Realtors are feeling the same way about the continuing cold weather as everybody else in town — enough already.
The prolonged winter weather is being blamed for the dip in single-family homes sales, from 62 the first quarter of 2013 to 45 in the first three months this year.
Despite the decline in the number of sales, the median sales price has gone up, from $527,750 to $680,000 this year, according to a report prepared by Ms. Freed Ancona of William Pitt Sotheby.
Realtors remain confident the real estate market will rebound in the second quarter this spring.
“We recognize it’s been a tough winter,” said Bob Neumann of Neumann Real Estate. “People have been waiting for the winter to be over and a lot of people have been holding off, which means Realtors don’t have as much to show and have gone through a bit of an inventory shortage.
“We expect inventory to go up big time in the spring,” he added. “I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t.”
Compared to inventory at this time last year, the market is similar, with 86 of the 289 active single-family houses — 30% — either under deposit or pending transaction.
“There are 45 homes under deposit, which means they continue to show but have a very good chance that they will close,” Mr. Neumann said. “There are 41 pending contract, which means almost a third of the market is under deposit.”
In the first quarter of 2013, 100 of the 306 active single-family homes — 33% — were under deposit or pending transaction.
“Inventory levels are stabilizing; it’s all about supply and demand,” Ms. Freed Ancona said. “In the past several years we had too much supply and few buyers in the system.
“Now with the buyers coming back, we have more demand, but sellers are interested in selling now since prices are rising, so we will have a good supply,” she added.
The average sales price for single-family homes was up, from $636,580 in 2013 to $660,728 in the first quarter of 2014, according to Ms. Freed Ancona’s report.
Sellers’ market?
The trend from the first quarter — home sales down and sales prices rising — has sellers in a pretty good position, said Keith Evans of Keller Williams.
“It’s still a buyers’ market, but the pendulum is starting to swing the other way,” he said. “We’ve seen some bidding wars in the first couple of months this year; my last two sales went for $100,000 over the listing price.”
Ms. Freed Ancona has also seen bidding between multiple buyers, but said the market isn’t close to being a “real seller’s market” like it was in 2004.
“People were bidding up houses way over” the asking price, she said. “It is definitely still a buyer’s market.”
Mr. Evans pointed out that single-family homes are averaging 157 days on the market, compared to 179 days last year.
He said interest rates, which have dipped below 4.5%, have stimulated buyer interest again after rates increased in the middle of last year.
“After they went up, the market slowed down a bit, but I think a lot of buyers remain confident that things will pretty much remain the same,” Mr. Evans said.
Mr. Neumann and Ms. Freed Ancona agreed that stable rates have made buyers more comfortable.
“We’re seeing things sell that didn’t sell last year sell this year, which is a pretty good sign,” said Mr. Neumann. “We’re talking about multiple offers on homes that have been on the market for a year or so — that means the market is still pretty active, and it will only get better as the weather improves and more homes come through.”
Low point
Both Mr. Neumann and Mr. Evans pointed toward February as the worst month of the first quarter.
Lonnie Shapiro of Coldwell Banker echoed that sentiment in a prepared report, which cited only 10 single-family home sales in February selling at an average price of $603,000 — the lowest average the town’s real estate market has seen since February 2013, when sales dropped to $543,000 for the month.
Ms. Shapiro’s report showed that active inventory and home sales were both down in each of the first three months this year.
Ms. Freed Ancona added that the slow winter wasn’t indicative of how the rest of the year will turn out.
“I think buyers are firmly back in the ‘game’ now,” she said. “I think the second and third quarters will be very strong; we are selling a lot of homes now with June to July closing dates, mostly due to the desire for families to move after the school year ends…
“I think the year will finish strong.”
The highest sale of the first quarter was $1.1 million, while the lowest was $215,000.
Tax revenue
Conveyance tax, the fee that the town collects on all property transfers, including lots and commercial property, was down, from $116,106 in the first quarter last year to $93,433 this year — largely due to the dip in the number of homes sold.
The town collected $31,203 in January, $25,107 in February, and $37,123 in March — all below last year’s first-quarter figures, according to Caitlin Bartolo, assistant to the town clerk.
High-end sales
“The weather really hurt us this year; February was really slow,” Mr. Evans said. “But we’re in a pretty similar position as we were last year going from March and the winter into April and the spring months.”
After scorching late in 2013, the high-end market was cooled by the first quarter of 2014, with five homes closing above $1 million and none closing above the $2-million mark.
Last year eight homes sold in the $1 million-plus price range in the first quarter, and three sold for more than $1.5 million.
A total of 41 homes sold above $1 million, and 11 were purchased above $1.5 million, in the third quarter of 2013. Realtors saw 80 homes sell for more than $1 million in 2013, up from 52 a year earlier, with 56 selling in the $1-million to $1.5-million price range.
Mr. Neumann doesn’t believe that part of the market to be suffering, as 18 homes listed above the $1-million price tag are under deposit or under contract.
The highest priced active single-family home in town — a five-acre hilltop Ridgebury home owned by Manhattan architect Rafael Vinoly — is listed for $25 million, while the lowest is listed at $329,000.
Last year in the first quarter, the lowest sale came at $142,000, while the highest was going for $1.96 million.
Condos
As for condominiums, seven sold in the first quarter this year, compared to eight last year, with the highest going for $750,000 and the lowest selling at $120,000.
The average selling price for condos in the first quarter was $277,214 and the median sales price was $180,000, according to Ms. Freed Ancona’s report.
Compared to last year, the average selling price for condos in the first quarter was $292,300 and the median sales price was $265,000, the report said.
There are 47 active condos, of which 20 are under deposit or pending contract.
“That’s 42% of the market under deposit,” said Mr. Neumann.
The highest priced active condo is $835,000, with the lowest set at $149,000.
Condos averaged 189 days on the market, Mr. Evans said.
This Silver Spring Road home, on the market for $1,375,000, has three bedrooms and five bathrooms on 2.14 acres. —Steve Coulter photo