Gabby’s Take
“This is my hometown. Small, walkable, and quietly one of the best values in Somerset County. Ask me anything — street by street.”
Gabby Magsino · Broker Associate · raised in Raritan Borough
Raritan is two square miles of sidewalks, front porches, and a Somerset Street downtown where the Basilone Parade still stops traffic every fall. It is also where Gabby Magsino grew up — she can tell you which blocks flood, which ones fill up with trick-or-treaters, and what a fair price looks like on almost any street.
The value story is simple: Bridgewater-Raritan schools, a Raritan Valley Line station where trains start their run, and home prices that sit below Somerville and Bridgewater next door. Values are up 57.5% since 2019, and the borough is still one of the county’s most attainable ways in.
Source: GSMLS, Somerset County home values, 2019 vs. 2025.
“This is my hometown. Small, walkable, and quietly one of the best values in Somerset County. Ask me anything — street by street.”
Gabby Magsino · Broker Associate · raised in Raritan Borough
Raritan station is where many Raritan Valley Line trains begin their run — board here and you pick your seat. Routes 202, 206, and 28 meet at the borough’s edge, with I-287 minutes away.
Kids start at John F. Kennedy Primary in the borough, then move up through the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional district — Gabby is a Bridgewater-Raritan High School graduate herself. The Basilone Parade each fall is the borough’s biggest day.
Colonials and capes on a walkable grid, two-family homes that work hard for first-time buyers and investors, and townhomes near the Raritan River and the old canal path.
Raritan is where a lot of first-time buyers finally make the numbers work — smaller homes, smaller taxes, same county. Gabby grew up on these streets, so the block-by-block questions (parking, flood zones, which side of the tracks) get answered in one conversation.
How we guide buyers → NJ first-generation buyer programs →Buyers priced out of Somerville and Bridgewater are looking here — which means a well-prepared Raritan listing gets real attention. Pricing to the borough’s comps, not the county’s, is where sellers win or lose.
What’s my Raritan home worth? → What it costs to sell in NJ →Raritan Borough is part of the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District. Younger students attend John F. Kennedy Primary School in the borough, then move on to Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School and Bridgewater-Raritan High School — the same high school Gabby graduated from.
Yes. Raritan station is on NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line and serves as the terminus for many trains, so boarding here often means starting with an empty train and a guaranteed seat. Service runs toward Newark Penn Station with a connection to New York Penn.
It is one of the more attainable entry points in Somerset County — and values have still grown 57.5% since 2019. Buyers get a walkable grid of colonials, capes, and two-family homes, Bridgewater-Raritan schools, and a train station, usually at a lower price than neighboring Somerville or Bridgewater.
Every fall, Raritan honors Sgt. John Basilone — the borough’s own WWII Medal of Honor recipient — with a parade down Somerset Street. It is the borough’s signature day and a good picture of the town: small, proud, and everyone knows everyone.
All guides: Bridgewater · Basking Ridge · Hillsborough · Somerville · Bernardsville · Franklin · Montgomery · Warren · or see the full Somerset County town map.
A 20-minute call with Gabby covers your budget, your timeline, and whether her hometown is the right fit — street by street, not town by town.