It is great to finally start reporting increases in the number of residential homes sold in the Lakes Region. Scary, isn’t it? It is hard to get used to and I hope I am not jinxing anything by speaking positively, but things do seem to be improving a little as we head into spring and summer selling seasons. In March 2010 there were 59 homes that changed hands. That is a 31% increase over the 44 posted for March 2009! The average price for the homes sold in March 2010 came in at $272,539 compared to $218,530 last March. There was a little shift in the price range of homes that are selling; last March 41% of the homes that sold were over $200,000 while this March that category increased to 56% of the total sales.

For the first quarter of 2010 there was a 22% increase in sales over the same period last year; from 112 sales up to 137. The average sales price came in at $308,062 for the first quarter of this year compared to $237,480 last year which is almost a 30% increase. As I have stated previously, the increases in the average sales price for homes in the area is reflective of what is selling and should not be misconstrued to mean that home prices themselves are going up. So far this year, 50% of the sales have been over $200,000 and 27% has been over the $300,000 mark. In the first 3 months of 2009, only 39% of the sales were over $200,000 and only 18% of the sales were over $300,000. An increase in sales of the mid to higher priced homes would be very welcome.

On a rolling 12 month basis (for the year ending March 31, 2010) total sales were up about 12% compared to the 12 month period ending March 31, 2009. The average price was down slightly at $302,071 compared to $329,120 for the prior year, but that will improve if the upward trend in sales of higher priced homes over the past several months continues. We hope.

There appeared to be some pretty good deals last month. For example, a 1910 vintage 7 room, 3 bedroom, 1½ bath, cape style home on 1.74 acres at 6 Singing Eagle Lane in Center Harbor was offered at $99,900 and sold above the asking price for $116,000. That was still only 49% of the assessed value of $237,200! Another great buy was found at 210 White Oaks Road in Laconia. This home has 2,162 square feet of living space, 3 bedrooms, 1½ baths, hardwood floors, a brick fireplace and lots of 1950’s character. It was offered at $139,900 and sold for only $115,000 which was 52% of assessed value. There were some good buys on waterfront property as well. A year round cottage at 115 Kimball Drive in Moultonborough with 33 feet of frontage in Hermit Cove on Winnipesaukeewas offered at $349,900 and sold for $300,500 (or 66% of the town’s current tax assessment). It just goes to show that great affordability and value can be found on the big lake.

There were no sales over $1 million this month which is a little unusual, so the honors for the largest sale this month go to the waterfront property at 69 Sawmill Brook Rd in Alton. This very nice 1,875 square foot year round, 3 bedroom lake home built in 2006 on a level half acre lot with 100 feet of frontage, sandy beach, and U shaped dock. The home features floor to ceiling living room windows with 180 degree views of the lake, gas fireplace, bamboo flooring throughout, state of the art kitchen, and a 2 car garage. It was offered at $849,000 and sold for $790,000. Unlike the homes above, this home sold at well above its tax assessment of $614,000. That doesn’t mean that this buyer paid too much for the property or that he didn’t get a good deal. Many fine properties sell for over their assessed value and they can still be a great deal (as I suspect this home was). Condition, location, functionality, amenities, and even some intangible qualities all play a role in whether a property provides the value that a buyer is looking for and makes that special property a good deal for him.

April showers bring May flowers and more real estate listings, but the unseasonably warm and sunny days have also brought out the buyers. Let’s hope they actually buy something! The number of single family homes in the towns in this Lakes Region report jumped from 993 last month to 1070 as of April 1. That number is also up compared to the 1000 homes listed as of April 1, 2009. Based on the number of homes sold in the last 12 months, this total is equivalent to 17 months worth of inventory. We are fortunate to have a good mix of properties and great offerings in every price range and with 28% of the listings priced under $200k there are a lot of affordable homes on the market.

For those following the lake front listings, there are 211 homes available on Lake Winnipesaukee (including island property as of April 3) with an average asking price of $1.85 million. A little under half of these listings are on the market for less than $1 million. Over on Lake Winnisquam there are 18 waterfronts available with an average asking price of $650,833. I’ve read several articles lately that say vacation and luxury homes sales are rebounding in many parts of the country so let’s hope for a great summer here as well.

