Jay Agoado’s Homefront

The year started off in its typical slow fashion but started to pick up toward the end of the month.  I noticed some homes, that were taken off the market for the holiday season, relist and sell at the beginning of the year.  What we are seeing is a great buying opportunity but many buyers are sitting on the fence, unsure if prices are going to drop.  Certain price ranges are still selling relatively well and other price ranges are requiring price reductions.  But, our market certainly is a lot better than most.

January Activity

‘07 total active listings:  74

‘08 total active listings:  119

‘07 median listing price:  $1,797,000

‘08 median listing price:  $1,499,000

‘07 days on market for listings:  130

‘08 days on market for listings:  106

‘07 closed sales:  19

‘08 closed sales:  16

‘07 median sale price:  $1,089,000

‘08 median sale price:  $912,500

‘07 days on market for sold properties:  94

‘08 days on market for sold properties:  86

What a year 2007 turned out to be.  We started the year off very strong and, by the end of Summer, we were wondering what had happened?  The earlier multiple offers turned into longer marketing times and lots of money being spent on “staging” of homes.  Don’t get me wrong.  Homes were still selling but it seemed as though the homes that were selling were the ones that were perceived as a value.  This was most prevalent in homes over $1M.  You could have a beautiful home in a desirable section of the island yet it would sit on the market until Buyers perceived a value (price reduction).  The homes under $1M needed to be priced correctly and/or in very good condition to sell in a reasonable amount of time.  See below for statistics:

Closed Sales in 2006:  297        Closed Sales in 2007:  329

Median Sale Price 2006:  $949,000            Median Sale Price 2007:  $1,080,000           Percentage Increase:  13.8%

Average Market Time 2006:  75 days           Average Market Time 2007:  63 days