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Housing Inventory heading into Fall: a surprise

September 6, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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…)

Do Property Tax Rates matter to Buyers?

August 30, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Latest News, Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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

August 30, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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

August 30, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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

August 17, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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

August 16, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Latest News, Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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…)

Sales and Median Prices YTD by Town on the North Shore

August 9, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

As we are in the summer slowdown I thought I’d look at sales activity and median prices by town for the year to date.

First Single Family Homes (SFHs). While sales are generally down 4-7% year on year, median prices are up 3-6%. (more…)

Still Time to Move to this Marblehead House before Labor Day

August 3, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

It’s not too late to buy this house and be in your new home before Labor Day! Sellers can close as soon as you are ready! And the house is immaculate – all you have to do is move in. (more…)

Open House: Immaculate, Air-Conditioned, 4/5 Bedroom house, Steps to Beach

July 27, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

Nothing to do but move in!

Enjoy sophisticated living in this wonderful family neighborhood, just steps to private beaches and the Goldthwait Reservation. Sit on the mahogany front porch and observe, or retire to the sheltered private oasis back yard and feast on your own blueberries. (more…)

Marblehead 38 Swampscott 4

July 26, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

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: (more…)

Summertime and the Selling is Slowing

July 26, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

Conventional wisdom – which, like the weather forecast, is right occasionally – says that the pace of home sales slows after July 4. The logic of this is that, with the purchase process taking typically 6-8 weeks, July 4 or thereabouts is a good target date for those who want to be in their new homes in time for the start of the school year. (more…)

Come to this Marblehead Open House and experience Sophisticated Coastal Living

July 20, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

It will be a beautiful day today in beautiful Marblehead! Plan to visit this Open House from 12-2.

www.15Vassar.com (more…)

Marblehead’s Upper End – was 2013 the bottom?

July 19, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

Because of both the small number of sales and the fact that each house can be very different – ranging from tear down to immaculately restored – it is hard to produce reliable data on the top end – which I define for this article as $2 million plus.

But I can try.

I have looked at sales (including for 2014 pending sales) and compared them with the number of houses available for sale on July 18 each year:
(more…)

Marblehead Million Dollar Homes – Record Sales and Record Inventory

July 19, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

Sales of properties between $1 million and $2 million in Marblehead in 2014 have already reached 17 with 11 more pending. Assuming all the pending sales close, the year’s total would be 28, matching the previous peak set in 2005.

In all likelihood, therefore, 2014 will see a new record. Along with increased sales we are also seeing more properties for sale, as the following table shows: (more…)

Closing in on peak prices

July 12, 2014 · by Andrew Oliver · in Latest News, Marblehead News, Market Reports, Massachusetts Housing News

The overall housing market is very close to peak levels, which generally occurred in 2005. For both Essex County and Massachusetts as a whole the median price in the first half of 2014 was just 3% below the 2005 peak. (more…)

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