A real estate team in Essex County, New Jersey, is tracking the local housing market with a metric they call the 'hyper market index,' and it is showing that Maplewood's market has significantly more momentum than conventional measures indicate. The index, developed by Mark Slade, who leads Mark Slade Homes, with his partner MaryCeu Nunes, compares the number of properties currently under contract against the combined total of active listings, properties in attorney review, and coming-soon inventory. When under-contracts exceed that combined figure, Slade calls it a hyper market.
As of late June 2026, the index readings across Slade's six tracked towns show Maplewood at 1.9, meaning there are nearly twice as many properties under contract as there are actively available. This imbalance favors sellers. In contrast, the standard absorption rate, which looks at closed sales divided by active inventory over the past six months, lags behind current conditions. 'In a market moving as fast as Maplewood, that number is already stale by the time it lands,' Slade said.
The index provides real-time insight. For example, if the market had a slow December and a strong March, absorption rate averages them together. The hyper market index does not; it shows where the market is at this moment. Slade views any reading above 1.0 as a hyper market. Other towns include Livingston at 0.8, West Orange at 1.1, Union at 1.3, and South Orange at 1.7.
Slade pulls his data directly from the Garden State MLS, which is the primary listing system for agents in the corridor. Zillow aggregates from multiple sources, including private listings that never appear on the Garden State MLS, so the two datasets are not measuring the same thing. For buyers and sellers in Maplewood and South Orange, the practical implication is that Zillow's market reads can be materially off from what is actually happening in the Garden State MLS-driven market.
The percent-over-asking figures reinforce the hyper market readings. As of the week ending June 21, Maplewood's average sale price is running at $1,323,000, up roughly $220,000 from where it ended 2025, with properties selling at 16.1% over asking on average. South Orange is at 15.5% over asking, up from 10.5% at year-end 2025, with an average price of $1,221,000. Livingston, the outlier, has the second-highest average price at approximately $1,350,000 but only 2.9% over asking, and its hyper market ratio of 0.8 means supply is outpacing buyer commitment.
For buyers who are waiting, the cost of deferring a purchase compounds quickly. In Maplewood, where the average sale price has risen roughly 22% since the end of last year and properties consistently close well above asking, buyers who sit out are not preserving optionality but watching the entry point move further away. For buyers navigating the current market, the buyer resources page at Mark Slade Homes covers how the team approaches competitive offer situations, appraisal waiver programs, and market-specific guidance.
