If you want to time a purchase well, I would start with how much choice is actually on the market.
If you are trying to decide whether to wait or move now, I would start with one question do you have enough room to compare options without forcing a rushed decision? In Ridgewood, NY, the clearest answer is yes, because supply stood at 5.5 months over the previous month, which puts this market in balanced territory rather than an extreme seller-leaning setup.
That balance matters because it changes the tone of your search. A typical asking price for active homes was $1,100,000 last month, and there were 11 active listings alongside 1 sale in the same recent period. For someone weighing a purchase in Ridgewood, NY, that points to a market where choice exists, but each listing still needs to be judged carefully on its own merits.
I would not treat balanced conditions as a reason to get casual. Ridgewood, NY still had only 7 new listings over the last three months, with a typical asking price of $740,000 for those new entries, while pending homes carried a typical asking price of $861,500. My read is simple the better-positioned homes are still moving into contract, so the opportunity here is time to compare, not time to drift.
Build a short list and compare price, condition, and time on the market side by side. Set your ceiling before you tour so the $1,100,000 typical asking point does not pull you upward by default. Focus first on homes with longer exposure, including the listing that had been available for 86 days, because those are the clearest places to test terms and pace without forcing an emotional decision.
