July Review:
Compared to this time last year, July saw only slight variation in four of the six metrics we investigate for this blog (pictured at right). Days on market was up significantly compared to this time last year; however it was down compared to June. Additionally the number of new listings was down nearly 15% compared to last [...]
Are sharks really taking a bite out of the Cape Cod summer rental market?The Boston Globe published an article on July 28th 2019 by Stephanie Ebbert, Cape Cod rentals are having an unexpectedly slow summer. As a quick synopsis the article states that summer vacation rentals are not filling up this year and hotels are down 5% (the data goes through May 31st only). The article posits several explanations including the new short-term rental tax, increasing shark populations around the Cape, lousy Spring weather, and larger market and economic trends.
Our take on this matter: sharks and overall market conditions have been gradually applying pressure on the rental market for years: the sharks were here last year and the year before and some anecdotal evidence suggests they may be an attraction for some tourists. The main culprit of the precipitous decline in bookings in 2019 is the new 12.45-14.45% rental tax. Given the evidence that rentals are down across the state indicates this is not an issue solely on Cape Cod. When a vacationer rents for $3000/wk the tax adds around $400, depending on the town. Couple this with what may be the indications of a slowing economy and people may be spending their money closer to home this year and waiting to see how much certainty the future holds for their pocketbooks.
If you are getting sick of renting but still want to visit the Cape, give us a call about buying. Then every season can be beach season!
June Review:
Compared to this time last year median price and inventory are both up. However Inventory compared to May is a small gain of only 25 homes. It looks like the market entered the summer slow-down a bit earlier this year (usually it hits in July) with closed sales and new listings both down in June. Apparently sellers were [...]
Year over year the inventory is up 6.1% and has also been steadily increasing since January. With new listings down from last year and flat compared to last month we will be keeping an eye on how this will affect inventory going forward though. What will also be influencing the market for the foreseeable future is the [...]
We are glad to see inventory building up in 2019. With approximately 5.8 months of inventory of single-family homes the market is reaching sustainability (particularly favoring neither buyers nor sellers). It is also worth noting that the year-over-year comparisons of month's supply has been up since July 2018 which could [...]
We'll go ahead and say it now, "this was a decent winter for weather." Why does this matter for the real estate market on Cape Cod? With the seasonality of sales here an easy winter sets up sellers to get their properties on the market earlier in the year: i.e. February and March instead of March and April. Last month [...]
February saw the beginning of the Spring market on Cape Cod and the numbers tell an interesting tale. We notice that average days on market has been steadily increasing while average percent of original price received has been declining. It seems that buyers in the market are responding to overpriced houses by waiting [...]
January Review:
January followed the trend of the last few months of throwing trends out of the window. The economy recovered much of the ground lost in December but still feels shaky to many investors. As a result mortgage rates seem to be on uncertain ground as well, though they are still at historic lows hovering in the low 4% [...]
Hello to all and Happy New Year! We wish you health and happiness for 2019
If we had to choose a word for December it would be: schizophrenic. Between large swings in the stock market, concomitant swings in the mortgage market and an uncertain future of rate hikes, frankly we feel a little addled. The local housing [...]
Massachusetts Governor Baker recently signed into law a change to the taxable nature of short term rentals. This affects many of the property owners on Cape Cod who rent for less than 31 days in the summer months. Some relevant information can be found on the [...]