An aerial video of Marblehead
Click here for an aerial video of Marblehead, courtesy of the Mariner , the proposed new assisted living facility. (more…)
Marblehead Oceanfront: price too low to display
Following several recent sales of oceanfront property in Marblehead, there is very little such property available for sale. In my Boston 117 Marblehead 3 article I suggested that buying interest above $3 million is in the process of rippling out from Boston.
Meanwhile, there is an opportunity to buy a restored 1850 Oceanfront estate in Marblehead at a price greatly reduced from its original list price. Click here to find the price and details. There is an Open House today 12:30 -2:30. (more…)
Jeopardy answer: Boston 117 Marblehead 3
And the question is: “what is the number of condos in Boston that sold for more than $3 million in 2015 compared with the number of houses that sold in Marblehead over $3 million?”
Following my $20 million condos? post earlier this week, I read with interest this Record number of Boston condos sold for over $3 million in 2015 article on boston.com about condo sales in Boston in 2015. Oh, by the way, overall 286 condos (vs 191 in 2014) sold for more than $2 million and 822 (690 in 2014) for more than $1 million.
I think of real estate as being like a large pond: a pebble dropped in the middle creates ripples which reach out wider and wider with time. Boston is the middle of the Massachusetts pond, but the ripple effect is being seen as more and more buyers from Boston appear to be taking advantage of high prices there to sell and buy further out in the pond.
Here is a list of sales over $3 million for Boston and MA counties in 2015, followed by a breakdown by town. No real surprises – most of the higher end sales were in or near Boston, or on the Cape and Islands (my numbers exclude Nantucket as brokers there use a different MLS service).
Counties (and of course Boston)
Source: MLSPIN, Oliver Reports
Towns
Source: MLSPIN, Oliver Reports
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker will find the buyer for my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Open Houses today
A limited number of Open Houses today, but they range from a $163,000 condo in Beverly to a $3.5 million Oceanfront property (11 Crown Way) in Marblehead.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open Houses
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker will find the buyer for my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Essex County inventory: where have all the sellers gone?
During this mild winter, buyers have remained active, taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates, but Essex County inventory remains low.
While the end of February is low season for real estate sales in New England, some of the changes in inventory at different price levels are startling. I include a chart showing the overall numbers, followed by a breakdown by price, for both SFHs and Condos.
Single Family Homes (SFH)
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Condos
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker will find the buyer for my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Still very few new listings
It has been a mild winter – with a few sharp exceptions – and mortgage rates are at historically low levels, but there are still very few new listings:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker will find the buyer for my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Marblehead 2015 Median Price revised
Recently, I spotted in the MLS that one SFH listing in Marblehead was still showing as pending several months after an offer had been accepted. I checked with the Registry of Deeds and found that the sale had actually closed last October, but the broker had failed to update the listing in MLS, a violation of MLS rules. (Note, this was not one of the major real estate firms, but an Entry Only listing).
No big deal, you may think, but the addition of just one sale did two things: it lowered the median price for 2015 by $2,500 to $596,500, and it caused me to redo 6 charts and tables. The first was disappointing, the second downright annoying.
Here is the revised Marblehead 2015 Housing Market review. (more…)
$20 million Boston condos? Bring’em on!
Just a couple of days after posting Tiny house with great views for $40,000, I read this Why Boston can’t build ultra luxury condos fast enough article on Boston.com.
According to the article: “the new Four Seasons tower ( One Dalton) has opened sales office, with its 180 ultra high-end condos, some of which have the potential to break the $20 million mark, expected to go fast as well.”
By my calculation, the $20 million for one of these condos would buy 500 tiny houses, or 70 non-Boston condos at the 2015 Massachusetts median price of $285,000, or 5 oceanfront estates in Marblehead.
While the flood of new millionaires from technology and start-ups of various hues might make it less true today than it used to be that real estate was the most common way for people to become millionaires, there seems little doubt that the wealthy from around the world are investing that wealth in real estate in cities such as Boston, New York and London as both a safe haven and an asset play in an era of close to zero interest rates. (more…)
Which broker should list my house for sale?
