Madison, NJ | The Rose City
A College Town Downtown, Midtown Direct Trains and the Hottest Competition in Morris County
Madison Real Estate | The Rose City on the Midtown Direct
Madison compresses more town into four square miles than almost anywhere in Morris County: a State Register historic district downtown with more than fifty food establishments, a Midtown Direct train station in the middle of it, two university campuses, and a professional Shakespeare company. Madison NJ homes for sale traded at a median of $1,269,718 over the three months ending July 2026, essentially flat year over year per Redfin, and the flat number hides the real story.
That story is competition. Madison carries a Redfin Compete Score of 92, the firm's most competitive tier, with homes averaging 110.8 percent of list price, 75.6 percent of sales closing above asking, a 16-day median market time, and price cuts falling to just 8.7 percent of listings. A Knollwood Avenue three-bedroom listed at $779,000 closed at $952,500 in August 2026, 22 percent over asking, while a Woodland Road seven-bedroom closed at its full $2,700,000 list the same month. Prices have plateaued at a high level; the fight to win a house has not.
The ladder in Madison NJ real estate runs from downtown-walkable capes and colonials in the $700,000s through four-bedroom streets at $1.1 to $1.9 million, up a genuine estate tier along the Woodland Road corridor where 2026 closings reached $2.7 million at list and $4.66 million on Midwood Terrace, plus a real condominium market that gives downsizers and first-time buyers a way in.
The Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group at Compass serves Madison as part of its Morris County coverage, bringing 25+ years of combined experience, more than 500 five-star client reviews and pricing built on street-level comparable sales. In a market where three out of four homes clear asking, the difference between winning and overpaying is knowing what your target block has actually done, and that is the work the team does before you bid.
What to Love About Madison
A Downtown on the State Register
Main Street and the blocks around it form the Madison Civic Commercial Historic District, listed on the State Register of Historic Places, with more than fifty food establishments, a Saturday Farm and Artisan Market, and a Downtown Development Commission with a full-time downtown manager keeping the storefronts full.
Midtown Direct From the Middle of Town
The Madison station sits inside the downtown historic district on NJ Transit's Morris and Essex Line, with Midtown Direct service to Penn Station and the whole borough, less than 25 miles from Manhattan, within a short drive or walk of the platform.
One Path Through the Schools
Three neighborhood elementary schools feed one junior school and one A-rated high school, so there is no zone anxiety: every Madison child walks the same path, through a district small enough for 11-to-1 ratios and strong enough that neighboring Harding Township sends its high schoolers here.
A True College Town
Drew University's wooded University in the Forest campus, founded in 1867, sits just off downtown, Fairleigh Dickinson's Madison-Florham Park campus borders it, and Saint Elizabeth University is next door in Convent Station, keeping lectures, arts and campus green space inside daily life.
Shakespeare in Residence
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, one of the nation's leading professional Shakespeare companies, performs at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on Drew's campus and reaches about 100,000 people a year, with the 2026 season running alongside live jazz most nights at Shanghai Jazz downtown.
A Borough That Runs Its Own Utilities
Madison operates its own electric distribution utility and public water system, a rarity among New Jersey towns, and governs from the Hartley Dodge Memorial, the landmark borough hall built between 1927 and 1935 as a gift from Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge and Marcellus Hartley Dodge.
Every street here prices differently. Ask the team about the one you have in mind.
Ask the teamMadison Neighborhoods and Property Types | A Buyer's Guide
Madison is compact enough that most addresses are minutes from downtown, so buyers comparing houses for sale in Madison NJ sort the borough by its corridors and property types rather than named districts.
Downtown and the Historic District Blocks
The streets fanning out from Main Street and Waverly Place put capes, Victorians and compact colonials within a stroll of the station, the shops and the Saturday market. This is Madison's entry tier and its fiercest arena: the Knollwood Avenue sale that ran 22 percent over asking sits here, a Locust Street home closed at $1,250,000, and current listings like a Hamilton Street colonial in the $700,000s draw the same crowds. Plan for the $700,000s to about $1.3 million, and plan to compete.
The Woodland Road Corridor | Madison's Estate Tier
Northeast of downtown, the deep lots along Woodland Road and the streets around it, Fairwood, Midwood, Fairview, carry Madison's upper market: expanded colonials, Tudors and estate-scale homes under mature trees. The 2026 record here is striking even by Morris County standards: $2,700,000 at full list on Woodland Road, $2,310,000 at 28 percent over asking on Fairview Avenue, and $4,662,500 on Midwood Terrace. Expect roughly $1.5 million to past $4 million depending on scale and renovation.
Kings Road and the South Side Toward Loantaka
South of the tracks, the blocks along Kings Road, Shadylawn Drive and Noe Avenue run toward the Loantaka Brook Reservation at the borough's edge, with postwar colonials and split-levels on generous lots. Recent closings frame the tier: $1,125,000 on Kings Road, $1,780,000 on Shadylawn Drive and $1,825,000 on Noe Avenue, with the county reservation's trails and the Green Village Road corridor giving this side its quieter, greener character.
