Sparta Township is the premium end of Sussex County, and in late summer 2026 the numbers say it is still a seller's market: homes are closing above asking, active listings are down from a year ago, and the county has about three months of supply. The same data also shows the first cracks buyers should know about, including Lake Mohawk homes taking half again as long to sell as they did last summer.
This report pulls the current figures for Sparta, for Lake Mohawk specifically, and for Sussex County as a whole, then translates them into what a seller nets and what a buyer needs in cash. Ashley Davidson, a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Prosperity's Elevate Real Estate Group, handles the listing and search side in Sparta and Lake Mohawk; I handle the financing side through CMG Home Loans. Each of us is responsible only for our own services.
Sparta, NJ (Realtor.com key indicators as of August 2026): $699,900 median list price, $790,000 median sold price (up 14.24% year over year), $303 per square foot, 137 active listings (down 9.84% year over year), 35-day median time on market, and a 104% sale-to-list ratio. Lake Mohawk: $614,450 median list, $780,000 median sold (up 20%), 46-day median time on market (up 58.62%). Sussex County single-family, July 2026 (NJ REALTORS): $516,500 median sales price (up 8.7%), 182 closed sales, 35 days on market, 432 homes for sale (down 15%), 3.1 months of supply.
Last updated: September 2, 2026. Sources: Realtor.com Sparta housing market and Realtor.com Lake Mohawk housing market (key indicators as of August 2026), NJ REALTORS Sussex County Local Market Update for July 2026 (current as of August 9, 2026), the Lake Mohawk Country Club 2026 fee schedule, and the NJ Division of Taxation Realty Transfer Fee page. Medians move every month with whatever happens to close, so treat these as the September 2026 snapshot and ask Ashley for the comparable sales that match your street.
Sparta, NJ housing market at a glance
Realtor.com Economic Research builds its market pages from MLS listings and closed sales inside the Sparta boundary. These are the key indicators it published for August 2026.
| Metric | Sparta, NJ | 1-year change | 3-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median list price | $699,900 | +4.47% | +19.83% |
| Median sold price | $790,000 | +14.24% | +20.61% |
| Price per square foot | $303 | +10.27% | — |
| Active listings | 137 | −9.84% | — |
| Median days on market | 35 | +14.71% | — |
| Sale-to-list ratio (August 2026) | 104% | — | — |
| Rental listings | 13 | — | — |
| Median rent | $2,900/month | +5.45% | — |
Source: Realtor.com Sparta housing market page, key indicators as of August 2026; charts on that page run through July 2026.
Three things stand out.
Sold prices are running ahead of list prices. A $790,000 median sold price against a $699,900 median list price does not mean every home sells $90,000 over asking. It means the homes that closed in the period skewed larger and more expensive than the homes currently sitting on the market, and that the well-priced ones drew competition: Realtor.com's sale-to-list ratio for August was 104%, so the typical closed sale finished about 4% above its final asking price.
Inventory is thinner than last year. Active listings were down 9.84% year over year and down 15.38% from July to August, which is normal seasonal drift plus a real shortage of new listings. At our August 31, 2026 check of Realtor.com's live Sparta search there were 118 homes listed, 102 of them single-family, at a $650,000 median asking price.
Homes are taking a little longer. A 35-day median is fast by most New Jersey standards, but it is up from roughly 30 days a year earlier. That usually means the market is sorting sharply between homes priced on current comparables, which still go quickly, and homes priced on last year's headlines, which sit.
Lake Mohawk: the numbers behind the lake premium
Lake Mohawk is a private lake community of roughly 2,700 single-family homes on the Main and Upper lakes, about 50 miles from New York City, according to the Lake Mohawk Country Club. Realtor.com tracks it as its own market. Here is how it compared with Sparta as a whole in August 2026.
| Metric | Lake Mohawk | Sparta (all) |
|---|---|---|
| Median list price | $614,450 (+7.99% YoY) | $699,900 (+4.47% YoY) |
| Median sold price | $780,000 (+20% YoY) | $790,000 (+14.24% YoY) |
| Price per square foot | $294 (+3.51% YoY) | $303 (+10.27% YoY) |
| Active listings | 67 (−3.39% YoY, −10.94% MoM) | 137 (−9.84% YoY) |
| Median days on market | 46 (+58.62% YoY, +39.39% MoM) | 35 (+14.71% YoY) |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 104% | 104% |
| Median rent | $3,400/month (+23.64% YoY) | $2,900/month (+5.45% YoY) |
Source: Realtor.com Lake Mohawk and Sparta housing market pages, key indicators as of August 2026.
