Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Report from Storm Central

It's hard to believe that there could have been another storm bigger than the two we had last year about this time, but here it came!  The pictures are unbelievable, and I saw a lot while I was out running this morning, but during the storm, it was hard to see much.

We were in a mandatory evacuation zone.  My husband, being the typical "defend your homestead" male, refused to leave, so the dog and I retreated from the waterfront to the home of friends in the city of New Haven.  They have power, and food, and wine, so life is good!  I stayed in and worked on catching up from the hectic week I had last week.  Since I had meetings in NYC that were all cancelled for me, I was free to stay inside and work from the comfort of (someone else's) home.  I actually went running first thing, about 6:30 on Monday morning, and it was a little windy, especially in one direction, but nothing that would have been that notable.  I was all alone, however, as my friends all slept in.  It got windier as the day went on, and there were periods of rain, but it didn't, from our vantage point, seem much different from Irene.  I kept calling home for a report from the waterfront.  My husband said that it was beautiful, with high, high tides and not too much wind.  No damage, but the power flickered and then went out about 5 PM last night.  I can't even get the Status page to come up on the CL&P site, and I don't take that as a good sign...89% of Guilford is without power, so we are not alone. I can't get back, due to flooding on our road.  I'm thinking of visiting at low tide tonight, but I'm not sure that I want to stay without power with the shorter days and longer nights of late October, even though it's plenty warm enough.  One solid week without power last August was enough for me!  Here's hoping that we get it back before the food is all ruined!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

People are Going into the Real Estate Business Again

For the past few years, it's been tough to recruit new agents in our market, and around the country as well.  Although there were lots of people who were newly (or not so newly) unemployed, but, since there was so much publicity about the dearth of real estate sales, few investigated real estate as a career.

That has changed in the past few weeks.  Since Labor Day, we've seen a much larger number of prospective agents coming through our doors to interview, both in residential and in commercial.  Even though it is a commission-based business (meaning that you only get paid when you sell or lease property), it has become increasingly attractive in a market that is perceived as having bottomed out and is most likely already on the way up.  If you study past business cycles, those who enter real estate before the boom periods begin are the ones who get up and running in time to take advantage of the best times in the economy.  Also, it is still hard to find other jobs, as companies are very wary about adding to payroll, even as things improve.  Going into real estate is an attractive option therefore, both from a timing point of view and because it has few barriers to entry.  You need to take a course, an exam, and pay for a license, and then you are good to go.

So, if you are in the market for a new career, it's high time that you considered real estate!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Third Quarter Statistics

Our office has just posted statistics for the third quarter of 2012, which we get from the Connecticut Multiple  Listing Service, and it shows that activity is definitely improving.  Sales are up almost 18% from last year, and there is increased movement in almost every town.

The median sales price was down by nearly 2%, which should caution sellers not to be greedy.  Connecticut is ranked 46th in terms of price recovery from the depths of the recession.  In addition, there are so many homes on the market that the absorption rate stretches out for a couple of years.  For example, Guilford and Madison each have about 400 homes on the market, and each has seen about 175 sell this year so far.  That means that it would take almost two years at the current rate until all properties are sold.

Now, that's more pessimistic than it ought to be.  As with all markets, there are properties on the MLS that are overpriced or in poor condition or in bad locations, and many of those will expire without selling.  That means that good properties, well priced, should move fairly quickly, at least in comparison to the past few years.  It won't happen as quickly in the higher price ranges, because it's harder to price and market homes over a million, and there have only been about five more that have sold this year (64 in all).

In all categories, though, days on market (DOM) have declined, and market speed has increased.  For a complete report, go to www.hpearce.com.