Open Houses Sunday May 19
Spring has sprung (finally) and there are plenty of Open Houses today:
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open Houses
Lynn Open Houses
Also read A steadily growing housing market for a summary of Freddie Mac’s just published outlook for 2019.
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
www.TeamHarborside.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
House votes to extend National Flood Insurance Program – again
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On Dec. 21, 2018, the President signed legislation passed by Congress that extended the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to May 31, 2019.
This week the House of Representatives passed a Bill to extend the NFIP until September 30. The House also passed a broader disaster relief package last week that also would have extended the NFIP, “a package that is not expected to see action in the upper chamber” according to The Hill.
The Senate signaled Tuesday that it is closing in on a deal on disaster relief, but it remains unclear whether it will include an extension of the NFIP.
Congress has approved 10 short-term extensions of the NFIP since its last multiyear authorization expired in 2017.
On its website FEMA says: “NFIP reauthorization is an opportunity for Congress to take bold steps to reduce the complexity of the program and strengthen the NFIP’s financial framework so that the program can continue helping individuals and communities take the critical step of securing flood insurance. The level of damage from the 2017 hurricanes makes it clear that FEMA needs a holistic plan to ready the Nation for managing the cost of catastrophic flooding under the NFIP.”
As the 10 – about to be 11 – extensions of the NFIP since 2017 indicate, expecting this Congress to reach bipartisan agreement on a long-term solution to flood insurance would be taking optimism to a new high.
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
www.TeamHarborside.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
A steadily growing Housing Market
Freddie Mac published its May forecast this week and in summary stated: “The combined positive impact of low mortgage rates, a strong labor market,low unemployment, and modest wage growth supports our forecast for a steadily growing housing market in 2019.”
Freddie Mac expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) to average 4.3% in 2019, before increasing to 4.5% in 2020.
6 months ago the FRM was threatening 5% with plenty of forecasts that it would go even higher in 2019. Instead, the yield on the 10 year Treasury, off which the FRM is mostly priced, has dropped sharply, as a result of the combination of slowing world growth, the absence of indications of inflation reigniting, and the inevitable geo-political developments which send buyers rushing for the safety of Treasuries.
At the end of last year, when the stock market was in free fall, I wrote that the outlook for 2019 was for “a slowing, but still growing, economy and a stable housing market.” Since then, the stock market has recovered, the US economy has continued its modest (but possibly, therefore, sustainable growth) and mortgage rates have dropped back close to 4%.
In February 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, the then US Secretary of State for Defence, stated at a Defence Department briefing: “There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don’t know.”
Absent the arrival of any “unknown unknowns” the outlook for the rest of 2019 remains stable, both economically and in terms of real estate prices.
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
www.TeamHarborside.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
Open Houses weekend May 18/19
Temperatures in the 60s (whoopee) and plenty of Open Houses (remember to check back on Sunday at 8 a.m. for an updated list):
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open Houses
Lynn Open Houses
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
www.TeamHarborside.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
New Listings week ending May 17
These are the most recent new listings in Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem, Beverly and Lynn:
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
Lynn new listings
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
www.TeamHarborside.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
New Listings mid-week May 15
Here are the most recent new listings:
Marblehead new listings
Swampscott new listings
Salem new listings
Beverly new listings
Lynn new listings
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
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Mother’s Day Open Houses
Mother’s Day check list: Card, Flowers, Breakfast in bed, Brunch, or something different this year- how about a new home? (more…)
Marblehead Pre-Revolution Home Open House TODAY
Boston Broker Greg Kanarian of Blackacre Properties LLC came to Marblehead and wrote this report about 9 Merritt St ( which has an Open House Saturday, May 11 from 12:00-1:30.)
e (more…)
New Listings week ending May 10
Here are the latest new listings: (more…)
Open Houses mostly on Saturday
As tomorrow is Mother’s Day most Open Houses this weekend are being held today (but check back tomorrow for an updated list): (more…)
Andrew Oliver joins Team Harborside as Market Analyst
I am delighted formally to be joining up with Matt Dolan and Dick McKinley of Team Harborside, as described in this release:
Andrew Oliver joins Team Harborside as Market Analyst
This new role allows me to concentrate on providing the analysis which will help Matt and Dick when they act for you in buying or selling your home. Please contact me for an introduction!
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
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Mid-week New Listings May 8
Here are the latest new listings as of Wednesday May 8: (more…)
Open Houses on Cinco de Mayo
Grab your umbrella and head to these Open Houses: (more…)
Essex County Inventory: Town by Town
Conventional wisdom is that a market is in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when the inventory represents 6 months of supply.
The table below lists inventory in terms of months of supply from the lowest to highest and suggests that nearly every town in Essex County is still seeing a seller’s market:
Housing Inventory by Price in North Shore towns
While conventional wisdom holds that a market is in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when the current inventory represents 6 months of sales, that overall number masks major differences which occur at different price points.
The tables below show the position by price for Essex County overall and for Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem, Beverly and Lynn.
Essex County
The table below breaks down supply at different price levels for Essex County overall.This shows that the dynamic between sellers and buyers changes as prices go above $750,000.
Recent Comments