What’s happening – or not – in the Marblehead market?
I am always cautious about reading too much into short-term trends, especially in a market like Marblehead with a small number of sales, but at the same time I do try to report on current market conditions.
And I am puzzled by what has been happening over the last 2-3 weeks – or rather by what has not been happening. And that is houses receiving accepted offers. (more…)
We’re off: more listings, Open Houses
As expected, we have seen a decent number of new listings this week. We even have the promise of 60 degrees and sunshine on Sunday.
So make plans to visit these Open Houses:
(more…)
Beverly, Salem and Swampscott Housing Market Reports
In the world of small numbers it is necessary to be cautious about drawing too many conclusions. That is why, for example, I am not including percentage changes for the tables below. The message I take from these numbers is that, in general, the market continues to progress in an orderly manner. (more…)
Housing inventory: how low can it go?
A recent Boston Globe article Snow delays spring market highlighted the lack of inventory in the, you know, “important” markets such as Cambridge and Somerville.
We know inventory is down from last year, when if you remember we had the polar vortex, but where do we stand, here in Essex County and indeed throughout Massachusetts, compared with the last several years? (more…)
Last appeal of new Salem Power Plant withdrawn
Opponents of the new natural gas power plant have withdrawn their last appeal “putting an end to three years of legal objections to the project”, according to this Salem News article.
The new plant is scheduled to come online by June 2017, while the second phase of demolition at the old coal plant will take place this spring together with further site remediation. (more…)
Salem Housing Market 2014 Review
Here are the highlights for the Salem market for 2014. Note the difference between the SFH and condo markets when compared with the prior peak.
Single Family Homes (SFH)
– the median SFH price increased 7% to $346,750, less than 1% below the 2005 peak of $349,000.
– sales dropped 7% to 210, still the 3rd highest year this century
– the ASR* fell sharply from 92.5% to 82.9%, an indication of rising prices
Condos
– the median condo price also increased 7% to $247,000, but is still more than 11% below the peak of $279,000 in 2005
– sales were down slightly and are still well below the levels seen in the 2003-06 period
– the ASR* fell from 92.3% to 86.2%, an indication of rising prices
Tax rate
– the FY2015 tax rate is $16.41, a decrease from $16.73 in FY2014, but the average tax bill will increase nearly 5% or by $227 for SFHs.
I will publish a fuller market report in the near future.
* The ASR is the Assessed Value (AV) divided by the Sales Price (SP).If the ASR is below 100% it means that properties are selling for more than their AV. Conversely, properties selling below their AV will have an ASR above 100%.
– As we all hope our properties are worth more than the AV we look for an ASR below 100% as a positive sign. In a period of rising prices the ASR is likely to be falling. So what we, as homeowners, want is an ASR below 100% and falling
– Remember that AVs are a lagging indicator: the tax bills just announced for FY2015 are based on actual sales in 2013. Thus the 2014 sales data, reported in this review, will be the basis for FY2016 assessments. And remember, also, that falling tax rates rarely translate into falling tax bills!
– I will be publishing a report in the near future on the average tax bill per city and town in Essex County to go with my recent Essex County 2015 property tax rates report.
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home, or have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].
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
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Essex County 2015 property tax rates
FY2015 tax rates have now been announced for all 34 Essex County cities and towns. As usual, they show wide variations: for residential property, from$10.84 in Manchester to $20.56 in Amesbury; and for commercial, from $10.84 in Manchester to $33.58 in Lynn.
There have also been significant differences in the changes for tax rates for FY2015, ranging from a decrease of 14% in Wenham to an increase of 14% in Georgetown.
Recall that FY2015 tax assessments are based on values at January 1, 2014, using 2013 sales information; and that Proposition 2 1/2 limits the amount that can be raised through property taxes. In general, when assessed values increase, tax rates go down. But even when the tax rate goes down tax bills usually increase.
Here are the tax rates for the last 4 years for each city or town. The rate for FY2015 applies for the entire year to June 30, 2015, so the 3rd and 4th quarter tax bills will be adjusted for any changes occurring from the new rate.
Residential:
Source: Dept of Revenue, Assessors’ Offices
Commercial:
Source: Dept of Revenue, Assessors’ Offices
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].
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
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Homes for sale in Essex County plummet in recent years
This week I am looking at the number of Single Family Homes (SFHs) for sale, as a follow up to last week’s Where have all the Condo sellers gone? article. In that article I pointed out that the number of condos for sale, in both Marblehead and Essex County, was down some 70% from the levels seen in the 2006/07 period, and offered some thoughts on why that might be. (more…)
Salem Third Quarter Housing Review
The Single Family Home (SFH) market
The market continued to improve in Q3 and it looks like the full year to be very close to, or even slightly exceed, the previous high of $349,000 in 2005: (more…)
Housing Market 2014 – the first nine months
As promised last week I am publishing numbers for the first 9 months of 2014. These show that for Essex County and Massachusetts overall, sales of Single Family Homes (SFHs) are down slightly year-on-year, while prices are up slightly. There are, however, quite wide fluctuations from town to town: (more…)
Third Quarter Housing Review
Third quarter numbers for sales and median prices support the argument I have been making in recent weeks that we are now in a more stable market, having recovered from the 2008/2009 slump. As always, I caution against reading too much into one quarter’s numbers, particularly in those cases where the number of sales is small. Next week I shall publish a report for the first nine months of the year, which will provide a fuller picture of the market.
A good sign for the housing market is that the economy continues to improve with unemployment dropping below 6% for the first time since 2008, although the underemployment rate is still high at 11.8% and hourly earnings increased only 2% year over year. The latter numbers suggest that the Federal Reserve will not be rushing to raise interest rates, which is good news for mortgage rates. (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…)
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…)
Closing in on peak prices
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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