The wonderful world of real estate is a very challenging place right now to say the least, for buyers, sellers, lenders, and REALTORS® alike. It seems like the normal hurdles that we face in every transaction have become magnified because we just don’t get as many offers on homes as we used to. The biggest hurdle may be getting a showing on a property. Stress levels have increased for sellers in particular (real estate agents have always had to go for therapy) and buyers seem to enjoy tormenting them with the ever popular “low ball offer”. But, in some circumstance, sellers should think very seriously about your first lowball offer!

So what is a “low ball offer”? Well, it can be viewed differently depending on your perspective on the matter. Assuming we are talking about a seller, let’s see if we can make some sense out of it. Let’s say you have been trying to sell your home for $359,00. Mr. Seller’s property is very, very nice and he has remodeled every square inch with the highest quality materials, replaced all the systems, and made it the best and most unique domicile on the planet (his agent knows all of this because Mr. Seller has told him ten times). It has been on the market for 237 days, but Mr. Seller has also had it listed before with two other agencies for a little over $400,000. Despite the fact that there have been two homes sold in town for $325,000 that were pretty similar and every bit as nice Mr. Seller’s, he is standing firm on the conviction that his home is worth more because, well…because he says so and the price is the price. Remember when you were a little kid playing baseball? Seems like the worst player was always stuck way out in right field. That’s where Mr. Seller is…

But Mr. Seller’s home really does show beautifully and after the third showing on it (yup, three showings in 237 days—pretty good right?), he gets an offer. It is a solid deal with standard contingencies and good buyer. But the buyer, through his very astute Buyer’s Agent, makes the offer at $310,000. You see, the buyer’s agent did his homework. He saw the two recently sold properties for $325,000 and also observed that Mr. Seller’s home was assessed for $315,000. To the buyer, this is not a “low ball offer”, but the right offer. To Mr. Seller, it was time for a tantrum, a token small counter offer, and then a rejection of the deal. To use another baseball analogy the offer was not low, it was really in the strike zone

Just like on ABC”s “Flash Forward” (where everyone on earth got a glimpse of their future) Mr. Seller saw that he would receive another offer. But he didn’t see how much the offer was for. Six months later, after considerable badgering by Mrs. Seller and his agent, he lowers his price to $329,000. He really didn’t want to lower his asking price, but his wife assured him that in his next Flash Forward he wouldn’t see anything except darkness. She had seen Florida in hers. Just like in the Flash Forward, he receives another offer. But this new offer for $250,000 is from a buyer that had been in town for a week and was looking for a deal on anything he could find that he could buy at a bargain price. This was a true “low ball offer”. I suspect Mr. Seller would jump at the first “low ball” offer if he could do it all over again.

If you are selling your home don’t go ballistic if you receive what you perceive to be “low ball” offer. Take time to really think about it, look at comparable sales, and talk with your agent. Someone might be trying to tell you something, particularly if your home has been for sale for the better part of this decade. It may not really be a low ball offer. It may be a reasonable offer. The moral of the story is; don’t get caught standing in right field in this housing market or its going to be a long game with extra innings and you are likely to lose in the end…

“Fer Sale. Two room log kabin with stone fireplace, specil wood floor, gun ports front and back, and privy out bac on over 50 acres of prime land on the Kanta-ke River in Boonesborough. Lokated at first bend below fort, along stream to large boulder, straight back to top of third ridge. Grate privacee. Owner needs more elbow room.”

