Open Houses Sunday September 19
Here is the updated list of today’s Open Houses:
Click on these links for details: (more…)
How much does it cost to live in each town in Essex County?
This chart shows the median price of the Single Family Homes sold in each of the 34 cities and towns in Essex County in the first 8 months of 2021, together with Condo prices overall in Essex County, Boston and Massachusetts. Read my comments below the chart:
With the strength of the market over the last year or so, it is important to understand that properties are available at a wide range of prices in Essex County.
Over the years I have said to my sons that sometimes you know where you are going and it is like sailing with a tailwind – and sometimes you have to tack. Maybe right now you can’t afford Marblehead, but you can afford Salem and in a few years, as your circumstances improve, you may be able to afford Marblehead. So you tack.
The other thing – and I think this is really important – is the understand what the median price means. Let’s take Marblehead as an example. The median price YTD is $821,500 on 142 sales. That does NOT mean that you have to pay $821,500 to live in Marblehead. What it DOES mean is that, while there were more than 70 houses which sold for more than $821,500, there were also more than 70 houses that sold for LESS than $821,500.
I have mentioned Salem, but Beverly is another dynamic and vibrant town. The median price of 196 sales was $625,000 YTD, so again there were over 90 sales BELOW $625,000.
Yes, inventory remains in short supply, but widening the search may just provide a solution. And I do have market reports available for each of the 34 cities and towns so please reach out to me to receive a copy of any ones in which you are interested.
The Facts about Inventory and Home Prices
And read these recent articles:
Team Harborside recognized on America’s Best Real Estate Professionals list
Are mortgage rates heading up or down?
Essex County 2021 Residential Property Tax Rates: a Town by Town guide
Naples August Housing Market Review
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
“If you’re interested in Marblehead, you have to visit the blog of Mr. Andrew Oliver, author and curator of Oliver Reports . He’s assembled the most comprehensive analysis of Essex County we know of with market data and trends going back decades. It’s a great starting point for those looking in the towns of Marblehead, Sale, Beverly, Lynn and Swampscott.”
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReportsMA.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Andrew Oliver
Sales Associate | Market Analyst | DomainRealty.com
REALTOR®
Naples, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers
Andrew.Oliver@DomainRealtySales.com
m. 617.834.8205
www.MarbleheadSouth.com
Tips for working remotely in a tiny home
I seem to recall a lot of talk about tiny homes a couple of years ago – heck, I even wrote about them in Tiny house with great views for $40,000.
Boston.com has an intriguing article about Working from Home in a Tiny House/.
For those considering joining the tiny-house movement while working remotely, Stephanie Burrows, founder of the Tiny Homes of New England Meetup group, offered advice. (more…)
Open Houses Sunday September 12
Here is the updated list of today’s Open Houses:
Click on these links for details: (more…)
New Listings week ending September 10
Here are the latest New Listings:
(more…)
Open Houses this weekend
Here are the Open Houses this weekend. Because of the quirks of MLS properties with OH’s both days so not show up in both days’ lists but do if you click on the individual properties. I will publish the updated list for Sunday tomorrow at 8 a.m.
Click on these links for details: (more…)
The Facts about Inventory and Home Prices
Confused by the market? Is inventory on the increase? What about sales? Are New Listings down? And how can sales be steady if inventory is down so much, especially when compared with 2019?
Let’s try to address these questions.
Is inventory on the increase? This chart shows the daily SFH active inventory for Essex County.There was an interesting phenomenon at the end of June. The SF inventory dropped from 477 on June 24 to 315 on July 2. My guess is there were two factors at work- buyers wanting to get an offer accepted before July 4 – and sellers waiting until after that date to list.
There has also been a drop throughout August which may reflect sellers waiting until Labor Day to list. (more…)
Essex County Inventory and Activity update
SFH Inventory as of September 1 dropped slightly from August 1 and still trails historic levels. See the chart and comment later in this article for more details.
Single Family Homes
Condos (more…)
Latest New Listings and Inventory Report
Here are the latest New Listings (the state of inventory is shown later in this article) :
Click these links for details: (more…)
Is Your Home (and Home Insurance) Ready for Extreme Weather?
Hurricanes. Heat waves. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Today’s headlines are awash in extreme weather, and whether you blame climate change or just plain bad luck, the simple truth is that the damage from these disasters is impossible to ignore.
Realtor.com® teamed up with HarrisX to conduct a poll of 3,026 adults on their extreme weather concerns and homeowners insurance know-how—and the results suggest that many Americans may be more vulnerable than we think.
Here are some of the key highlights: (more…)
Open Houses Sunday August 22
This list is current as of 7:30 am according to MLS:
Click on these links for details: (more…)
What is happening to Housing Inventory?
“The epic housing shortage that began before the pandemic and then was exacerbated by it may finally be starting to ease up. More supply is suddenly coming on the market, which will certainly help frustrated buyers and could, in the longer term, take some of the heat out of home prices.”(CNBC)
Articles such as this one have appeared on a number of occasions in recent weeks. It is, of course, inevitable that the year-on-year decline in inventory will end at some point, but an increase from an extremely low level does not take the market supply into one of abundance!
Inventory
Let us look at Essex County and a few of the North Shore towns and compare inventory levels for the last three years:
This table clearly shows that while inventory may be increasing in places from last year’s levels, it is still way below that of 2019.
Supply
While I believe that the old metric of 6 months of supply representing a housing market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers may be out of sate with the speed at which buyers become aware of new listings these days, it is still the measure most widely quoted. This table, showing inventory as of August 1 and sales through July 31, demonstrates just how much the market remains weighted in favour of sellers:
Comment
As the year-on-year declines inevitably come to an end, so we will see more commentary about the increase in supply. But…. we are starting from an incredibly low level, so even if inventory were suddenly to double, it would still represent only 2 months of supply.
And right now, there are so many variables – new COVID restrictions, back to school, etc. – that any projection is more guess than forecast.
One factor that could be significant is the psychological impact played by press reports of increasing inventory. For the last year one of the main driving forces behind the frenzied bidding wars has been FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
If FOMO declines we could see a more stable market.
But there are too many unknowns – both the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns – to be confident of any prediction.
Read these recent articles:
Is the increase in Inventory for real?
Team Harborside recognized on America’s Best Real Estate Professionals list
Are mortgage rates heading up or down?
Essex County 2021 Residential Property Tax Rates: a Town by Town guide
Naples market summary in June
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.
“If you’re interested in Marblehead, you have to visit the blog of Mr. Andrew Oliver, author and curator of Oliver Reports . He’s assembled the most comprehensive analysis of Essex County we know of with market data and trends going back decades. It’s a great starting point for those looking in the towns of Marblehead, Sale, Beverly, Lynn and Swampscott.”
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Andrew Oliver
Sales Associate | Market Analyst | DomainRealty.com
REALTOR®
Naples, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers
Andrew.Oliver@DomainRealtySales.com
m. 617.834.8205
www.AndrewOliverRealtor.com
www.OliverReportsFL.com<
New Listings mid-week August 4
Here are the latest New Listings:
Click these links for details: (more…)
Is the increase in Inventory for real?
SFH Inventory as of August 1 increased from July 1 but still trails historic levels. See the chart and comment later in this article for more details.
Single Family Homes
Condos (more…)
Recent Comments