You’ve decided to sell your house. The big question is: which broker should you hire to sell it? And how do you make that decision? I find that possibly the least understood aspect of home buying and selling is the mechanism by which a house is actually sold.
Who actually produces the buyers for houses?
The table below shows the percentage of a firm’s or office’s listings that are sold by an agent in that office: NOT the percentage sold by the individual listing the property, but the percentage sold by any other agent in the same office or firm.
The numbers are for 2015 for 4 local towns plus the whole of Essex County, for the top 10 offices or firms in each market (the top 6 in Marblehead). Offices, the first table, mean each individual office: so firm A may have several offices in the region but this number is for each individual office. The second table is for all a firm’s offices in the region.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
One of my jobs is to look at statistics and decide if they are significant or not. What strikes me about the numbers in this table is their consistency: both individual offices and firms sell roughly 1 in 4 of the houses they list for sale. Which means that some 3 out of every 4 houses are sold, not only not by the individual listing agent, but not by any of the other 20 or 30 or however many agents in her firm!
Does market share matter?
Not obviously. Each city or town has its combination of chains and local brokers. The bigger the area surveyed – as in Essex County – naturally the larger the market share of the firms with multiple offices will be. But the increase in the percentage of listings sold is very modest. As a numbers man I would have to say that I see no evidence that market share is a determining factor in who actually finds the buyer of a house for sale.
So how should you decide who should sell your house?
I was shocked when I first came across these numbers while preparing a presentation to a potential seller. They made me rethink the reasons for choosing a broker. My belief now is that, while there are several factors that go into the decision. The most important factors are the ability to develop a strategic partnership between the seller and the listing broker, the marketing plan presented by that broker, price and presentation.
What should be in the marketing plan?
Putting the listing in MLS and holding Open Houses is not a marketing plan. It is the old way of doing business.
Today, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), over 90% of buyers use the internet in some way during their search and more than 50% use a mobile website or app. Where appropriate, you should expect your broker to have an online presence (including a website exclusively for your home), and a plan for using social media advertising.
Photographs matter! The days of a broker showing up with his own camera, and snapping photos with the lights off or curtains drawn are long gone. You need professional high-resolution photos. At Harborside Sotheby’s our photos have to go through Sotheby’s quality control department.
Other things to look for include floor plans (which can be interactive with photos embedded), a video, which can be narrated, and a professionally produced glossy brochure.
All these things, of course, cost money, but remember that the listing agent is normally getting a commission of 2 1/2% of the sale price. Shouldn’t he be willing to spend a reasonable amount on marketing your house professionally and thoroughly?
My friend from church/synagogue/yacht club/ yoga is a broker: I feel I ought to give her the listing
Ah, the “ought to’s”. How much of our life is driven by ought to’s?
This is often the hardest issue for a seller to face. According to the NAR a full 70% of sellers contacted only one broker before listing their home. One solution is to say to that friend: “I would like you to make a presentation to me to sell my home. Just to let you know, my financial advisor/accountant/spouse has recommended that I get presentations from 3 brokers so I am doing that.”
You may still select your friend, but you will have an out if you decide to choose somebody else. And trust me, every agent has stories of listings they expected to get but didn’t. That’s the nature of a business where there are so many agents. And if you do list with your friend, you will know that you are doing so for business as well as personal reasons.
Who should be targeted by the marketing plan?
The ultimate buyer of the house, right? Well yes, but at least as important, if not more so, are agents of other firms, because they are the most likely source of the buyer for your house. You should ask the agents you interview about their plans for marketing your house to agents of other firms.
Should I list with the broker who suggests the highest price?
One of my favourite sayings is that the market will decide the correct price for your house. It is human nature to want to believe that your house is worth the highest possible price, so it is very tempting to go with the agent who quotes the highest price. And it is not unknown for that one buyer to come along and pay that price. But the chances are greater that a high price will put off buyers.
If other agents think the price is too high – and the ones who competed for the listing and suggested a lower price will – then they are less likely to call their buyers to go and look at the house.
You are the customer
Most of us when we are considering a significant purchase do some reasonably thorough research of the product and alternatives. We might look at several different cars or TVs, read online reviews(from a trusted source such as Consumer Reports), ask friends – and then make an informed decision. Yet 70% of us do not apparently follow the same approach when it comes to selling what is for most of us our biggest asset.
