June Review:
The main driver in the market right now is still low inventory which is currently and will continue to influence the real estate trends on Cape Cod for a while at least. As you take a look at our infographic, note that many indicators are now trending negative compared to last year. Closed sales, pending sales and [...]
April Review:
As we venture into April we can start comparing market numbers from COVID impacted months in 2020; put simply, the market now is far hotter than it was right at the start of the pandemic. As you can see in our "What's Up & What's Down?" graphic at right market activity is up in every category except for inventory and days on [...]
March Review:
The real estate market on Cape Cod continues to be exceptional. An interesting point in this month's data is that, for the fist time since June 2020, closed sales are actually down compared to the previous year. This suggests, more than anything, that inventory is so low we simply can't keep increasing the closed sales [...]
February Review:
The Cape Cod real estate market continues into unprecedented territory driven largely by dwindling inventory. At the end of February there were 343 homes for sale in Barnstable County, which is down 77% from the same period in 2020 and continues the trend of decreasing inventory we have seen largely unbroken since the [...]
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The big question is “what about 2021?” Will the strong market hold? Will prices continue to climb? Or are we in a bubble whose collapse is imminent? The short answer is, as always: “we have no idea.” But for a long answer, here are some factors we see swimming around in the crystal ball on Agnes’ [...]
There are no two ways about it. 2020 was a remarkable year for the Cape Real Estate market. We started off the year in familiar territory with January and February showing roughly the same level of market activity as in recent years. But when the COVID pandemic took hold in March we saw a sudden slump in both pending sales and new [...]
December Review:
December's market performance continued the trend we have been seeing since June - massive seasonally adjusted increases in median price, closed sales, and new listings. Why? Massive seasonally adjusted decreases in inventory - December 2020 saw only 40% of the inventory of 2019. But these numbers are offset somewhat by [...]
November Review:
While 2020 is remarkable with exceptionally high median sales prices and low inventory, it is beginning to see the usual winter slow down - although this slow down still outpaces anything we have seen in the past. Median sales price in Barnstable county continues to climb and is up 33% from this time last year. [...]
October Review:
The Cape Cod real estate market continues its unprecedented year. Most remarkably is that median sales price remains at $550,000, up 25% from this time last year. What is driving this increase? Demand. Both closed sales and pending sales are up more than 40% from this time last year and inventory is incredibly low, at [...]
Whether you are buying, selling, or renting your home, one of the most important decisions you will make is who will represent your interests during the transaction. Those representatives should always be experienced local professionals with strong relationships in the community. I recently closed a transaction that perfectly illustrated just how important those relationships may end up being. Take a look:
Three days before closing on a seller client’s home the buyer’s attorney discovered two title issues which were going to prevent us from closing: an undischarged mortgage and an outstanding right of first refusal from the original developer. Title issues are always trouble but this was particularly troubling because my sellers were using the funds from their sale to purchase another home on the same day – a delay on the sale would cause serious complications for everyone involved. But my clients had done the right thing – they had carefully selected a team of experience professionals with strong connections in their respective professional communities. Here’s what happened:
We were in a rush so the attorney asked me (as the seller’s agent) to work on the right of first refusal while she and the sellers dug in on the mortgage. Because of my local knowledge, I happened to know who the developer was, and that he had retired and sold his business about 15 years ago. I also happened to know who he sold the business to, and have a working relationship with that person. So I called him up and got the contact info for his predecessor. I then spoke with the developer who sent me to his attorney here in Yarmouth. I called the attorney, with whom I have closed dozens of deals and asked for a favor. That afternoon the document was prepared and signed. First problem solved.
But what about the second problem? The mortgage on the home had been paid off for 10 years, but the bank never recorded the discharge. [Editor’s note: this happens ALL THE TIME. Always call your bank to make sure they recorded the discharge after your last payment to avoid this issue yourself]. The mortgage was, sadly, with a large national bank, so my sellers’ tearful trip to the branch was useless. So they regrouped and, on a lark, called their financial advisor. At dinner time on a weeknight. He picked right up. They explained the situation and he said, “You know what, I know someone who works in the mortgage department at that bank’s headquarters. Let me reach out to him.” By noon the next day they had satisfactory documentation of the discharged mortgage in hand, thanks to their finance guy’s local relationship within the bank.
We sent the completed file to the buyer’s attorney, the transaction closed as scheduled on Friday, my clients bought their new house that afternoon, and everyone walked away happy. Disaster averted.
So what was the trick? Local relationships. My clients had carefully selected a team of local experts and it paid off big time. Think about it like this – what if their Realtor hadn’t been local? Would the seller’s attorney have known and trusted him to solve part of the problem, or would she have had to extend the closing date to give her time to do it herself? Would the agent have known immediately who to call to track down the long-since retired out of state developer? Would the developer’s attorney have been willing to do the agent a favor by rushing the file? What if their financial advisor had been a nameless associate at a large firm who they couldn’t reach after hours? Or who didn’t have personal local relationships within the industry? Would they have still closed on time? Maybe. Maybe they would have gotten lucky. But why leave it to chance? Real Estate is a team sport – when you assemble your team, make sure to pick local professionals who have the experience and relationships in their industries to give you the best representation possible.