The buyers market that we are in is slowly moving forward.  No stampeds, but sales volumes is up 4.8% this January of 2007 verses January of 2006. March improved also. A lot of buyers that I talk with are agreeing it is a good time to consider buying again.  Beat the crowds and having lots to look at is very appealing, and still historically low interest rates!!

I and many of my collegues have noticed much more activity  for the last few weekends. I have actually dealt with a few first time home buyers.  I thought this group of buyers were extinct when nothing was on the market below $300,000.  Second homes buyers are looking the most.  I will keep you posted on some recent sales.

Nancy

Despite what appears to be a healthy demand for multi-million-dollar homes, the real estate market on Cape Cod continued to slide in November, according to sales statistics released yesterday by the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds.

According to the registry data, which includes all sales valued over $50,000, the number of properties sold on the Cape fell by 18.9 percent in November compared with the same month last year. A total of 493 residential and commercial properties were sold last month compared with 608 in November 2005.

For the previous four months, however, the number of sales plunged between 26 percent and 34 percent in year-to-year comparisons.

In November, the median sale price also dropped compared with the same month in 2005, falling 3.8 percent to $355,000.

The median sale price may have been propped up to some extent by a number of luxury home sales, said John Meade, register of deeds for Barnstable County.

Although the total number of properties sold for the month dropped nearly 19 percent compared with November 2005, the number of sales valued over $1 million stayed nearly the same, at about 50, he said.

Realtors and some policy experts have predicted the state is nearing the bottom of the current real estate slump, and that relatively low interest rates and a growing economy will turn the market around by spring.

''A lot of the economic prognosticators are giving us optimistic signs that we could be reaching close to the end of the shaky period,'' said Annie Blatz, president-elect of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors and a branch executive for Kinlin Grover.

The Cape's cachet may help the area rebound more quickly than the rest of the state, Blatz said. While there has been an overabundance of properties on the market over the past year, the number is starting to decrease, indicating there are more buyers, she said.

''People want to buy on Cape Cod. They will buck the economic tendencies to purchase property here,'' Blatz said. ''If people wait till spring, they may be disappointed.''

However, a forecast by the New England Economic Partnership last month indicated that the state's real estate slowdown is only half over and may continue into 2008.

While jobs are being added and interest rates are relatively low, home prices simply aren't low enough yet to spur more demand, said the report's preparer, Alan Clayton-Matthews, a professor at the UMass-Boston McCormack Graduate School.

Based on previous boom-and-bust cycles, such as in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Clayton-Matthews said home affordability would have to be more in line with the rest of the country for the market to pick up. The median single-family home price in Massachusetts was about 8.5 times the state's per capita income, he said. For the rest of the country, the median price is about 6.5 times per capita income.

As another indicator that the state hasn't reached the bottom of the slump, ''We're also seeing the inventory of homes on the market still increasing,'' Clayton-Matthews said. ''That suggests prices aren't done adjusting.''

The November registry statistics come on the heels of a report by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, showing that single-family home sales fell in the first 10 months of the year. Statewide, sales fell by 15.13 percent when compared with the same period in 2005, and on the Cape they fell 21.82 percent.

Meanwhile, the median sale price for single-family homes during that period fell by 4.38 percent statewide and by 1.97 percent on the Cape.

As of November, the year-to-date median sale price for all properties on the Cape was $367,000 compared with $365,000 during the same period last year, according to the registry data.

''The million-dollar plus sales are the ones keeping the median price where it is, which is relatively flat,'' Meade said.

Published by Cape Cod Times - Christie Smythe

Published: December 2, 2006)

Homes and condos on the Cape and Islands are taking longer to sell.

And while some real estate professionals bemoan the slump, for buyers and creative real estate agents, the future is bright.

''There's no question in that it's down,'' Jack Cotton, Cape Cod brokerage manager for Sotheby's International Realty, said of the latest sales statistics released Wednesday.

In October, residential property sales were down by 28.7 percent when compared with the same month last year and condo sales dropped by 53 percent, according to data from the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors. The group tracks only sales of properties sold through the Multiple Listing Service.

For condominiums, it was the most precipitous drop from last year's figures in 10 months.

Meanwhile, the average home sale price was $531,062, down $66,000, or 11 percent, from October 2005.

The average number of days residential properties were on the market before being sold jumped 11 percent from 113 in October 2005 to 134.

The numbers are in keeping with a national trend.

For the first nine months of the year, sales of existing homes were down 14 percent across the country and condo sales were down 10 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. In the Northeast, sales of existing homes were off 13 percent in that time and condo sales were off 17 percent.

Until the past year or so, the Cape and Islands market had been steaming ahead at a red-hot pace.

While local real estate agents aren't jumping for joy about the shift, they aren't leaping out of tall buildings, either.

There is no obvious reason for the recent downturn in sales, and that's a good sign that it's no more than the mind-set of buyers, Cotton said.

''This is an unbelievable opportunity for buyers,'' he said. ''By spring, you'll see a dramatic shift.''

With unemployment below 5 percent and a recent drop in housing inventory on Cape Cod, market forces should kick back in soon, Cotton said.

In the meantime, real estate agents are getting creative to encourage buyers.

Bayview Real Estate owner Jean Schiffmann said this is a new experience for her.

''I've never seen buyers on the fence as much as I do now,'' said Schiffmann, who has owned the Barnstable agency since 1985. ''It's still a great market for buyers, mortgage rates are great and the economy is not that bad.''

Schiffmann said she believes there's a lot of apathy right now, spurred by news of the shifting market, the war and the high cost of homes on Cape Cod.

