Here we go - flying into the springtime warmth! I had the Cabrio out and the top down - absolute heaven! Yesterday's open house up on Raspberry in Camillus was a great success. People came and loved the home, many asking if anyone lived there because it was immaculate and "showed like a model."
To Skaneateles: still the 14 closings since the beginning of the year remain on the record. None sold (as marked by contingent), but there were five new listings.
The most spectacular is waterfront, 150 feet of it with a 3700 square foot house. Hopefully it will be on brokers' open tomorrow - 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 5 car garage and a private setting.
The four other listings were split between the village and the town, with one a re-listing. With a little imagination there are bargains out there!
We have a much higher percentage of listings - now 106 single family homes - than closings this year. There have been 62 new listings since the beginning of the year which is easily worked out to be about 60% of our inventory. By contrast Marcellus has had only 26 of its 60 listings since January 1st and closed 14 homes. Camillus is much larger - currently with 150 listings, 110 new in 2008. They show 68 closings, and like Marcellus this is a higher percentage than Skaneateles' ratio of closings to listings.
Reason? I think we are more dependent on summer traffic. Many are waterfront and "the season" is just beginning. Our homes are more unique and therefore harder to price. Also, often Skaneateles owners are more able to wait with a house to get their asking price; the need to sell may not be as great.
Rates are still low, the sun is shining, the days and even nights are warm - go out and buy a house, close before summer, and sit back to enjoy it!
