Eastham - 2003 Report - Part 1 (From February Newsletter)
|
|
|
|
The Eastham Highlights:
-
December had 13 sales with an average selling price of $380,367, down 10.95% from November's $427,143.
-
Full year 2003 had 137 closings, vs. 129 for 2002, up 6.2%
-
Full year 2003 selling price average was $407,297, up 6.5% over 2002. This compares to an over 26% increase 2002 over 2001.
-
There are a total of 53 single family homes for sale in Eastham, with an average list price of $583K, and a median price of $499K.
Commentary:
December closed out the year with somewhat of a whimper. There were 13 closings in December, close to November's (adjusted) 14 closings. The forth quarter's total of 52 sales was enough for 2003 to overtake 2002's total sales. Since an inordinate number of less costly homes closed in December, the average selling price was only about $380K. The final 2003 average (of 137 sales) was about $407K, up almost 6.5% from 2002's average (of 129 sales) of $383K. The selling price to list price ratio (i.e. SP/LP) is back to the 96-97% level.
Looking Forward:
Looking forward, I expect 2004 to be a record-breaker. A year ago we were faced with an uncertain war, an uncertain economy, a winter of excessive snow followed by a very wet spring. Although its still too early to say anything too optimistic about either the snow or the spring showers, both the war and the economy seem to be on much steadier ground. The high number of forth quarter closings confirm that folks in the fall were in a buying mood. Additionally, as mentioned in prior newsletters, the supply of mid-priced ($350K-$450K), 3 & 4 bedroom homes has been non-existent. This fore-tells of a future price appreciation. I see this as an opportunity for those who want (or need) to sell their homes to relocate off-Cape. Now may be the time to sell! Unfortunately, buyers will be faced with higher asking prices.
Eastham Real Estate Newsletter:
This report was a part of my recent newsletter. I publish it monthly, roughly mid-month. If you would like to subscribe to it, Click Here.
|
2003 Summary - Part 2 (From March Newsletter)
|
|
|
|
Further analysis of 2003 reveals that sale price appreciation in Eastham didn't keep pace with that of the rest of the Cape. Overall, Cape properties climbed almost 20%, while Eastham showed only a 6.3% improvement. This was the first year, since 1999, that Eastham didn't outpace the overall Cape.
In 2003 there were only 10 vacant lots sold in Eastham. They ranged from $187.5K to $400K. Half acre lots (typically 2 bedroom lots) were roughly $245K, and 1 acre lots (4 bedrooms ) sold for roughly $300K. There just isn't much land available for building new homes, although individual lots become available from time to time. There are currently 10 lots available, at the prices slightly higher than noted above.
If you compare Eastham with the rest of the Lower Cape, you'll notice that Eastham is the most affordable town, followed closely by Brewster. In all the towns, the median sale price is lower than the average, suggesting that the majority of the sales are in lower priced homes. Not a surprise. What was unexpected was the extremely low numbers of sales in Truro and Provincetown, which were 49 and 11, respectively. The explanation for P-town is that there were a lot of non-MLS sales, making the data incomplete.
Looking forward, I still expect 2004 to be a record-breaker. The weather seems to be better than last year, interest rates (see below) are still near record lows, and 'inventory' seems to be coming available, including in the mid-priced ($350K-$500K), 3 & 4 bedroom range. Here's hope'n!
|
|