. Ten seconds, and it is the most valuable question available in this market.
"Two reports came out on Scotch Plains this month and people are treating them like they contradict each other. They don't. One's the ZIP, one's the township — and that ZIP runs into Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark. Of course the ZIP prints a higher median and a faster pace. It's got parcels in it that aren't in this town. So nineteen days versus thirty-seven isn't a mystery, it's a map. And then look at what actually closed: a house on Newark Avenue went about eleven percent under list in the same month something on Maple Hill reportedly went twenty-five over. That's a thirty-six point spread. No ratio describes that. Comp the township, comp the product type, and ask which map the number came off before you let it anywhere near your price."
— Anthony Licciardello, Broker, The Prodigy Team
Knowing which map a market figure was drawn on — and pricing a house rather than a ZIP code — is most of what a listing broker is actually for: I'm Anthony Licciardello, Broker of The Prodigy Team, dual-licensed in New York and New Jersey, a member of the Staten Island Growth Management Task Force, and a former Director of Community Affairs in the Bloomberg Administration.
Anthony Licciardello · Broker, The Prodigy Team · 718-873-7345
We comp inside the township, by property type — and never let a six-municipality ZIP code price your house.
Is ZIP code 07076 the same as Scotch Plains Township?
No. Published ZIP data places portions of six municipalities inside 07076 — Scotch Plains Township plus parts of Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark Township — across roughly nine square miles. A market figure reported for the ZIP is therefore not a figure for the township, and because several of those neighbours trade above Scotch Plains, a ZIP-level median tends to read higher than the township's own. Ask which geography any number was drawn on before using it.
Why do two reports give different days on market for Scotch Plains?
Because they cover different areas. A ZIP 07076 reading gives 19 days with a 106.1% sale-to-list ratio and about 67.6% of homes selling above asking. A township reading gives 37 days and an average sale-to-list near 101%. The ZIP includes parcels from five other municipalities; the township report does not. Both are reported here rather than reconciled — but the wider, more expensive geography showing the faster pace and stronger ratio is exactly what you would expect.
Did Scotch Plains home values drop 12% in a month?
Almost certainly not. A township median reported at $875,000 in September against $995,000 in August is a 12% move, but nothing in a residential market of this size loses twelve percent of its value in thirty days. What changes that fast is the mix of houses that happened to close. This month alone produced a 2026 new build of about 4,200 square feet and a 1736 farmhouse — a monthly median across stock that varied has no stable meaning. Use closed sales by property type over twelve months instead.
Are Scotch Plains homes still selling over asking?
Many are, and the spread is very wide. In the reported set, 1245 Sunnyfield Lane closed about 8.9% over list and 1230 Terrill Road about 3.9% over, with 1253 Maple Hill Road reported at roughly 25% above an original asking price and 18 Jacobs Lane at roughly 14% over. But 2239 Newark Avenue closed about 10.7% below a $699,999 list. That is a spread of roughly 36 percentage points inside one month — which is why no single ratio describes this township.
What was the 1736 farmhouse on Terrill Road?
1230 Terrill Road — a seven-bedroom farmhouse built in 1736 on 1.19 acres, described by its listing as a historic rambling farmhouse with additions across three centuries. Listed August 7, 2026 at $1,299,900, it closed October 1 at $1,350,000, about 3.9% over list. The same property last sold in August 2020 for $525,000 — a 157% increase in roughly six years. That is one property rather than a township appreciation rate, and the house may well have been improved between the two sales.
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Figures as of publication, from the sources noted, measuring different quantities over different geographies and different periods, and subject to change. Several figures in this report conflict with one another and are presented as reported rather than reconciled. Geography: per published ZIP code data for 07076, the ZIP is not coterminous with Scotch Plains Township and includes portions of six municipalities — Scotch Plains Township, Westfield, Mountainside, Watchung and Clark Township — covering approximately nine square miles with a 2022 population of about 24,727, entirely within Union County. 🔴 Any market statistic reported at ZIP level therefore describes a multi-municipality area rather than the Township of Scotch Plains, and the two should not be treated as interchangeable. ZIP-level market data per Redfin's September 2026 reporting for ZIP 07076: 75 homes sold in September, a 16.1% increase year over year; a median sale price of approximately $891,738, reported for the trailing three-month period ending in September rather than for September alone, down 4.1% year over year; a median 19 days on market against 16 a year earlier; approximately 67.6% of homes sold above asking; and a sale-to-list ratio of 106.1%. Township-level market data per Realtor.com's September 2026 Scotch Plains market report: a median sold price of approximately $875,000 against $995,000 in August; a median listing price of $800,000; 63 active listings, up 7.7% against September 2025 and down 20% from August; a median 37 days on market; an average sale-to-list ratio of approximately 101%; and a continued seller's-market classification. A median listing price and a median sold price are different instruments measuring different populations and should not be differenced against one another. Individual sales: 1230 Terrill Road is verified against its listing record as a 1736 farmhouse of seven bedrooms on 1.19 acres, listed August 7, 2026 at $1,299,900 and recorded as closing October 1, 2026 at $1,350,000, with a prior recorded sale of $525,000 on August 7, 2020; that listing page also displays an inconsistent "last sold" field, and the 157% figure is our own arithmetic on the two recorded sale prices. Other closings are reported as published: 1253 Maple Hill Road at $1,600,000 in late September, four bedrooms, approximately 3,259 square feet on 0.56 acres, stated as roughly 25% above an original asking price of $1,275,000 — a measure taken against the original rather than the final list price, which we were unable to confirm independently and which should be verified against the closed record before use as a comparable; 1586 Front Street at $1,425,000 on September 24, five bedrooms, built 2026, approximately 4,200 square feet, with no list price published in our sources; 1245 Sunnyfield Lane at $1,285,000 on October 5, five bedrooms, against a $1,180,000 asking price; 18 Jacobs Lane at $1,140,500 on September 28, four bedrooms, stated as roughly 14% above asking with no underlying list price published in our sources, so the percentage is reported as given rather than recalculated; and 2239 Newark Avenue at $625,000 on October 1, three bedrooms, against a $699,999 list price. Percentages recalculated by us from published prices are: Terrill Road +3.9%, Sunnyfield Lane +8.9%, Newark Avenue −10.7%, and Maple Hill Road +25.5% against the stated original list. Property-level closings and monthly statistics should be reconciled against final Garden State MLS and municipal tax records before being relied upon. Six reported closings are a selected sample over one month and are not a township median, an appreciation rate or an appraisal; they describe individual transactions and no other property. School performance ratings, household income, crime statistics and demographic data have been deliberately excluded, as we exclude such material for every community we cover; school attendance assignments are address-specific and must be confirmed with the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District. Comparable sales, the municipality on each record, property type, lot dimensions, tax assessments and condition must be verified for any specific property. This is general information and market commentary, not legal, tax or investment advice.
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