Marblehead 38 Swampscott 4

After my posts  Marblehead Million Dollar Homes – Record Sales and Record Inventory and Marblehead’s Upper End – was 2013 the bottom? , I was asked to look at Swampscott. Here is my analysis. I have compared numbers with Marblehead.

And no, Swampscott did not record 2 safeties in the Thanksgiving football game. The headline refers to the numbers of sales and pending sales so far in 2014 of houses priced at $1 million and above. Here are the details, with numbers also for the full year in 2013:

* For sale numbers as of July 25 in both years
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

I have to say that I was so startled by these numbers that I checked and rechecked them several times over the last few days. While Marblehead has already sold more million dollar plus homes this year than last year – 24 vs 23 – Swampscott has sold 2 (both in early January) vs 9 last year. Including pending sales, Marblehead is up over 50% from last year while Swampscott is down 50%.

Looking back, Swampscott has averaged around 7 sales of $1 million or more a year for the last decade, compared with 25 a year in Marblehead. Swampscott needs 7 sales in the second half to maintain the historic ratio. Let’s hope the second half brings activity back to that level.

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

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