Madison NJ Condos for Sale | Downtown Flats to Garden Communities
Madison keeps a real attached-housing market, which is rarer than it should be in towns this walkable. Searches for Madison NJ condos for sale split into two tiers: newer downtown flats on Green Village Road steps from the station, where two-bedroom units traded around $900,000 in mid-2026, and garden-style condominiums along Loantaka Way and the borough's edges at friendlier price points. For downsizers who want to keep the downtown and the train without the yard, this is the move.
Madison NJ Homes for Sale
Homes the Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group has listed and sold in Madison.
Living in Madison | Dining, Shopping and Things to Do
Dining
Madison's table starts with two institutions: Shanghai Jazz at 24 Main Street, the supper club pairing Asian cuisine with live jazz most nights that the town is quietly famous for, and the Bottle Hill Tavern, carrying the borough's original name on a site whose hospitality history reaches back to 1812, when the Marquis de Lafayette was among its visitors.
The rest of the downtown roster earns its fifty-plus count: Il Mondo Vecchio and Osteria Trevi for Italian, 54 Main and Central + Main for the new-American slots, Harvest Bistro for brunch-to-dinner range, Takuma for Japanese, Tino's Artisan Pizza Co. for the wood-fired end, and Madison Bagel Cafe holding down the morning.
Shopping
The Main Street district, Route 124 through the middle of town, runs from local shops and services in the historic core to grocery anchors and dealerships at the borough's ends, supported by the Downtown Development Commission and a dedicated downtown manager. The Madison Farm and Artisan Market runs Saturdays from late May through mid-December on the 2026 calendar, and The Mall at Short Hills is about 15 minutes east on Route 124 for the department-store trip.
Arts, Outdoor Recreation and Things to Do
Few towns this size carry this much culture. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey performs at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on Drew University's campus, reaching about 100,000 people a year, with Baskerville and The Merry Wives of Windsor on the 2026 season. The Museum of Early Trades and Crafts holds down Main Street in a landmark Romanesque building, the Madison Community Arts Center programs Kings Road, and Drew's wooded campus is open for a walk that feels like a forest preserve two blocks from a latte.
The calendar does the rest: Bottle Hill Day, the six-block fall street festival named for Madison's colonial-era name, draws crowds reported as high as 20,000 with four stages and more than 225 vendors; Taste of Madison fills the Madison Hotel each spring with chefs from dozens of area restaurants; and the Rose City Summerfest and Downtown Concert Series carry the warm months. For green space, the Loantaka Brook Reservation's trails and paved bike path run along the borough's southern edge, with Memorial Park and the community pool inside town.
Madison Schools
Madison Public Schools runs about 2,400 students through the simplest structure a relocating buyer could ask for: three neighborhood elementary schools, Central Avenue, Kings Road and Torey J. Sabatini, feed every student to Madison Junior School for grades 6 to 8, and everyone finishes at Madison High School. One path, no zone anxiety, and small scale throughout, with student-teacher ratios around 11 to 1.
How they rate. Madison High School carries an A from Niche and ranks 87th among New Jersey public high schools for 2026, 13th in Morris County, with a 91.3 percent four-year graduation rate, about 90 percent of graduates continuing to higher education, and 45 athletic teams across 18 sports; SchoolDigger places it 73rd of 434 New Jersey high schools, up 42 spots this year. Madison Junior School grades an A and ranks 72nd among the state's public middle schools, and the elementaries hold the line: Torey J. Sabatini ranks 113th on Niche and 45th of 1,347 statewide on SchoolDigger with a five-star rating, with Central Avenue and Kings Road rating 9 out of 10 on GreatSchools. Neighboring Harding Township sends its high school students to Madison High under a long-standing arrangement. Treat every rating as a dated third-party measure.
Private and higher education. Saint Vincent Martyr School offers PreK to 8 in town, and Madison's unusual depth in higher education, Drew University in the borough, Fairleigh Dickinson's Madison-Florham Park campus on its border, and Saint Elizabeth University adjacent in Convent Station, shapes everything from lecture calendars to the rental market.
Madison on the Map
- Within
- Morris County
- ZIP code
- 07940
Landmarks on the map
- Drew University
- Hartley Dodge Memorial
- Madison High School
- Madison train station
- Memorial Park
- Museum of Early Trades and Crafts
Frequently Asked Questions About Madison Real Estate
Compare Madison With Nearby Towns
Find Your Home in Madison
Team
Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group at Compass. Co-principals Allison Ziefert (NJ License 0999509) and Sarah "Ginge" Calhoun (NJ License 1650080)
Office
378-380 Millburn Ave., 2nd Floor, Millburn, NJ 07041
Hours
Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Weekends by appointment.