The pattern fits the housing stock. Lake Mohawk's median list price is about $85,000 below Sparta's, because the lake's housing stock includes many original cottages and mid-century homes on small lots. Its median sold price is nearly identical to Sparta's, because the homes that actually closed this summer leaned toward renovated and lakefront properties. And the median time on market jumped to 46 days, up 58.62% in a year: buyers are still paying strong prices for the right lake home, but they are walking away from the ones that need work at prices set for finished houses.
With only 67 active listings, one or two large lakefront closings can move the Lake Mohawk median by tens of thousands of dollars in a single month. Anyone pricing a Lake Mohawk home, or writing an offer on one, should be working from the handful of truly comparable sales, not the community-wide median.
How the summer moved: June to August 2026
Realtor.com also publishes a page for ZIP code 07871, which covers Sparta. Its June 2026 snapshot gives a useful earlier reading of the same market.
| Metric | June 2026 (ZIP 07871) | August 2026 (Sparta) |
|---|---|---|
| Median list price | $629,000 | $699,900 |
| Median sold price | $680,000 | $790,000 |
| Price per square foot | $318 | $303 |
| Active listings | 141 | 137 |
| Median days on market | 27 | 35 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 102% | 104% |
Sources: Realtor.com ZIP 07871 market page (key indicators as of June 2026) and Realtor.com Sparta market page (key indicators as of August 2026). The two pages use the same Realtor.com Economic Research data for Sparta's single ZIP code.
Between early and late summer, the median asking price rose about $70,000, the median sold price rose about $110,000, and the median time on market stretched by eight days while the price per square foot slipped. Read together, that points to larger, higher-priced homes dominating the summer closings rather than a uniform rise in what every Sparta house is worth. It is a reason to be careful with any single headline number.
Sussex County context: the official NJ REALTORS numbers
NJ REALTORS publishes a monthly Local Market Update for every county from the state's multiple listing services. The July 2026 report (current as of August 9, 2026) is the most recent county-level data available in September.
Single-family homes
| Key metric | July 2025 | July 2026 | Change | YTD through July 2025 | YTD through July 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New listings | 262 | 255 | −2.7% | 1,509 | 1,493 | −1.1% |
| Closed sales | 174 | 182 | +4.6% | 887 | 887 | 0.0% |
| Days on market until sale | 33 | 35 | +6.1% | 38 | 40 | +5.3% |
| Median sales price | $475,000 | $516,500 | +8.7% | $450,000 | $475,000 | +5.6% |
| Percent of list price received | 103.6% | 103.1% | −0.5% | 103.6% | 102.9% | −0.7% |
| Inventory of homes for sale | 508 | 432 | −15.0% | — | — | — |
| Months supply of inventory | 3.7 | 3.1 | −16.2% | — | — | — |
Townhouses and condos
| Key metric | July 2025 | July 2026 | Change | YTD through July 2025 | YTD through July 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New listings | 61 | 51 | −16.4% | 342 | 329 | −3.8% |
| Closed sales | 35 | 24 | −31.4% | 200 | 209 | +4.5% |
| Days on market until sale | 31 | 47 | +51.6% | 44 | 47 | +6.8% |
| Median sales price | $242,500 | $290,000 | +19.6% | $274,000 | $285,000 | +4.0% |
| Percent of list price received | 100.2% | 99.2% | −1.0% | 99.9% | 99.7% | −0.2% |
| Inventory of homes for sale | 124 | 103 | −16.9% | — | — | — |
| Months supply of inventory | 3.9 | 3.2 | −17.9% | — | — | — |
Source: NJ REALTORS Local Market Update for July 2026, Sussex County, current as of August 9, 2026. NJ REALTORS notes the medians do not account for seller concessions or down payment assistance.