The number one goal of Oliver Reports is to make you an informed buyer or seller of real estate. I hope this article helps you to make an informed decision when you decide to sell your house.
And if you would like me to be one of the 3 brokers you ask to discuss the sale of your home I should be delighted to meet with you.
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Open Houses in Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem and Beverly
Following last week’s Bizarre Open House activity, I am expecting a strong turnout at today’s Open Houses with the temperature expected to be over 50 degrees: (more…)
What happened to 4% mortgages?
On the way to the “inevitable” increase in mortgage rates this year, a funny thing has happened – they have gone down again, raising the question: what happened to 4% mortgage rates?
Where are rates now?
Here are this week’s rates:
Source: Freddie Mac Weekly Survey (more…)
Only 2 Oceanfront Homes for sale in Marblehead
Recently I published Marblehead sets record for sales over $3 million highlighting the spurt in sales of Oceanfront properties recently.
The pace of sales (and the withdrawal of some properties from the market) means that there are now only 2 Oceanfront homes for sale in Marblehead, one on Ocean Avenue and 11 Crown Way, and both have Open Houses this Sunday.
DCIM101MEDIADJI_0404.JPG
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker should I use to sell my home?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
New Listings this week
We are entering the home stretch of winter and mortgage rates are close to record lows, while inventory remains very low. Here are this week’s new listings:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my home?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Tiny house with great views for $40,000
As life seems to get more and more connected, allowing less and less time for quiet and reflection, a company named Escape Homes has produced a tiny house with great views for $40,000 (there are also larger models available).
The house is on wheels so you can park it wherever you like.
In the company’s words: “Vista is perfect for a guest house, fantastic for AIRBnB or rental space, excellent for weekend getaways to the beach or mountains and just right for that special space of your own to escape the stresses that invade all of our lives.”
Read the Escape Vista fact sheet.
EscapeVista.com
EscapeVista.com
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Lynn 2015 Condo Market Review: a remarkable recovery
This Lynn 2015 Condo Market review chronicles the remarkable recovery in the market from the depths of 2009.
Sales
Sales were in the low 100s before exploding in the 2003-2006 years. The collapse was even more dramatic, as sales fell from 399 in 2005 to just 99 in 2008. Since then, sales have been more stable, although the second half of 2015 saw a sharp increase.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Distressed Sales
Not only did the total number of sales plummet, but distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – were almost half the total in the 2010-2012 period. Put another way, there were just 57 and 59 non-distressed sales in 2011 and 2012. In the last two years, distressed sales have fallen sharply to a much more modest share of the total.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Median Price
The first half of 2009 saw the bottom of the market, with the median price down 48% from the peak, and the year overall seeing a 39% decline. The market was remarkable stable in the 2010-2014 period as the distressed sales worked their way through the market, but 2015 saw a sharp jump, taking the median price back to within 10% of the peak.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
ASR*
One way I measure prices is by the ratio (ASR) of Assessed Value (AV) to Sales Price (SP). The ASR is the AV divided by the SP: if the SP is rising (prices going up), the ASR will fall.
Note that the ASR for Lynn Condos has fallen sharply since 2012. In 2015 the median condo selling price was 26% (100/89.5 – 1) above its Assessed Value.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
*Properties selling above their AV will have an ASR below 100%. What this means is that in a period of rising prices the ASR is likely to be falling. So what we, as homeowners, want is an ASR below 100% and falling.
Remember that AVs are a lagging indicator: the tax bills for FY2016 are based on actual sales in 2014. Thus the 2015 sales data, reported in this review, will be the basis for FY2017 assessments.
Summary
Lynn, the largest city in Essex County, “is an urban manufacturing and commercial center, densely populated and culturally diverse.” Lynn suffered more than any other town on the North Shore during the Great Recession, so it is heartening to see the strong recovery taking place in the real estate market.
The announcement that GE is relocating its corporate HQ to Boston is a reminder that GE built the first jet engine in Lynn, while as this post Lynn, Lynn, city of……. revitalization records there are plans for Lynn’s development.
All in all, the outlook is for continued improvement in the housing market in Lynn.
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my home?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
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