Million Dollar Home Sales hit new record in Marblehead
Record Sales
Sales of Marblehead homes over a Million Dollars have hit a new record in 2014. The previous peak was 36 in 2005, and this year we already have 38 closed sales with a further 5 scheduled to close before year end for a total of 43.
Sales by price bracket
The largest number of sales naturally occurs in the $1-2 million range and a recent sale took the year’s total to 29 (with 4 more scheduled) pipping the 28 of 2005.
4 MLS sales ( plus 1 non MLS) have taken place above $3 million, with 2 of those (and the non MLS sale) over $4 million. Marblehead has never had more than 4 MLS sales over $3 million in any one year.
The only bracket which did not set a record this year is $2-3 million, but here we will see 6 sales, second only to the 8 in 2004.
Here are the numbers since 2000:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
In markets such as Marblehead the recovery in property prices after a slump normally starts at the lower end and moves up the price ranges over time.The current market seems consistent with that pattern.
Inventory
I wanted to look at inventory levels to see what effect they might have had on the market.Since this report is written late in the year, when some houses which have not sold come off the market, I chose October 1 as the date for comparison.
What I found was that in the $1-2 million bracket, inventory was fairly steady from 2005-2013, but has jumped sharply this year as sales volume has also jumped. This is consistent with the thesis that higher activity and prices bring out more sellers.
Inventory in the $2-3 million range has been very steady since 2009. The other area which has seen a sharp change is the $3 million plus range where, after a sharp jump in 2012-2013, inventory has returned to the levels of 2005-2011.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Sales vs Inventory
In 2003 and 2004 there were 13 more sales in the $1-2 million range than there were properties for sale on October 1. At the depths of the market in 2009, this had reversed and there were 16 more such properties for sale than sales for the whole year. This year, although inventory has jumped, sales have gone up even more and for the year there are likely to be 5 more sales than properties for sale on October 1.
I understand the difficulty in trying to compare an entire year’s sales with inventory on one specific date, but I feel the data does tell a story about the market at the upper end. In the table below I have taken the number fo sales and subtracted from that the number of properties for sale. A positive number means more sales than inventory, a negative number the opposite.
What the tables below shows is that sales have consistently been slightly higher than inventory in the $1-2 million range since 2011, after several years of negative numbers; and that 2014 showed a sharp improvement in both the $2-3 million and over $3 million ranges. The overall result was that the total negative number dropped from -22 to just -4, the best result since 2007.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Conclusion
The upper end in Marblehead finally sprang to life in 2014, after a couple of years where owners wondered why prices were booming in Boston but not here.Prices at the top end may still be below peak levels but at least there are buyers looking. This may be the last bargain area in Marblehead.
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 [email protected].
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.