Home Sales picking up in September
In addition to longer-term trends I try also to comment on current market conditions.
Whereas new sales (as in accepted offers rather than closed transactions) increased 8% in Essex County in August compared with a year ago, in Marblehead they dropped slightly. The numbers in August are small but we saw 17 new sales against 22 a year ago.
I believe that September’s new sales will give a lead as to how strong the market will be this winter. In Essex County new sales are already some 73% of last year’s total, so look likely to show an increase year on year. In Marblehead, new sales have reached 21, which compares with 18 in the whole of September 2014.
So far, so good.
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
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Flood Insurance and Class Action Lawsuits: who benefits?
After spending some time last year negotiating flood insurance premiums with my insurance company my eye was attracted to this article:Bank of America settles Flood Insurance Lawsuit
Two things struck me about this article. First, of course, that BofA should have been forcing people to maintain excessive amounts of coverage. That probably comes as little surprise to most people, me included.
The second thing is the economics of the settlement. Out of the total award of $31 million, the settlement administrator gets $660,000, while the 359,320 members of the class action share $21.82 million. Sounds like a lot of money, but that is just 60 dollars and 73 cents per member. And for negotiating this magnificent settlement how much do the lawyers get? Want to guess? The answer is $7.7 million – yep, $7,700,000. And those on behalf of whom they have worked so diligently get $60.73 each.
Tort reform anybody?
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
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Detroit Housing Market continues to improve
In August 2013 I wrote Is Detroit real estate a bargain?
This article Detroit prices up 15% in August suggests the answer is Yes.
At an event called Detroit Homecoming this week, Warren Buffett commented that Detroit will be better, stronger after bankruptcy, while Michael Bloomberg stated that Detroit Is Just Like 1970s New York, And That’s A Good Thing.
Not long ago Detroit was not only written off as a disaster area but also held up as the example of what would likely happen to other former industrial cities. Signs of recovery are, therefore, particularly encouraging.
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
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
How many Million Dollar Homes are there in Marblehead?
As I have been asked this question on a number of occasions I thought I would answer it: 743 according to my calculations, based upon Assessed Value (AV). Such homes represent 12% of Marblehead’s total housing stock. All data is taken from Patriot Properties.
Two disclosures: first, the numbers I am using are Assessed Values (AV) for the 2014 Fiscal Year and these are based upon sales during 2012. In my mid-year review I reported that the median sale in the first half took place at about a 12% premium to the current AV. As a reminder – and as explained in Twenty Questions with Marblehead Assessor – the FY 2015 tax rate, due to be announced in December, will be based on 2013 sales, while this year’s sales will be used in the FY 2016 assessments.
The second disclosure is that I calculated my numbers manually (and in case you care there are 175 pages of numbers on the Patriot Properties’ website). When I compared my numbers with the official aggregate statistics, however, I found that I was out by just 8 in over 6,000 Single Family Homes (SFH) and by 15 in nearly 1,000 condos. Close enough.
Source: Patriot Properties; Oliver Reports
I also looked at the data for Manchester-by-the-Sea and Swampscott. Clearly Marblehead offers the most choices for the luxury market with the exception of the very high end, over $5 million, where Manchester has the largest selection.
Sources: Dept of Revenue; Patriot Properties; Oliver Reports
One area where Swampscott is the clear winner is condos. It has 21 with an AV of $1 million or more compared to just 2 each in Marblehead and Manchester.
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
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Are there inexpensive homes in Marblehead?
Marblehead is often described as an affluent town, and with that goes the unspoken – and sometimes spoken – assumption that housing must be expensive.
I spent a happy afternoon recently going through the data on Patriot Properties and came up with some interesting numbers.
Two disclosures: first, the numbers I am using are Assessed Values (AV) for the 2014 Fiscal Year and these are based upon sales during 2012. In my mid-year review I reported that the median sale in the first half took place at about a 12% premium to the current AV.
As a reminder – and as explained in Twenty Questions with Marblehead Assessor – the FY 2015 tax rate, due to be announced in December, will be based on 2013 sales, while this year’s sales will be used in the FY 2016 assessments.
