Good-bye rain; welcome back sunshine in time for these Open Houses:
andrewJoliver.com
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open Houses
Lynn Open Houses
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
if you have ever dreamed of owning a castle here’s your chance. Molly’s Lodge – the smallest castle in the UK – recently went on the market for the price of a small flat in London.
Credit: Caters
The castle has turrets (of course), a bedroom in the main castle and a smaller one in an outbuilding, a dining room with mullion windows and a Victorian cast iron fireplace.
It has a bathroom and a sitting room as well as a double carpark and garage which houses an office.
In terms of the grounds, there is a long gravel driveway which leads up to an oak front door.
Molly’s Lodge also has a pond, an orchard, vegetable patches and a chicken run.
Read UK’s smallest castle for more details.
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
As expected the sale of 204 Ocean Avenue has set a new record for MLS sales in Marblehead with a price of $5.8 million. This beats the previous highest MLS sale recorded in Marblehead of $5.6 million recorded in 2008. Note, however, that there was a private sale at $6.7 million in 2008.
In another sign of renewed activity at the higher end a house listed at $3.4 million recently received an offer.
Gradually, in recent years, we have seen activity moving up the price brackets. 2016 saw a record number of sales from $2-3 million. Will 2016 see a new record for sales over $3 million?
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Today I published the 1,000th post since starting my blog. And I worried when I started if I would have enough topics to write about!
In addition to my statistics on all the cities and towns of Essex County, as well as the County and Massachusetts overall, I publish on a wide range of topics, including mortgage rates, property taxes, flood insurance.
My articles are short, with my goal that you should be able to read them in 1-2 minutes (sometimes the year end reports will be longer with the amount of data I cover).
And I try to lighten things up with articles about luxury properties, properties owned by celebrities and even about the smallest castle in England (that will be published tomorrow).
The reasons I suggest to people that they sign up for email alerts when I post new articles is so that they can just click on the articles of interest to them.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
The number of Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale in Marblehead is down by more than 25% from last year, dropping from 75 to 54. The chart below shows the supply at different price points for the last 3 years on this date:
Source: MLS
The lowest-priced home for sale is listed at $559,000 and there are just 4 homes for sale below the median price for 2016 of $620,000.
Of the 54 SFHs currently available only 20 are listed below $1 million versus 34 listed over $1 million.
As a buyer it may be worth checking out the houses that have been on the market for a while and taking another look.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Here are this week’s new listings:
Source: andrewJoliver.com
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
Lynn new listings
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Is there strong demand for houses under $600,000? Well last weekend 60 groups visited an Open House for a property in that price range and the house went under agreement on Monday. It would be a reasonable bet that it will sell for over the list price.
Is there strong demand? I think the answer is obvious.
Read my Swampscott market report just published for an up-to-date report on the current market.
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
We are entering the peak selling season so we expect to see more houses coming on to the market in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, here are this week’s new listings:
Source: andrewJoliver.com, MLS
And here are the details:
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Not sure how to choose the broker to sell your home? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Are you thinking of selling your home? If so please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer.
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Here are today’s Open Houses:
andrewJoliver.com
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open Houses
Lynn Open Houses
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking out for your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
The number of condos for sale in Essex County has dropped 26% from a year ago. Here is a town by town guide:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Comment
There have been 752 condo sales so far in 2017, which means that current inventory of 395 represents about 2 months of (winter) sales. As a market is though to be in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when there is 6 months of supply, the condo market in Essex Count is clearly a sellers’ market.
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Sales of Single Family Homes (SFH) dropped in Q1 while prices rose sharply. Caution is needed because of the low volume of sales, but the chart below the table, showing sales YTD, pending sales and current inventory, clearly suggests that the median price is going to remain above $500,000 and threaten, at last, to break the 2005 peak of $517,300.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Median price
YTD the median price of sales is $524,000; the median list price of pending sales and homes available for sale are both well in excess of $550,000.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Condos
In markets such as Swampscott with a small number of condo sales I do not report in depth on Q1 numbers, which saw sales increase from 9 to 14 while the median price declined from $268,050 to $245,000.
More significant is the inventory situation: there are just 2 condos for sale in Swampscott.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Comment
While it is important to understand that the median price reflects what is actually selling or available for sale, rather than the entire market, it is a reliable guide to activity as sellers (and real estate agents) price new listings based on comparable sales.
What is very clear is that there is an extreme shortage of both SFHs and condos for sale in Swampscott. And we all know what that means for prices.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
As condo sales in Salem are about double the level of Single Family Home (SFH) sales, I will start with the condo market. After holding pretty steady for the last several quarters, the median price jumped 25% in Q1 from a year ago, driven by a shift from sales under $300,000 to sales over $300,000.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Sales by price
Here is the breakdown of sales by price:
Source:MLS, Oliver Reports
Current inventory
This chart shows sales YTD, pending sales and current inventory by price:there are just 24 condos currently for sale under $400,000, compared with 131 sales or pending sales YTD.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
SFH
In contrast to the condo market, the median price of a SFH was largely unchanged in Q1.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Sales by price
Sales were consistent by price year over year:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Current inventory
This chart shows sales YTD, pending sales and current inventory. There are only 11 SFHs for sale in Salem under $500,000, while 69 have sold or are pending YTD.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Comment
The big story in Salem is the continuing shrinking of both SFHs and Condos for sale with current inventory of both representing just 1 month’s supply. A market in considered to be in equilibrium between sellers and buyers when there is 6 months’ supply. The current market, therefore, is heavily weighted in favour of sellers and when that happens prices rise.
Here are the new listings over the last week:
Source: andrewJoliver.com, MLS
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
Lynn new listings
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
This time of year, many people eagerly check their mailboxes looking for their tax return check from the IRS. But, what do most people plan to do with the money? GO Banking Rates recently surveyed Americans and asked the question – “What do you plan on doing with your tax refund?”
The results of the survey were interesting. Here is what they plan to do with their money:
- 41% – Put it into savings
- 38% – Pay off debt
- 11% – Go on a vacation
- 5% – Make a major purchase (car, home, etc.)
- 5% – Splurge on a purchase
Upon seeing the research, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) wondered if this could help with a constant challenge cited by many people who wish to purchase a home – saving for the down payment.
In a recent post in NAR’s Economists’ Outlook Blog, they explained:
“With a sizable tax refund, the average American would have a decent down payment depending on which region or market you live in.”
They went on to add:
“[A]pproximately 5 percent of all respondents indicated they would make a major purchase which does not seem like a lot. However, there is a bigger group 41 percent who see saving the tax return is best and that group could be potential homebuyers if they are not already.”
In other words, putting that money toward purchasing a home is a form of savings.
Bottom Line
When one considers that first-time home buyers in 2016 had an average down payment of 6%, a decent tax return could go a long way toward the necessary funds needed for a down payment on a house. Or perhaps, the down payment needed by a son or daughter to make their homeownership dream a reality. How are you going to spend your return?
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Buyers are out there ready to see this week’s new listings: (more…)
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