An island off Puerto Rico sounds tempting today….
Yes it is snowing again. OK it won’t settle, but it is still annoying. Let’s hope the promise of high 50s for the weekend proves true.
Meanwhile we can think of warmer places, like this island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
The price is $2.5 million, but if we all chip in a few bucks…. (more…)
But if you do leave New England…..
Last week I posted Why we don’t all move to San Francisco.
But if you do move here’s movoto.com’s 30 Things they don’t tell you about Leaving New England.
I experienced 12 in TN this winter. The evening news had a map showing snowfall amounts for the area: 0.1 inch and 0.3 inch. On a map. Seriously. (more…)
How to fix winter damage to your house
Two great articles this week in the Boston Globe’s Address section deal with a range of issues: sagging ceilings, flaking plaster, ice dam leaks, stains, mold and more.
Source: Boston Globe
How to fix wet walls, mold and other damage caused by winter
Which broker should sell my house?
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? (more…)
$30 million to repair potholes
Both my Republican and Democrat friends think Charlie Baker is off to a good start as Governor. And it’s not just because there are no stories about the money spent on new curtains for his office.
Today the Baker Administration announced a $30 million WRAP (Winter Recovery Assistance Program) to patch up potholes and other repairs. (more…)
Still time to buy that $37.5 million Boston condo
70% of the condos in the 60-storey Millennium Tower building at Downtown Crossing have been sold, according to this Millennium condos mostly sold to local buyers Boston Globe article, with 3/4 of sales going to local buyers.
In case you fear you have missed out, worry not: the $37.5 million, 12,000 sf penthouse is still available. Call me for a showing and if you buy through me I will donate half my commission to Lifebridge, the homeless organization based in Salem. (more…)
Last appeal of new Salem Power Plant withdrawn
Opponents of the new natural gas power plant have withdrawn their last appeal “putting an end to three years of legal objections to the project”, according to this Salem News article.
The new plant is scheduled to come online by June 2017, while the second phase of demolition at the old coal plant will take place this spring together with further site remediation. (more…)
Baghdad could have been a Frank Lloyd Wright mega- City
Spurred on by an influx of oil money and the temptation of a looming Olympic bid, in the 1950s, King Faisal II enlisted a coterie of architectural heavyweights—Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Josep Lluís Sert, and Alvar and Aino Aalto—to reimagine Baghdad as a bustling, cosmopolitan city.
I came across this fascinating article on curbed.com. The King was assassinated in 1958 and the plans died with the young king. As explained by Robert Twombly, “the people needed food, clothing and shelter more than floating gardens, gold fountains, and a mammoth zoo.”
No doubt Iraqis felt the same way about Saddam Hussein’s palaces. (more…)
Essex County Housing Inventory by town
Here is a town by town breakdown of inventory compared with a year ago.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Essex County Housing Inventory at low levels
Low inventory has, rightly, been cited as a factor frustrating many would-be home buyers. But how low is inventory currently?
Here is the answer, comparing today’s supply with that a year ago, for Essex County, first for Single Family Homes (SFHs). To put these numbers into perspective, the total represents just over two months of sales based upon the last year. A market with six months of supply is generally regarded as one being in equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
Sales are, of course, lower in winter, but nevertheless these numbers suggest a severe shortage of homes for sale as we move towards spring. (more…)
Why home prices will go up in 2015
I have been asked more than once recently when the supply of homes for sale will increase and return to more normal levels.
My answer is that the improving economy, increased job security and higher incomes, unexpectedly low mortgage rates, and the realisation that real estate has not appreciated as much as other asset classes all combine to create a market with more buyers than sellers.
And we know what happens when demand exceeds supply – prices go up. And higher prices are what I think it will take to get more inventory onto the market.
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.
@OliverReports
Farewell February: we shall not miss you
“Stay not upon the order of thy going but go” are, according to my memory, the words spoken by Lady Macbeth. But when I checked, I found the actual quotation is:”Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once.” I don’t wish to criticise Shakespeare but I actually prefer my version.
And either is better than the “modern” text version:”Don’t bother exiting in the order of your rank, but just leave right away.”
How can anybody take the majesty of Shakespeare’s prose and turn it into such prosaic English is beyond me.
It reminds me of the story I heard of a young Rabbi explaining to a man in his new congregation that the rewriting of Psalm 23, in which “my cup runneth over” became “my cup overflows”, was to make the meaning clearer. Unconvinced, the man replied:”Rabbi, my cup runneth over, it’s my toilet which overflows.”
And what, if anything, does this have to do with real estate you may be asking?
Well, I suspect a lot of people are fearing that the snow will be on the ground well into – I won’t say spring, but let’s say April. People will stay indoors, home owners won’t be able to get their houses ready for sale, and the housing market will freeze (ho ho!) up.
How long the snow will remain on the ground is, therefore, a factor in the housing market. Earlier in the week I posted The snow may disappear earlier than you think quoting Dave Epstein (@growingwisdom). Epstein has now posted another excellent article Spring really is coming. Well, that’s not the actual title of the article, but again I like my version better than the author’s.
The article explain how the hours and intensity of sun shine will increase dramatically over the next three weeks. As Epstein says:”This increase in solar radiation will start to rapidly melt the snow and transform our barren landscape.” The transformation may also extend to the real estate market. Whether you are a buyer or seller, it is time to get ready to act.
I had an email recently from a frustrated buyer who has been looking for over a year for a house to buy. He asked what it will take to increase the very low inventory of houses for sale. Here is my answer: Why home prices will go up in 2015.
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.
@OliverReports
The snow may disappear sooner than you think
On this morning of extreme cold, when we may fear that this winter will never end, there is good news from Boston.com’s excellent meteorologist David Epstein (@growingwisdom) in this When will we see bare ground? article. (more…)
The best and worst performing real estate markets
I have read a number of articles recently about the best and worst real estate markets but none of them mentioned Essex County. This article corrects that oversight.
The first table follows the pattern of many articles in looking at the extent of the recovery since 2009: (more…)
How do I know if I have an ice dam?
In recent weeks we have all learned to toss the phrase “ice dam” into our conversation with friends and neighbors, but what exactly is an ice dam, how do we tell if we have one, and what should be do about them?
Here’s an Ice dam guide from today’s Boston Globe.
The most popular tip may be number 7. (more…)
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