Million Dollar Sales – now vs the peak
Million dollar sales in Essex County continue to pick up and are approaching the levels of 2005/06, but there are some marked variations from town to town, while sales at the highest level continue to lag.
First the overall picture by price range for the whole of Essex County: (more…)
Just say no to a lock box
A topic which came up for discussion at this week’s office meeting was the use of lock boxes on properties which are for sale. The subject arose because I have shown three properties recently with lock boxes.
My experience – and that of my buyers – was one of great frustration. Apart from the fact that it always seems to take me 5-10 minutes to open lock boxes, here are my main gripes: (more…)
Essex County town by town home prices compared with the peak
In a week when the National Association of Realtors reported that nationally home price have surpassed their 2006 peak I have looked at median SFH prices town by town in Essex County for the first half of 2015 compared with the first half of 2006.These numbers show that median prices in both Essex County and Massachusetts are back to 2006 levels, but with wide variations from town to town.
Here’s the table: (more…)
Essex County Median Home Prices Town by Town
This report shows Single Family Home (SFH) median prices for each city and town in Essex County for 2015 compared with 2014. Several towns have a very small number of sales, especially in the first quarter, so I have used the half-year prices to calculate the change from 2014.
The second table shows the towns with the largest increase and decrease year over year. Overall, the message is that prices in both Essex County and Massachusetts have edged up 1% in 2015. As always, there are variations from town to town. (more…)
MA condo supply: is it really only 1.8 months?
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report in July contained the following statement: “Massachusetts currently has only 1.8 months’ supply of condominiums available, compared with 6 to 7 months’ supply in a balanced market.”
Really? Wow. As I often point out, statistics are extremely useful if you know the context and can put the numbers into perspective. The above comment, however, does not explain the period being measured. As the months of supply figure is calculated by dividing the number of units currently for sale by sales in a given period, it is necessary to know what the given period is. (more…)
Foreclosure update: down but not out
What we mostly hear about these days are reports such as this Home prices surpass July 2006 peak from the National Association of Realtors.
We don’t hear as much about distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – so I have looked at the trend since the beginning of 2014 in Essex County and Massachusetts as a whole, and then looked at the pattern since the foreclosure crisis really started in 2009.
The message from these numbers, which relate to Single Family Homes, is that while distressed sales have dropped sharply in the last 2-3 years, they still account for more than 1 in 20 of all sales in both Essex County and Massachusetts overall. (more…)
Swampscott’s shrinking Housing Inventory
Swampscott’s housing inventory has actually declined since the beginning of May, a period that has seen a 30% increase in inventory of Single Family Homes (SFH) in Essex County overall. (more…)
Marblehead’s Housing Inventory jumps
After many months when Marblehead’s housing inventory was running sharply below that of a year ago, the position has improved in the last few weeks – at least for buyers. Here are tables showing the month by month totals, and the current inventory by price, for Single Family Homes (SFH): (more…)
Housing market: 7 reasons for optimism
MarketWatch.com published Housing market can’t lose this week.The main reasons for optimism are:
Prices: rising but at a moderate rate
Equity: as prices rise so more homeowners have equity in their homes – now up to 90% of all mortgaged properties
First-time homebuyers: loans to first-time homebuyers are now the highest in 22 years of surveys from the American Bankers Association
Foreclosures: the number of loans in foreclosure is the lowest since 2007.
Construction: both starts and permits are showing strong momentum
Supply: nationally 4.8 months, below the 6 months considered to reflect a market in equilibrium between and sellers. Listings are 15% lower than a year ago.
Family net worth: has reached a new record. (more…)
Housing Inventory still down heading to July 4
As we head towards July 4th, often the target date for home buyers wanting to be in their new homes for the start of the school year, housing inventory remains well down from a year ago. (more…)
Mortgage rates “will reach 4.5% by year end”
In a report this week the Mortgage Bankers Association stated: “Our forecast has mortgage rates increasing to about 4.5% by the end of 2015, and rising further next year.” Click here to read the full forecast.
Mortgage rates do fluctuate and vary from lender to lender. For example, despite the headlines, it was possible to find quotes at the end of this week for 30 year jumbo mortgages under 4%, while both 15 year FRMs and 5/1 ARMs were available at 3 1/8%. (more…)
Marblehead pace of accepted offers doubles
I have been looking at accepted offers and this is what I have discovered for Marblehead this year vs last year:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Mortgage rates spike; will housing market collapse?
I have been warning for some time Mortgages rates: how low can they go?, Have mortgage rates bottomed?, Mortgage rates are rising that mortgage rates were likely to rise and this week they did spike, with the 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) at National Grand Bank in Marblehead increasing from 3.75% to 4%, with the likelihood that the rate will move to 4 1/8% on Monday after movement in the bond market on Friday.
The second part of the headline refers to a number of comments I have heard in the last few days about how the spike in mortgage rates may kill off the still-recovering housing market. It won’t. (more…)
How accurate are online property estimates?
As I have been known to poke gentle fun at Trulia’s “market”analysis for Marblehead (they seem to record only a tiny fraction of sales) it is only fair that I post this excellent Trulia article about the accuracy of online estimates of value.
Source: Zillow
Marblehead: sales jumping, inventory plunging
Since May 15, 23 Single Family Homes (SFH) have received an offer in Marblehead, while there are currently just 67 SFHs for sale, compared with 116 a year ago at this time, a decline of over 40%. But the position for buyers may be even worse than it appears.
One of the numbers I follow is the number of days a property has been on the market (DOM). Last year MLS introduced a new measure, Days to Offer (DTO), which – yes- the number of days a property is on the market before it receives an accepted offer.
A house receives the greatest attention, from both buyers and agents, when it first comes on the market, but as time moves on the listing becomes stale. In an active market such as exists now, a property sees the most activity and interest in the first 30 days.
With that in mind, let’s look at three categories: current inventory, pending sales and sales so far in 2015. In each case I will show a pie chart of the overall picture (at the end of the article are tables showing the breakdown by price band). I’ll summarize and add my conclusions after the charts.
Current Inventory (more…)
Recent Comments