Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Skaneateles Real Estate - The Weekly Update

Because today is filled with excitement, I am writing this update early. By excitement I mean the brokers' open at 1 Ramble Wood from 12:00 to 2:00 (the new granite looks fabulous!), my car needs brakes (will I make it over to Auburn?), three offers may or may not come in, and SU plays Rutgers at the ungodly hour of 9:00 PM! Best to blog early!

There are currently 117 active listings in the Skaneateles area. Two are new - a pretty one out in the country and a re-list, also in the countryside. Both are under $300,000.

One property has been marked contingent this past week. It's the fourth time since New Year's - hopefully this one will stick. It proves, in my book, that once you find the right price the buyers will line up. In this case the price is about two-thirds of the original...but in these times....

Another has been pended - again in the country but not Skaneateles Schools. There are a total of 16 homes waiting to close, either contingent or pended. Actually, one of these has closed - now how do I know that? - but it's not made it to the multiple listing service files yet.

Year-to-date there are 9 closed, as compared with 10 at this point last year. The latest closing is also the most expensive, with a 25% drop in price from the original list price.

I was asked over the weekend about where houses sell in relation to the original price. I said in Skaneateles we are seeing approximately a reduction of between 10% and 25%. Elsewhere the number is under 10%. The people who questioned me said they had experienced in their home town 25% to 35%, so we are still not in that category. It's always important to remember that we are living in a small area where the ills of the nation have not penetrated.