Spring housing inventory points to strong market
With increasing signs that the brutal winter weather disguised the fact that the economy is actually strengthening quite strongly, buyers hoping that the spring selling season would see an increase in inventory are, so far, being disappointed.
Yes, there are more properties coming onto the market each week, but the inventory, at under 4 months’ supply in Essex County for both Single Family Homes(SFHs) and condos, reflects a sellers’ market as 6 months of supply is generally regarded as representing a market in equilibrium.
The following tables show the months of supply for each town, Essex County and Massachusetts, for both SFHs and condos; and the inventory by price in Essex County. (more…)
Is this the best app for finding real estate for sale?
I may, of course, be a little biased but I recommend the Sotheby’s International Realty app.
Text HARBORSIDE to 877-78 and download the app.
Type in a zip code and all properties for sale will pop up.
At the top right is a MAP – tap that and you get a map showing what is available and details of those properties.
Pretty cool. (more…)
Is the housing market recovery really slowing down?
There have been a number of headlines this week highlighting the drop in mortgage applications and new home sales. What, if anything, does that mean for us here in Marblehead and Essex County? While national trends can have significance in framing market sentiment, it is important not to get confused by data from specific areas. We are not Las Vegas, and as the saying goes, “what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.” (more…)
Harborside joins the Sotheby’s International network
Some weeks I have to give quite a lot of thought as to the subject matter for my posts. This is not one of them.
“After five years of continued success, we are excited to announce our affiliation with Sotheby’s International Realty. We now offer all the advantages of a locally owned real estate brokerage combined with the vision, power and focus of Sotheby’s International Realty.”
As an Englishman I am very familiar with Sotheby’s and the huge impact they have had on real estate sales worldwide. As the owner of a waterfront property for sale I am very excited about the increased visibility I will get from Sotheby’s national and international marketing through 700 offices in 52 countries.
If you have a property which you believe would benefit from active marketing to a wider audience please contact me.
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
More signs of buyers at top end in Marblehead
A couple of weeks after I reported a sale over $4 million on Bartlett Street, a house on Ocean Avenue, listed at $4.5 million, has received an accepted offer just 5 days after coming back on the market. This house was on the market last year for 6 months at the same price.
Over the last year I have reported that the higher end was slower in Marblehead and throughout Essex County than it was closer in to Boston, and I speculated that this might be a timing issue. Like the ripple from a pebble thrown into a pond, it takes time for increased demand to move outwards from the epicentre of Boston.
But there is increasing evidence that it is now happening. The table below shows sales (and pending sales) by price range:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Note the sale on Bartlett Street was a private sale and is not included in the above table.
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
Marblehead to vote on new flood map
At Town Meeting on May 5, Marblehead voters will be asked to approve new flood maps.
Becky Curran, Town Planner, has put together this FAQ about the proposal. Note that this action is to approve the maps. The FAQ clearly explains the separate provisions, which affect flood insurance, in the new Act passed recently to overhaul Biggert-Waters.
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
Housing market: buyers moving up the price chain
In addition to looking at total sales and median prices I like to look at the breakdown of sales at different price levels. At this stage in the housing market recovery one would expect to see buyers trading up and increasing demand for prices at higher levels.
Although the first quarter in Massachusetts typically sees low sales, the breakdown of them does suggest a trend that I will be watching carefully as we move into the spring and summer.
First, sales in Marblehead. Note the drop in sales under $500,000 and the big jump in sales over $1 million.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Beware first quarter housing market reports
Another one for the “Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics” file. (And I hope another reason to read my blog regularly to avoid being mislead.)
You may well see a report saying that the median price in Marblehead increased 19% from last year, which is the MLS figure including all sales. My numbers, which always exclude distressed sales, show a 17% increase. But it is important to know that quarterly numbers vary greatly.
Look at these numbers for Marblehead since 2010. They clearly show that Q1 2013 was well below the rest of the year. I am not saying that the Q1 number is not significant (see Buyers moving up the price chain). Just beware that Q1 a year ago was generally a low quarter.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Housing inventory remains tight heading into Spring
With Spring rumoured to be coming soon (please!) here’s a look at the inventory awaiting buyers.