The second disclosure is that I calculated my numbers manually (and in case you care there are 175 pages of numbers on the Patriot Properties’ website). When I compared my numbers with the official aggregate statistics, however, I found that I was out by just 8 in over 6,000 Single Family Homes (SFH) and by 15 in nearly 1,000 condos. Close enough.
It does depend, of course, on how one defines “inexpensive”, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there are 3,402 SFHs with an AV under $500,000. And almost exactly half of those are under $400,000 ( I abbreviated the table below but can provide on request breakdowns by hundred thousand. The actual number is 1,511 in the $300-399k bracket and 1,698 in the $400-499k one).
As the table shows 55% of Marblehead’s SFHs have an AV below $500,000 and 88% are below $1 million.
Source:Patriot Properties; Oliver Reports
In the condo market 84% of the total are below $500,000 AV, with 56% under $300,000, while there are just 2 with an AV greater than $1 million.
Source: Patriot Properties; Oliver Reports
What does make buying an inexpensive house in Marblehead difficult is that we like our homes so much that we don’t sell very often. In fact, this year will likely see perhaps 240 sales or just 4% of the housing stock. And currently, there are just 19 for sale under $500,000.
Now you know the make-up of the market with AVs below $1 million, click here to read about those at $1 million and above.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty.
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.
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Marblehead Open House and Patriots first game
First game of the season today, kick off at 1 pm.
So….the Open House for this spectacular, immaculate 4/5 bedroom home (listed at $949,000) just steps from a private beach will be from 11:30 to 1:00 pm. (more…)
So how does the Housing Market look after Labor Day?
After a summer which saw the highest number of sales of SFHs in Marblehead since 2004, where does the market stand after Labor Day?
Here are a few thoughts and, of course, numbers: (more…)
Housing Inventory heading into Fall: a surprise
I started to write this article intending to talk about the increase in supply we have seen in recent weeks and how the housing market was getting back into equilibrium between buyers and sellers, a situation achieved when supply reached 6 months. But a funny thing happened as I worked through the numbers. Take a look at this table: (more…)
Mortgage Rates: what happened to 5%?
As we head into the Fall selling season it is worth pausing to reflect on where mortgage rates stand and what the outlook is. Well the second is easy: we don’t know with any confidence. What we do know is that forecasts of rates hitting 5% or more this year have proved pessimistic despite the improving US economy. (more…)
Do Property Tax Rates matter to Buyers?
After posting my article Marblehead leads the way in Million Dollar sales in Essex County in which I speculated that different property tax rates may be one reason for the changes in sales in different towns, I checked my blog records and discovered that my posts on tax rates are among the most widely viewed. (more…)
Ten Most Popular Posts
Which posts – and which subjects – interest you the most?
Here are the Ten most viewed posts over the last year.
The best time to buy or sell a home in Massachusetts
Property Tax Rates for 2013 in Marblehead and the North Shore
Marblehead sale over $4 million – guess where?
Oceanfront homes package in Marblehead and Cayman Islands
How much will home prices increase in the next decade?
Marblehead’s Property Tax Rate for 2014
Marblehead Oceanfront Open House Sunday
Marblehead: median list price $995,000; median sale price $532,000
2014 proposed North Shore property tax rates
Marblehead Third Quarter housing market review (more…)
London Home Prices Finally Start to Slow
I saw this headline go across my screen on Bloomberg and my first reaction was to assume that prices were actually going down.
Not so. (more…)
Open House today: Marblehead 4/5 Bedroom, Immaculate, Steps to Beach
Open House: Immaculate, Air-Conditioned, 4/5 Bedroom house, Steps to Beach
Nothing to do but move in! (more…)
Marblehead leads the way in Million Dollar sales in Essex County
I have reported in recent weeks that Million Dollar plus sales, including pending sales, will set a record in Marblehead this year, while in Swampscott such sales are lagging. This week I have looked at the whole of Essex County. (more…)
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