The Real Estate Broker's Corner

Hello all. It has been a long cold winter, and spring is was sort of slow to get here, but seems to have arrived. Will this bring a thaw to the chilly real estate market? It may be too soon to tell, but there are some signs that is will.

First sign; A home on Highridge Road, Westport, MA. Nice subdivision, completely built out with some great properties. This particular property went on the market at 520k. Last sale was 650k three years ago (I feel your pain!), so this looks intriguing. I call some buying clients that it might be a good value. Turns out it was. House went under agreement in 11 days, and the listing broker didn't see any point in taking backups, the deal was solid.

Second Sign; Working with the same buying customer, placed an offer on a new construction property, a spec/model that had been on the market for over 9 months. Buyer made what was essentially an 80% offer. Developer (who I have a ton of respect for, but who shall remain un-named) let the offer pass without counter or comment.

Now, as I have said many times, the market is made of Buyers and Sellers, and where they meet is the market equilibrium. We have buyers finding properties that are priced north of 500k, feel they are good buys, and pulling the trigger. We have sellers who are holding price above the 500k mark, feeling optimistic enough about their prospects that they will let a buying prospect walk without a counter offer. 

Of course, this is very anecdotal, but the broad market is just the sum of everyones' anecdotes. And it seems to me that two things are clear.

First, developers in Westport and Dartmouth are not waiving the white flag and having a firesale, like they are in Tampa or Vegas. All markets are local. Second, we are starting to find a price bottom for good properties.  

Lets hope that we can find some more good signs in the days ahead.

Have a great May!

Mike Powers