Buyers will likely get off the fence as housing prices correct, she said. ''I just think you have to do some extra things to sell the properties.''

To that end, her agency is co-hosting a unique home tour Sunday afternoon with Sovereign Bank, with the hopes of attracting prospective buyers.

The tour of six antique Barnstable homes includes food ranging from sushi to clam chowder, wine tasting, a raffle, a trivia contest and a fundraiser for the local hospice. Four sellers participating in the event have also agreed to reduce their asking price for one week as an added draw, she said.

''From our standpoint, it's great for our clients,'' said broker Edward McKenna of Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod, Berard Associates, a group that represents home buyers.

The softening market and increased incentives mean opportunities for home buyers who have been priced out of the market until now, McKenna said.

''Cape Cod is on sale right now,'' he said.

Patrick Cassidy can be reached at pcassidy@capecodonline.com.

(Published: November 17, 2006) Cape Cod Times

Hello my Friends,

I have done a lot of reading this past week in the newspapers and done a little listing to the radio folks. It seems like we are at a stale mate in real estate. The Sellers are there with their homes for sale and their hands on their hips and telling all of us "This is my price and thats it!" The Buyers are standing there with their arms crossed and saying "I'm not paying it!"

What are the Realtors to do?

The Sellers seem to forget that we only bring the market to them. We don't make it. We are not the ones buying and selling all the properties. Remember that a closed sale is public knowledge and every one knows what the house across the street sold for.

The Buyers know that it is a Buyer's Market and they are just waiting it out.

It really is a crazy time. I actually saw a home listing on the computer and you didn't see pictures of the home, but pictures of every television and all the electronic stuff that came with the home sale. I guess thats a great incentive if you watched TV. But who has time for TV with a mortgage to pay every month.

My best to you all,
Sherry

I have lived on Cape Cod for over 30 years and have done loads of exploring of all the towns.  All of Cape Cod is beautiful and every town is different and unique with its' own special ambiance,  villages, beaches, harbors, history and so much more.  Each town should be explored as much as possible to learn more.  But, and I say it lightly.. the Upper Cape is very popular with many home owners. I recently had a couple from the Worcester area intersted in a second home.  They had viewed properties on my web site www.CapeCodRealEstateOnline.com.  On this web site you can view all of the 15 towns and more on Cape Cod.  They emailed me some properties that they wished to view several weeks ago.  I took them as far as Yarmouth and they decided it was just too far from the Bourne Bridge and a weekend commute.  Many people for this reason love the Upper Cape.  

The Upper Cape area, being closer to the bridges with less travel time, one is able to come more often and enjoy a  vacation home.  Retirees on the other hand like being closer to the bridges because they travel back to Boston for medical appointments or to visit family and friends.

The Upper Cape consists of the 4 towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee and Falmouth.  We are closer to you than you think. 


Ahoy!!  Come cross a bridge.

Nancy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. housing market crossed another milestone last month, as the median sales price of existing homes fell for the first time in 11 years and for just the sixth time in the past 38 years, according to the National Association of Realtors^®.

Total existing-home sales– including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – slipped 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 6.30 million units in August from a level of 6.33 million Ju1y, and were 12.6 percent lower than the 7.21 million-unit pace in August 2005, which was the second highest on record.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said home sales appear to be leveling out. “After a stronger-than-expected drop in July, the fairly even sales numbers in August tell us the market is at a more sustainable pace,” he said. “It keeps us on track to see the third highest sales year on record, but we do expect an adjustment in home prices to last several months as we work through a build up in the inventory of homes on the market.”

The national median existing-home price² for all housing types was $225,000 in August, down 1.7 percent from August 2005 when the median was $229,000. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. “This is the price correction we’ve been expecting – with sales stabilizing, we should go back to positive price growth early next year,” Lereah said.

Total housing inventory levels rose 1.5 percent at the end of August to 3.92 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.5-month supply at the current sales pace – the highest supply since April 1993.

NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va., said sellers need to price to current market conditions if they want to sell within a reasonable amount of time. “In some areas home sellers are not making sufficient adjustments in their listing price, so their homes are staying on the market and contributing to the build up in inventory,” said

Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc. “Sellers are starting to become more realistic, and that could provide some lift to home sales because there is a healthy underlying demand from household growth and job creation. At the same time interest rates have moderated, so there are good opportunities for buyers in today’s market.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.52 percent in August, down from 6.76 percent in July; the rate was 5.82 percent in August 2005. Last week, the 30-year fixed dropped to 6.40 percent.

Single-family home sales held at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.51 million in August, unchanged from July, but were 12.3 percent lower than the 6.28 million-unit pace in August 2005. The median existing single-family home price was $225,700 in August, down 1.7 percent from a year ago.

Existing condominium and cooperative housing sales fell 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 793,000 units in August from an upwardly revised 822,000 in August, and were 14.5 percent lower than the 928,000-unit pace in August 2005. The median existing condo price³ was $223,200 in August, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 1.9 percent to a pace of 1.07 million in August, but were 11.6 percent below August 2005. The median existing-home price in the Northeast was $271,000, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 0.7 percent in August to a level of 1.44 million, but were 11.1 percent lower than a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $176,000, which is 1.1 percent below August 2005.

Existing-home sales in the South slipped 0.8 percent to an annual sales rate of 2.51 million units in August, and were 7.4 percent below August 2005. The median price in the South was $184,000, down 2.6 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West dropped 2.3 percent to an annual pace of 1.29 million in August, and were 22.8 percent lower than a year earlier. The median price in the West was $345,000, up 0.3 percent from August 2005.

Published: Monday September 25, 2006
National Realty Times