Good news, bad news for North Shore condo market in 2012

· by · in , ,

First, the good news: sales were up 23% in 2012.
Now the bad news: sales are still 47% below the peak in 2005.

Unlike SFHs which are, for the most part, built singly, condo developments often bring a large number of new units to the market, causing a spike in sales, followed by a sharp decline. Look at the figures for (more…)

North Shore Single Family Sales Up 18% in 2012

· by · in , ,

Sales of SFHS in the 17 cities and towns on the North Shore jumped 18% in 2012, reaching their highest level since 2005. All but Swampscott showed an increase over 2011. While Lynn remained the largest city for sales, its share of the overall North Shore market dropped from 23% in 2005 to 16% in 2012.
Sales remain 17% below peak levels of 2004, with Lynn, Ipswich, Georgetown and Swampscott all showing declines of more than 30%. At the other end, Lynnfield had a 26% increase, and Manchester,Peabody and Topsfield also showed gains. (more…)

Marblehead SFH and condo sales 2012

· by · in , ,

SFH sales in MHD in 2012 reached 229, the highest level since 2004, which was an exceptional year.
MHD_SFH_Sales_Moving_Average

Condo sales remain well below the levels of earlier in the century for the reasons outlined in my December 8 post:
Condo_Sales_Moving_Ave

Foreclosures and Short Sales for all North Shore cities and towns in 2012

· by · in , ,

Foreclosures and short sales have many variables. The process varies from State to State, while Federal attempts to halt the epidemic also influence and change underlying tendencies. With those caveats, I have put together a table that shows the number of foreclosed properties and short sales that actually closed in 2012 for SFHS and condo for each of the 17 North Shore communities.
Lynn saw the highest percentage of FC/SS sales at 34% of total sales, while (more…)

Twenty Questions with Marblehead’s Assessor

· by · in , , ,

The FY2013 tax rate has been set at $10.85, up from $10.52 in FY2012. The median single family assessment declined 2.4% to $476,000, and the median single family tax bill increased 0.6%, or $31, to $5,165. The commercial rate has once again been set at the same rate as the residential rate.

Marblehead’s 2013 tax rate will be the third lowest of the 17 North Shore cities and towns and also the third lowest of 34 Essex County communities.

Real-estate assessments for Fiscal Year 2013 have just been mailed. Assistant Assessor Mike Tumulty answered questions about the process. (more…)

2013 Marblehead Property Tax Rates_Interview with Town Assessor

· by · in

This is a short interview with Mike Tumulty, Marblehead’s Assistant Assessor, announcing 2013 tax rates. A fuller report, Twenty Questions with the Town Assessor, will be published this Saturday.
Tumulty_audio

November Pending Home Sales rise for 19th straight month

· by · in , ,

The NAR estimates that sales should increase 8-9% in 2013 to about 5.1 million, with the median price rising 4%.
National Association of Realtors December 28, 2012
Full Story

November home sales in MASS highest since 2005

· by · in , ,

Sales of SFHs increased 38% over a year ago in November. Condo sales were up 33%.
The SFH median price increased 2%, while for the condos the figure was 7%.
Median prices were the same – $275,000 – for both SFHs and condos.
Data comes from the Warren Group
Jennifer McKim boston.com December 27, 2012
Full Story

Case-Shiller: prices rose 4.3% in year to October, above estimates

· by · in , ,

It is clear that the housing recovery is gathering strength.
Last week’s final revision to third quarter GDP growth showed that housing represented 10% of the
growth while accounting for less than 3% of GDP.
S&P/Case-Shiller December 26, 2012
Full Report

November Existing-Home Sales and Prices Maintain Uptrend

· by · in , ,

Existing home sales in November were up 14.% from a year ago and reached the highest level since November 2009.
The median price rose rose for the 9th consecutive month and is up 10.1% from a year ago.
Housing inventory fell to 4.8 months of supply, the lowest level since September 2005.
National Association of Realtors, December 20, 2012

Full Story

Essex County “8th healthiest housing market in country for 2013”

· by · in , ,

The healthy markets that made the list have strong job growth (Bureau of Labor Statistics), which bodes well for housing demand; low vacancy rates (U.S. Postal Service)–low enough to encourage new construction, but not so low that inventory and sales are restrained; and low foreclosure inventory (RealtyTrac), since foreclosures tend to hold back recovery.
Jed Kolko, Chief Economist, Trulia December 21, 2012
Full Story

Improving Housing Trends likely to continue into 2013.

· by · in , ,

A combination of factors, including declining time-on-market, a drop in distressed properties and rising average home prices, are all pointing to a strengthening housing market in the months ahead.
Campbell/InsideMortgage Housing Pulse, December 21, 2012
Full Story

Foreclosures drop 28% in year, lowest since December 2006

· by · in , ,

The latest data offers “more evidence that we are past the worst of the foreclosure problem brought about by the housing bubble bursting six years ago,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac
National Association of Realtors, December 13, 2012
Full Story

Housing starts decline slightly in November because of Sandy, but rise 21.6% from year ago.

· by · in ,

November starts were 861,000. The recession low was 478,000 in April 2009, but the current level is still well below the 1.5 million considered to reflect a healthy market.
89.3 KPCC December 19,2012
Full Story

MA pending home sales up in November for 19th straight month

· by · in , ,

MA pending home sales up in November for 19th straight month according to Massachusetts Association of Realtors
Full Story