The world is righting itself again! If you are thinking about listing, now would be the time!
There are currently 127 (love that number!) active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service. This week 7 "new" ones came on. All of these - I kid you not! - are re-lists, some with modified prices and others simply returning to the market place. They range from a million dollar plus home, non-waterfront, to new construction to village and town homes.
One of these homes is my 3862 Highland Avenue listing. I held an open house last Sunday there, and listened to feedback. The owners and I met on Monday evening to discuss it. We've - and I mean this sincerely, because it is a partnership when I list - have decided to lower the price of the home by $20,000 and re-market it as a great 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath home. Not only did I want to showcase it here, naturally, but also to give you a sense of why people choose to re-list a property. You have to listen to the market and respond.
No homes have been marked as contingent this week, although I know there have been showings. One lovely home in the village - also re-listed - has sold and gone directly to pending.
We have 17 closed properties for the year. Now take note of the next facts: two properties closed this past week, one AT the list price and the other, even though it had been on the market about 10 months in all, closed within 5% of the original list price. I tell you - the world is changing!
Last year at this time there were 14 closed properties, about 20% less than currently. The year before (2007) there were 21 in the first quarter of the year. The numbers are also going higher for pricing in the county - $310,000 to $460,000 - as evidenced by the five highest priced homes that closed this past week. Skaneateles still ranks by far the highest, averaging over $500,000 per home.
I attended a seminar today featuring a speaker brought in by Realtor.com. He talked about the number of agents nationwide, and how in 2000 people started going in to real estate because we were on our way to blowing up the bubble. When it burst, the number of agents declined and is still declining. Currently there are 2,721 agents in our multiple listing service. I'll keep an eye on that on occasion. Our market is still strong, remember!
I do believe we have turned a corner. It's time to buy that home to be in it by summer! In case I forgot to mention it, by the way, 3862 Highland Avenue is now $279,000, well under its new assessed value.