First Single Family Homes (SFHs). Although supply is a little higher than a year ago in actual numbers, it is slightly lower in terms of months of supply because the rate of sales increased over the last year. For the whole of Essex County supply is just under 3 months, or half the level regarded as a market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
The cold winter not only kept buyers indoors but also made it more difficult for sellers to get their houses ready for sale. The economy is improving, albeit still slowly, economic confidence seems to be improving, the stock market is at a high, and the likelihood is that mortgage rates will increase. Coupled with growing awareness that home prices are improving, I believe that 2014 could be a strong year for home prices on the North Shore. (more…)
Two free Marblehead concerts: Sergey Schepkin and Brahms Requiem
For my 200th blog post, I would like to draw your attention to two extraordinary musical offerings coming up shortly. Both will take place at Old North Church, 35 Washington Street , on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 13.
Saturday, April 5 at 8:00 p:m: International pianist Sergey Schepkin will perform works by Bach, Schumann, Debussy and others in a concert to celebrate the restoration of Old North’s Steinway B piano. 
Read Restoration of a Steinway in Marblehead from the Marblehead Reporter.
And on Palm Sunday, April 13 at 7 p.m., the Old North Festival Chorus will perform the rarely heard Brahms Requiem. Written by Brahms after his mother’s death, this Requiem is not the traditional Latin liturgy celebrating the dead, but a full-bodied and full-blooded German celebration of the living. It is a work of epic proportions and this is an incredible musical offering, also free to the public. 
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 781.631.1223 or andrew@HarborsideRealty.com. Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead
Marblehead sale over $4 million – guess where?
A house in Marblehead sold this week for $4.15 million in a private transaction, according to the Salem Registry of Deeds.
Where was this? The Neck? Fluen Point? Peach’s Point?
The answer: none of the above. It was at the end of Bartlett Street in an area of town, Clifton, that has a number of ocean front properties but is not on the radar screen of many buyers.
The Clifton area runs from the Swampscott town line down to Goldthwait but for the purpose of this article I am going to refer to the coast as far as Ocean Avenue, leading to the Neck. And here is the secret. There are a lot of small streets that lead to the water and have 1 or 2 or maybe 3 or 4 houses sitting directly on the ocean at the end.
And for the most part these houses sit on the rocky Atlantic coast and are high enough that flooding is not a concern, while many of them face South, have great views of Ram Island and down the coastline, and are well protected from the nor’ easters that can impact more exposed areas.
In all I have found 29 properties on this coast with Assessed Values between $2 and $5 million. Two are currently for sale: one on Spray Avenue and one on Crown Way , both under $4 million.
Here’s a map of the area in two sections. First, from Preston Beach to Coolidge Road; secondly, from Coolidge to Ocean Ave.
Source: Town of Marblehead GIS
Source: Town of Marblehead GIS
Disclosure: I am the owner and listing agent for the house on Crown Way. The house on Spray Avenue is listed by J.Barrett & Company
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 781.631.1223 or andrew@HarborsideRealty.com.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead
Senate passes House Flood Insurance Bill: President expected to sign it into law
After the usual round of negotiations the Senate this week passed, on a 72-22 vote, the Bill the House passed last week. The White House said that President Obama would sign it into law.
Here are the details of the Bill from my post last week: Bipartisan Congress votes to roll back impact of 2012 legislation
Reform of the National Flood Insurance program is needed. Here are my suggestions:
1. Do not try to include small, frequent losses caused by flooding throughout the country, and catastrophic major disasters, in one program. The NFIP is well suited for the former, and ill-suited for the latter.
2. Enforce the current requirement that properties in flood zones with federally insured mortgages carry flood insurance. Estimates vary, but the lowest I have seen is that 40% of such properties do not have flood insurance. Why not?
3. Flood insurance should stay with the property rather than the owner so that a sale does not trigger a change in flood insurance premiums (this is in the new Act).
4. Spend the necessary money to ensure that the flood maps used are accurate (they are not in Massachusetts).
After writing several articles on this topic in recent months, I hope that this will be my last for the foreseeable future. It has taken a while but common sense has finally prevailed in Congress. Now there is the opportunity to come up with a lasting solution to the question of flood insurance.