Two takeaways for Sparta. First, the county single-family median of $516,500 is about $275,000 below Sparta's August median sold price, which is the size of the premium buyers pay for Sparta's schools, lake communities, and housing stock. Second, the county is still absorbing homes faster than they arrive: 3.1 months of supply and 103.1% of list price received are seller's-market readings by any conventional measure, even as the year-to-date closing count is exactly flat at 887.
Why three sources show three different Sparta prices
Anyone searching "Sparta NJ housing market" sees numbers that disagree with each other. They are measuring different things.
| Source | Figure | What it measures | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realtor.com (Sparta market page) | $790,000 median sold | Closed MLS sales inside Sparta in the period | August 2026 |
| NJ REALTORS (Sussex County LMU) | $516,500 median sales price | All county single-family closings in the month | July 2026 |
| Redfin (ZIP 07871) | $718,340 median sale price (+2.6% YoY), $300 per square foot, 15 median days on market, 84 homes sold in July, 104.1% sale-to-list | Rolling three-month median of closed sales in the ZIP | Three months ending July 2026 |
| Zillow (Sparta Township home values) | $627,867 typical home value (+3.3% YoY), 18 median days to pending, $621,583 median sale price for June | A modeled value of every home, sold or not, plus Zillow's own monthly sale medians | July 31, 2026 |
Sources: Realtor.com Sparta, NJ REALTORS Sussex County, Redfin 07871, Zillow Sparta Township, all checked September 2, 2026.
A single-month closed-sale median, which is what Realtor.com's $790,000 is, swings with the mix of homes that happened to close that month. Redfin's $718,340 pools three months of ZIP 07871 closings, so it smooths that noise and lands lower. Zillow's $627,867 is a modeled value of every Sparta Township home, sold or not, and its own June sale median of $621,583 covers a different month again. The county figure folds in every Sussex town. Time on market splits the same way: Realtor.com's 35 days measures how long the median listing has been on the market, while Redfin's 15 days and Zillow's 18 days count how quickly closed or pending homes went under contract. All four sources agree on direction: closings above list (Realtor.com 104%, Redfin 104.1%, Zillow 103.5% in June), thinner inventory than last year, and prices up year over year. For a listing price or an offer, none of them replaces the three to six most similar closed sales, and that is the comparable-sales work a listing agent does before naming a price.
If you are selling in Sparta or Lake Mohawk
Price on the comparable set, not the median. A 104% sale-to-list ratio means well-priced Sparta homes typically draw more than one offer. A 35-day median in Sparta and a 46-day median in Lake Mohawk, both up from last year, mean overpriced ones typically sit and then take a price cut. With a 35-day median, the first showings usually set the tone, so the opening price has to be right from day one.
Know what New Jersey takes out of the proceeds. The state's Realty Transfer Fee is paid by the seller and is calculated per $500 of the price in rising brackets. Worked on the state schedule for a sale at Sparta's $790,000 median sold price:
| Price bracket | Amount in bracket | Fee per $500 | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 to $150,000 | $150,000 | $2.90 | $870 |
| $150,001 to $200,000 | $50,000 | $4.25 | $425 |
| $200,001 to $550,000 | $350,000 | $4.80 | $3,360 |
| $550,001 to $790,000 | $240,000 | $5.30 | $2,544 |
| Total Realty Transfer Fee | $7,199 |
Source: NJ Division of Taxation Realty Transfer Fee schedule for consideration over $350,000. Arithmetic on the published schedule; your attorney or title company confirms the exact figure for your deed. Reduced rates apply to some senior, disabled, and low- to moderate-income sellers.
Sales over $1 million carry a second, seller-paid charge. Since July 10, 2025, under P.L. 2025, c. 69, the former 1% "mansion tax" is a Graduated Percent Fee owed by the seller: 1% of the full price from $1,000,001 to $2 million, 2% from $2 million to $2.5 million, 2.5% from $2.5 million to $3 million, 3% from $3 million to $3.5 million, and 3.5% above that. On a $1.2 million lakefront sale, the Realty Transfer Fee on the state schedule comes to $11,995 and the Graduated Percent Fee adds $12,000, so the state's share is roughly $24,000 before anything else. The Division of Taxation's July 2, 2025 memorandum spells out the brackets and the shift of liability to the seller.
