Marblehead house sells for 35% above list price
Housing market slowdown? Tell that to Marblehead buyers.
A house listed at $1.5 million just sold for a tad over $2 million.
And in the Third Quarter overall two-thirds of the 74 Single Family sales in Marblehead took place above list price with more than a quarter at 10% or more above list price.
Inventory in Essex County
A market is traditionally deemed to be in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when there is enough supply to meet 6 months of demand (I actually think that number has been reduced by the speed with which buyers now become aware of new listings and are able to view them online, but 6 months is still the most quoted figure).
Here are the numbers for Essex County SF homes as of October 1:
Comment
Mortgage rates have doubled, the stock market has swooned, there is increasing talk of recession, etc, etc. And yet, there is no sign that the imbalance between buyers and sellers in Essex County has changed in the slightest.
I find myself wondering whether the spike in mortgage rates will be the latest factor in keeping supply in check, as homeowners are reluctant to give up their cheap mortgage rates and pay current rates if they buy a new home. (more…)
How quickly are homes selling in Marblehead?
We all know that there is in general a shortage of houses available for sale – other than at higher price points. Writing a report saying that the supply is 3 or 4 or 2 months at recent sales levels doesn’t add to the pool of knowledge – it just makes buyers feel more anxious!
This report analyzes the Single Family Home (SFH) market in Marblehead and looks at how quickly houses receive offers once they hit the market.The charts show the percentage of houses that received offers in the first 29 days on the market. Pending sales – those with an accepted offer which have not yet closed – show the highest figure – 71% received that offer within 29 days, while the number drops to around 50% for both Sold YTD and currently For Sale.
The percentages vary by price point, but the takeaway here is – yes, houses are selling quickly if they are attractively priced, but half the houses have been on the market for 30 days or more.
So scan the new listings and call to make an appointment to see a house that looks like it meets your needs, but don’t ignore the houses that have been on the market for a while.
Unless you have an unlimited budget, buying a house involves some compromise between your perfect home and what you can buy, so please go and look at houses. Many people buy homes they didn’t think worked for them – until they visited them and figured out that, yes, this one would work for my family!
Current Inventory by price
Market Overall
As mentioned half the houses have been on the market for 30 days or longer, but 71% of pending sales received an offer within 29 days.
OliverReports.com
Marblehead house sells for $100,000 over list price
A consistent theme of this blog over the last two years has been that the combination of strong demand, shrinking inventory and low mortgage rates would inevitably lead to higher prices. And equally inevitably, if these conditions persisted while the local economy continued to be strong, bidding wars would break out from time to time.
To see how this pressure has been building in Marblehead, where a mantra of the market for years has been “no boom, no bust”, I looked at all MLS sales of Single Family Homes over the last 18 months, as shown in this table:
Over the last 18 months, 62 homes in Marblehead have sold above list price. Homes generally sell above list price when there is more than one buyer, so another way to put this is that there have been 62 unofficial auctions in the last 18 months. I have no doubt that at some point official auctions will become an accepted part of the local landscape as they are in so many other places.
Finally, back to the house which sold this week (and so is not included in my table) for $819,000 after being listed at $719,000. I imagine that most people when reading this will assume that the bidding wars have occurred at lower priced points in general. While that is true, I did come across one house which sold for $100,000 above its $1.3 million list price and another sold for $50,000 above its $1.4 million list price.
Read Marblehead Mid_Year Report: Onwards and Upwards for more details of the market in the first half of 2017.
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 [email protected] 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
Marblehead’s most expensive MLS sale
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 [email protected] 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
Will Marblehead reach 250 SFH sales in 2016?
My very first post on Oliver Reports in November 2012 referred to the expectation that sales of Single Family Homes (SFH) would exceed 200 that year for the first time since 2007. They did reaching 227. And this year, as of December 16, there have been 240 sales with a further 9 scheduled to occur before the end of the year, suggesting that sales in 2016 will fall just shy of 250, a good level but still below the 285 of 2004. There is no doubt that the shortage of houses for sale held back the number of sales in 2016.