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 781.631.1223 or andrew@HarborsideRealty.com.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead
Million Dollar home sales also picking up in Essex County
Two weeks ago I wrote about Million Dollar Home Sales picking up in Marblehead.
My thesis has been that the slowness of sales hitherto at the higher end in Essex County was in part at least the usual delay in activity and price increases rippling out from the centre, starting in Boston, moving to the nearer areas such as Brookline and Newton, and then reaching further out.
This week I have been looking at million dollar plus sales throughout Essex County to see if the same trend I spotted in Marblehead is happening more widely. It is.
Here’s the chart and table for 2000 to 2013.
Sources: MLS, Oliver Reports
The number of sales above $3 million has been pretty constant, while in the $1-2 million range there was a sharp drop before a recovery last year. Sales in the $2-3 million range, however, remain well down on the numbers of 2004-06 (but see below.)
Now let’s look at 2014. So far there are 43 sales and pending sales in the $1-2 million, range, 6 in the $2-3 million range, and 1 above $3 million.
And in Marblehead, since my last report, two $1 million plus properties have had offers accepted after being on the market for less than two weeks.
This activity at the higher end despite the brutally cold weather augurs well for sales – and maybe pricing – in 2014.
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 781.631.1223 or andrew@HarborsideRealty.com.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead
Flood insurance: Bipartisan Congress votes to roll back impact of 2012 legislation
Both the Senate and House have passed bills on bipartisan votes (Senate 67-32, House 306-91) to reverse the impact of the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act. The Senate now has the option of either accepting the House Bill or seeking to negotiate the differences between the two Bills. Press reports on Friday indicated that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will schedule a vote next week on the House-passed legislation.
While I have heard no reports locally of sales affected by the threat of higher flood insurance premiums,the National Association of Realtors has estimated that some 40,000 sales nationally have been cancelled or delayed because of the confusion over the proposed changes under the 2012 Act. It is not possible to know, however, to what extent such confusion has contributed to buyers deciding not to make an offer on properties in flood zones.Certainly, questions have been asked.
Whereas the Senate Bill basically delays the impact of Biggert -Waters by up to 4 years, the House Bill deals directly with the most important issues.
The main features of the House Bill are:
– the sale of a property will no longer trigger the end of existing premium subsidies
– the restoration of grandfathering, which prevents a property’s rate from being increased if it is mapped into a higher risk zone
– mandating that the rate on any individual property cannot increase by more than 18% per annum.
The House Bill also levies a small fee ($25 for primary residences; $250 for secondary residences and businesses) on policyholders. According to the Congressional Budget Office the fee will make the House Bill revenue neutral, whereas the delays in the Senate Bill would result in the loss of $2 billion in revenues.
Another key feature for us in Massachusetts is that the House Bill requires FEMA to certify that its mapping process is technologically advanced and to notify and justify to communities that the mapping model it plans to use to create the community’s new flood map are appropriate.As I have previously reported, it has been alleged that FEMA has applied Pacific Coast mapping technology to Massachusetts.
The proposed legislation provides a stabilization while a longer-term solution to the finances of the national Flood Insurance Program is sought. The huge and widespread debate in recent months should ensure that the final solution comes after an informed and public process.
Here’s a good summary of the House vs Senate Bills from the Tampa Bay Times.
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 781.631.1223 or andrew@HarborsideRealty.com.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Realty in Marblehead
Housing inventory: spring is coming, right?
Two years ago the month of February saw just one day when the temperature was below freezing. This year….well you know what’s it been like, hibernation for most of the month. Statistics for sales at this time of year are, therefore, largely meaningless.
Instead, I have been looking at the supply of houses and condos for sale and comparing numbers with a year ago, which was also a cold month if not quite as brutal as this year.
We are assured that it will warm up one day, if not soon. With signs that the economy continues to improve, if slowly, it seems quite likely that spring, if and when it comes, will find buyers chasing limited inventory, again, and that prices, certainly at the lower end, will continue the improvement of 2013.
Here is the inventory by price for Marblehead, Beverly, Salem, Swamspcott and Essex County overall. (more…)
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