Sellers who have already left New Jersey usually prepay income tax at closing. Under the state's GIT/REP rules, a nonresident seller must make an estimated Gross Income Tax payment equal to the gain multiplied by the top rate of 10.75%, but never less than 2% of the sale price, unless one of the exemptions on Form GIT/REP-3 applies, such as the principal-residence exclusion. On a $790,000 sale the 2% floor is $15,800, later reconciled on the seller's New Jersey return. The Division's GIT/REP FAQ covers who files which form. A CPA confirms whether an exemption fits your file.
Lake Mohawk adds paperwork buyers will ask for. Lake Mohawk Country Club membership runs with the land under the Club Plan covenants, so buyers and their attorneys ask for the by-laws, the current fee schedule, and the Club's property status report ($50 on the 2026 schedule) before they commit. Any unpaid Club charges are settled at closing. The Club's registration fee, $5,500 plus 1% of the price above $500,000 on the 2026 schedule, is not assigned to either party by the schedule, so who pays it is a contract term worth deciding before offers arrive.
Ready to talk about a listing? Ashley Davidson lists Sparta and Lake Mohawk homes through Keller Williams Prosperity's Elevate Real Estate Group. Call her at (973) 632-3936 or start at her home search and contact page. If you are buying your next home at the same time, I coordinate the financing so the purchase does not depend on the sale closing first; see the seller section of our Sparta and Lake Mohawk guide.
If you are buying in Sparta or Lake Mohawk
Expect to compete on the good ones. With sales closing at about 104% of list and Sparta inventory down 9.84% year over year, a fully underwritten pre-approval and a clean contingency plan usually matter more than an extra few thousand dollars in the offer. Ashley structures offers around what the seller is likely weighing, and I issue pre-approvals based on reviewed income, asset, and credit documents so the listing side sees a financed buyer who can close.
Budget the Lake Mohawk costs before the offer, not after. The Club's 2026 fee schedule is public, and the arithmetic is simple.
| Lake Mohawk Country Club item (2026 schedule) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Membership Registration Fee (contracts signed from April 1, 2023) | $5,500 + 1% of the sale price above $500,000 |
| Registration fee on a $790,000 purchase | $8,400 |
| Annual common-area maintenance (CAM) | $1,779.75 |
| Consumer Price Index charge (3.1% of CAM) | $55.17 |
| Annual capital reserve assessment | $100.00 |
| Additional 2026 capital reserve assessment | $861.00 |
| Reserve repayment of the Club's 2022 borrowing (voted 2024) | $150.00 |
| Upper Lake Dam assessment (10-year, voted 2019) | $45.25 |
| Pool tax and capital (10-year, voted 2019) | $26.29 |
| Pool purchase assessment (10-year, voted 2019) | $61.00 |
| Listed annual charges, home outside the gates | about $3,078 |
| Inside-gate assessment, home with a structure | +$154.65 |
| Property status report | $50.00 |
| Late fee, per month from March 1 | $30.00 |
Source: Lake Mohawk Country Club 2026 Fee Schedule (lakemohawkcc.com), checked September 2, 2026. The annual total is the sum of the listed items for a home outside the gates and excludes any new assessment the Club adopts; confirm current figures with the Club office at (973) 729-6156.
Tell me the community and the registration amount when you tell me the address. The registration fee is cash due at closing on top of the down payment and closing costs, and the yearly Club charges belong in the monthly comfort number alongside taxes and insurance, whether or not a particular loan program counts them in qualifying.
Check the assistance programs before you assume you are over the limit. NJHMFA pairs its first mortgage with down payment assistance for eligible buyers, and Sussex County's 2026 income limits are $138,400 for a one- or two-person household and $159,160 for three or more, per the NJHMFA income limits guide. The county purchase-price limit and the program's other rules are in that guide; a Sparta condo or a smaller off-lake home may fit even when a $790,000 lakefront does not.