2016 through December 16 Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Homes are flying off the shelf
It seems that not only sellers. but also buyers, have been galvanized into action since Easter, and as a result homes are flying off the shelf. Yesterday I published New listings – what a difference a week makes, referring to the spike in new listings since Easter.
This article traces sales that have been agreed since Monday – and bear in mind that this is before today’s monster
Open House day – and compares those with the number of properties for sale at the beginning of the week.
MLS, Oliver Reports
Percentages can be high because inventory is low, but I find these numbers tell a compelling story of the pace of sales. And, of course, new inventory has come to the market this week and more will come next week.
One final set of numbers: of the 8 SFHs that received accepted offers in Marblehead this week, 4 received offers after being on the market just 1 day and 2 more after 3 days.
The message seems clear: buyers are out there, and a well-priced, attractive property will attract buyers quickly.
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 [email protected].
Read Which broker should list my house for sale?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Bizarre Open House activity
Last Sunday the temperature was in the single digits after the coldest night in 60 years. It was also the start of school vacation week in New England. And it was President’s Day weekend. And Valentine’s Day.
Being smart people, most real estate agents concluded that there was no point in holding an Open House.
But a bizarre thing happened. At one of the few Open Houses in Marblehead, 16 couples came through. At another there were 12. And both these houses were hosted by Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty (HSIR) agents.
There are two clear messages: buyers are out there, and HSIR agents really work hard for their clients – as well as having the best marketing plans. (more…)
Marblehead Houses for sale by price
The supply of Single Family Homes (SFHs) has been low, but increasing, all year in Marblehead.
Here is the table showing the supply month by month, by price, this year:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
See Supply of houses for sale for a town by town breakdown of overall inventory compared with a year ago. (more…)
Where are houses selling in Marblehead?
One question I get asked quite often is: “where are houses selling in Marblehead?”
The maps below show sales for the last three months in different price brackets. The maps may be a little small, but I hope you can see the way that houses get more expensive as they get closer to the water. (more…)
Marblehead pace of accepted offers doubles
I have been looking at accepted offers and this is what I have discovered for Marblehead this year vs last year:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Marblehead: sales jumping, inventory plunging
Since May 15, 23 Single Family Homes (SFH) have received an offer in Marblehead, while there are currently just 67 SFHs for sale, compared with 116 a year ago at this time, a decline of over 40%. But the position for buyers may be even worse than it appears.
One of the numbers I follow is the number of days a property has been on the market (DOM). Last year MLS introduced a new measure, Days to Offer (DTO), which – yes- the number of days a property is on the market before it receives an accepted offer.
A house receives the greatest attention, from both buyers and agents, when it first comes on the market, but as time moves on the listing becomes stale. In an active market such as exists now, a property sees the most activity and interest in the first 30 days.
With that in mind, let’s look at three categories: current inventory, pending sales and sales so far in 2015. In each case I will show a pie chart of the overall picture (at the end of the article are tables showing the breakdown by price band). I’ll summarize and add my conclusions after the charts.
Current Inventory (more…)
Marblehead vs Swampscott
On BostonGlobe.com under Lifestyle, Real Estate, there is a tool to allow the reader to compare two towns. Here is a link to Marblehead vs Swampscott;
The most notable comparisons: (more…)
Marblehead housing inventory: even worse than you think
There are currently just 49 Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale in Marblehead, compared with 90 a year ago at this time. But the position for buyers is even worse than it appears. (more…)
Don’t believe real estate headlines
Information overload. “News” is so freely available online that it is hard to know what to believe and what not to believe.
Take real estate-related headlines. (more…)
Marblehead First Quarter Housing Market
It’s over. We survived. Hallelujah!
So how was the housing market in Marblehead? First Single family Homes (SFHs):
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Wait a minute. The median price dropped almost $50,000? What’s going on? (more…)
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