Real Estate Information Archive

If you're a Buyer who's been sitting on the fence, waiting for the Pricing trends to bottom out...Don’t Wait Much Longer! In the past 30 days, we’ve seen increased activity in the Andovers.

    Is now the right time to buy a home? I feel very optimistic about the current state of the housing . In fact, I think it's always a good time to buy a house if you buy the right home, at the right price, in the right location.

    If you fumble on any one of these caveats, you could wind up with a home that never feels quite right, or is difficult to sell on the other end.

How do you make sure you're buying the right place, at the right price, in the right location? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. First and foremost, work with a Buyer's Agent who knows what's going on and can advise you properly. A good Buyer’s Agent will know the inventory and neighborhoods and can alert you to good values. (I think Kelly Gooltz, our Susan Sells Buyer’s Agent, is one of the tops in our area!).

Remember that, for most folks, real estate is a long term investment. Industry experts are predicting that the real estate will recover in 3-5 years and you’ll be able to capitalize on your investment by then. Here’s the good part...you’ll have lived in that investment and called it your home all that time! Provide shelter and make money, too...what a great concept!

If you see a good value and it meets the right place, right price, right location criteria, I suggest you move on it because chances are another Buyer has also spotted it. I’ve seen too many Buyers decide that maybe they’ll wait a couple more days to see what happens or they need to wait until the weekend to see a hot property and by then it’s gone. Then they kick themselves for waiting.

My suggestion? Do your homework, get your finances in order, get pre-approved by a lender and you'll be ready to find a home that's right for you. Call me or Kelly at 978-470-2048 and we’ll help you find your Best Opportunity!

 

I'm constantly watching the local real estate Pricing trends, noting trends and helping my clients strategize for their best opportunities. Here's  an overview of what's happened over the past few months in North Andover's real estate Pricing trends.

Pricing trends Snapshot

North Andover 90 days 4/12/07

 

Pending/Under Agreement Listings

Price Range	# of Listings	Avg. Days on Pricing trends
$100,000 - $149,999	-	-
$150,000 - $199,999	-	-
$200,000 - $249,999	1	15
$250,000 - $299,999	-	-
$300,000 - $349,999	2	197
$350,000 - $399,999	2	178
$400,000 - $449,999	3	82
$450,000 - $499,999	3	243
$500,000 - $599,999	3	37
$600,000 - $699,999	3	72
$700,000 - $799,999	3	147
$800,000 - $899,999	1	128
$900,000 - $999,999	-	-
$1,000,000 - $1,499,999	-	-
$1,500,000 - $1,999,999	-	-
$2,000,000 - $2,499,999	-	-
$2,500,000 - $2,999,999	-	-
$3,000,000 - $3,999,999	-	-
$4,000,000 - $4,999,999	-	-
$5,000,000 - $9,999,999	-	-
Over $10,000,000	-	-
Total Properties	21	Avg. 125
Lowest Price: $249,900 Median Price: $499,900 Highest Price: $829,000 Average Price: $536,114 Total Pricing trends Volume: $11,258,400

Sold Listings

Price Range	# of Listings	Avg. Days on Pricing trends	Average Sale Price		Average List Price	SP:LP Ratio	Average Orig Price	SP:OP Ratio
Under $50,000	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$50,000 - $99,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$100,000 - $149,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$150,000 - $199,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$200,000 - $249,999	1	428	$235,000		$232,900	101	$259,900	90
$250,000 - $299,999	3	96	$266,667		$299,567	89	$334,600	80
$300,000 - $349,999	7	79	$327,314		$330,357	99	$340,229	96
$350,000 - $399,999	5	145	$382,180		$396,900	96	$408,900	93
$400,000 - $449,999	4	104	$418,250		$432,100	97	$442,200	95
$450,000 - $499,999	3	119	$491,633		$499,900	98	$499,900	98
$500,000 - $599,999	7	141	$532,271		$541,800	98	$566,071	94
$600,000 - $699,999	6	126	$660,817		$686,950	96	$716,417	92
$700,000 - $799,999	2	170	$723,500		$739,950	98	$814,900	89
$800,000 - $899,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$900,000 - $999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$1,000,000 - $1,499,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$1,500,000 - $1,999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$2,000,000 - $2,499,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$2,500,000 - $2,999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$3,000,000 - $3,999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$4,000,000 - $4,999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
$5,000,000 - $9,999,999	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
Over $10,000,000	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
Total Properties	38	Avg. 127	$461,126		$475,024	97	$496,029	93
Lowest Price: $235,000 Median Price: $422,500 Highest Price: $733,000 Average Price: $461,126 Total Pricing trends Volume: $17,522,800

 

 How does this all affect your real estate plans? I'd be happy to sit down with you and discuss your opportunities. Give me a call at 978-470-2048 or email me at homes@SusanSells.com. Sign up for a Pricing trends Snapshot of your neighborhood...look for the link in my website, www.SusanSells.com.

Susan

 

 

 

 

Pricing trends Snapshot as of February 8, 2007

           You may have heard it said we’re in a ‘Normalizing’ Pricing trends. What does that mean? A study of the performance statistics for Inventory of Homes for Sale as they relate to Homes Sold over the past 20 months shows several things clearly.

           Real Estate Markets are ever changing. Changes from Buyer’s to Seller’s markets are measured 2 ways: 1: ratio of homes for sale to sold 2: # of months supply available for sale. Changes or shifts typically happen over time so it’s important we look at small trends up or down and 2-3 month averages are helpful, particularly due to the nature of our industry. Remember, homes sales contracts take place in one month and don’t officially become home sales for several months later. Normalizing markets indicate we are performing in the wider middle between the Buyer and Seller Markets.

3^rd quarter ’06 sales performance up over ’05:

I’ll begin with most recent performance. November ’06 was very strong with 27 homes sold and December and January ’07 followed with 19 and 18 respectively. These numbers are higher than many of the lowest performers over the past 20 months. In my tracking over 22 years in this Pricing trends area, May/June and November/December have always had the highest number of closed sales for the year. For that reason, our November ’06 sales performance shows we’re in a Normalizing Pricing trends. With 64 units in Nov/Dec/Jan 06, we out perform the 56 units for the same period for 2005.

50% Fewer homes for sale:

We see a 50% reduction in Homes for sale over six (6) months from June ’06 –Dec ’06. This was the result of 3 things:

1. Sellers and agents did reality checks and low motivation sellers came off the Pricing trends.

2. Other Sellers held through the normalizing Pricing trends adjustments and the reduction in inventory from November to December 2006 can be largely attributed to sales and not ‘off Pricing trends’ listings.

3. Last Quarter showed good sales performance with motivated buyers and sellers making deals happen with the advice and assistance of realistic real estate agents.

With 118 homes for sale, we are at a more typical inventory level of a Normalizing Pricing trends. The goal is a more ‘normal’ relationship between the Homes for Sale and Homes Sold numbers. The graph shows that there is normally a fairly wide gap between the two but when one number out paces quickly and repeatedly, we move to a buyer’s or seller’s Pricing trends. If the goal is for 25% of the homes to sell, we need a 4:1 ratio. So there is still room for improvement on the homes sales side, providing inventory remains fairly steady and doesn’t trend up over time.

15% of homes for sale are becoming homes sold:

Gap between For Sale and Sold tracking: Only about 20-25% of the homes for sale actually sell in a ‘normal’ Pricing trends, although you may perceive that to be a low number. In a seller’s Pricing trends, that number nears 50%, while in a buyers Pricing trends, it’s closer to 10%.