Get the financing tested against the actual house. Lakefront, off-lake, and gated-section homes in Lake Mohawk appraise against different comparable sets, and Sparta homes on private wells and septic systems can carry extra inspection and appraisal conditions. Send me the listing before you write the offer and I will tell you what the file needs. Start your application with CMG Home Loans or call (718) 812-7798.
Sparta at a glance for relocating buyers
Sparta's public schools, as listed on Realtor.com with GreatSchools 2026 enrollment figures, include Helen Morgan Elementary (499 students), Mohawk Avenue Elementary (236), Sparta Alpine Elementary (759), Sparta Middle School (762), and Sparta High School (1,025), plus Sussex County Technical School. Lake Mohawk's clubhouse and boardwalk district on White Deer Plaza have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988, and the Club describes the lake as about 3.5 miles long with more than 10 miles of shoreline. The community is roughly 50 miles from midtown Manhattan by car, which is why the buyer pool includes commuters who work a few days a week in the city as well as second-home buyers.
Property taxes, from the state's own tables. The NJ Division of Taxation lists Sparta Township's 2025 general tax rate at 3.668 per $100 of assessed value, and its 2025 Average Residential Statistics table puts the township's average residential assessment at $372,217 with an average tax bill of $13,653, against a Sussex County average of $8,997. Assessed values and market prices are different numbers, so ask for the actual tax bill on any house you are considering instead of applying the rate to the list price.
Bottom line for September 2026
Sparta is a seller's market with a lake premium: homes are closing above asking, active listings are down from last year, and the county has about three months of supply. Sold-price medians of $790,000 in Sparta and $780,000 in Lake Mohawk are being driven by the larger and lakefront homes that closed this summer, not by a uniform rise across every house. Realtor.com's time-on-market measure is creeping up, and sharply so in Lake Mohawk, even as Redfin and Zillow show well-priced homes going under contract in two to three weeks; both readings reward accurate pricing over optimism.
For sellers, the state's take is knowable in advance: about $7,199 in Realty Transfer Fee at the Sparta median, a seller-paid Graduated Percent Fee above $1 million, and a 2% minimum income-tax prepayment for sellers who have moved out of state. For buyers, a Lake Mohawk purchase adds an $8,400 registration fee at the median price and about $3,078 a year in Club charges on the 2026 schedule, and both belong in the plan before the first offer.
If you are selling, call Ashley Davidson at (973) 632-3936. If you are buying, or buying and selling at once, start your application with CMG Home Loans or call (718) 812-7798, and we will build the timeline together.
Sources and as-of dates
- Realtor.com Sparta, NJ housing market, key indicators as of August 2026, charts through July 2026.
- Realtor.com Lake Mohawk, NJ housing market, key indicators as of August 2026.
- Realtor.com ZIP 07871 housing market, key indicators as of June 2026.
- Realtor.com Sparta listings search, checked August 31, 2026.
- NJ REALTORS Local Market Update, Sussex County, July 2026, current as of August 9, 2026.
- Lake Mohawk Country Club 2026 Fee Schedule and Discover Lake Mohawk, checked September 2, 2026.
- NJ Division of Taxation, 2025 General Tax Rates and 2025 Average Residential Statistics.
- NJ Division of Taxation, Realty Transfer Fee; Graduated Percent Fee memorandum, July 2, 2025; GIT/REP FAQs.
- Redfin ZIP 07871 housing market, three months ending July 2026; Zillow Sparta Township home values, data through July 31, 2026. Both checked September 2, 2026.
Ashley Davidson is a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Prosperity (Elevate Real Estate Group) and Jimmy Joseph is a loan officer with CMG Home Loans (NMLS #1577754). They operate separate businesses and are each responsible only for their own services. Nothing here is a guarantee of price, timing, or approval.
Related guides
- Sparta and Lake Mohawk buyer and seller guide — the community, Club, and financing checks behind these numbers
- Newton NJ REALTOR® buyer guide with Ashley Davidson — the county seat, for buyers weighing Newton against Sparta
- NJHMFA income limits 2026 by county — the Sussex County limits and the down payment assistance they unlock
- Buyer closing costs in New Jersey 2026 — what the buyer side of a Sparta closing typically costs