I just finished reading a book about Daniel Boone while on vacation. Yup, the same guy Fess Parker played on TV who could, among other things, wrestle with a bear and save the whole town from the Indians. While many of the tall tales about Dan are just a little doubtful (and he didn’t wear a coonskin cap), he did in fact become a true legend in his own time and was celebrated in the colonies and Europe as a frontier hero. Boone was every bit the woodsman, hunter, explorer, Indian fighter, and leader of men that he was made out to be and then some. What I really hadn’t thought about until I read the biography, was how important real estate was to Daniel Boone and the other settlers of our early frontiers. Daniel, his large extended family, and many others that were willing to follow, moved around an awful lot. They were driven by the desire to find a better life for themselves and to see what was on the other side of the next mountain range or past the next river. The lust for new, more fertile, and cheaper land kept everyone moving West out of Virginia into Kentucky and then into Missouri and Ohio. I wouldn’t have wanted to be his real estate agent (if there was such a job back then) as it was a pretty dangerous time. Sometimes the settlers moved to get away from marauding Indians who became just a little more than miffed about Daniel and company encroaching on their lands and killing all their game. They really did massacre and scalp settlers (including women and children) and, unfortunately, we didn’t act much better toward them. That kind of explains the gun ports that were standard equipment in each cabin built back then.

The story of Daniel Boone is a story about real estate. He hunted and explored the unknown wilderness to the West and then helped others settle the new frontier. As more settlers followed him into the frontier, things always got a little too crowded and the once plentiful game soon became scarce. Boone always needed more “elbow room” and had to move on. Dan was also one of the first surveyors on the frontier and was hired by investors and the “well-to-do” to stake out claims for them on property they had never even seen. Boone made his living off the land by hunting and trapping, but in his later years ol’ Dan tried to make a full time living out of surveying and land speculation. While he could survey as good as anyone back then, his grasp of business practices did not come anywhere near his great hunting prowess so as a result he was always in debt. Surveying was not very precise in the wilderness and they would often use just the physical characteristics of the land to describe the claim. Descriptions like: “from the large oak tree marked with an ‘X’ to the edge of the cane break, turning west and go to a small brook…” soon lead to problems as the physical characteristics of the lands changed. Trees were cut down, boulders were moved, and rivers changed their course causing boundary markers to disappear. The lack of modern surveying equipment led to overlapping claims on properties and lawsuits that kept colonial lawyers busy for decades. These overlapping or “shingle” lots could also be located on property that had been previously granted to someone else by England years before. Many settlers had to move on after building a cabin on what they thought was their property only to find the land belonged to someone else.

Today’s settlers still move around a lot, just not as much as they used to. Maybe today’s buyers aren’t as brave as Daniel Boone, but hopefully they will get that wanderlust back in the coming months. There aren’t any more Indians to be afraid of and gun ports are no longer standard in today’s homes (although I think they may make a comeback). If you like true life adventure stories the book, simply called “Boone” by Robert Morgan, is worth reading. If nothing else, you will clearly understand the need for title insurance! Thanks, Dan.

February is a short month and we were a little short on sales, too! There were 34 homes in the towns in our Lakes Region report that found new owners last month compared to 39 in February of 2009. The average sales price of $279,480 was up slightly from last February’s average of $273,846. Just about 65% of the sales were under $200,000, with only 21% of the sales over $400K. Perhaps we should make all the mid-priced homes into duplexes to get them sold? On a rolling 12 month basis ending on 2/28/10, we had 731 sales at an average price of $299,312 for the period compared to 674 sales at an average price of $336,646 for the 12 month period ending 2/28/09. So our total sales are still up 8.5% for the 12 month window but the average sales number is down 11%.

Condo living has always been a great alternative for many home buyers in the Lakes Region of NH. Many people, especially retirees, enjoy the low maintenance lifestyle that living in a condo can provide for them. Those looking for a vacation home don’t want to have to cut grass and paint the trim when they are up on weekends, they want to be out on the boat or the golf course! Others like to take advantage of the amenities that may come as an added benefit in many condo complexes. Access to the lake has always been a driving force behind many condo purchases. For many buyers, a condo with a beach access, dock space, or a mooring is much more desirable than those without. A “shared access” condo has always been a highly desirable and an affordable vacation alternative to buying a much more expensive property located directly on the water. The affordability factor is also appealing to anyone who may be just getting into the housing market. There has been an abundance of entry level type condos constructed in the Lakes Region over the past five to six years so there is a lot to choose from…

How have condo sales faired over the past few years? Well it seems that the same pain that has inflicted the single family home market has also radiated into the condo market as well, at least when it comes to the total number of sales. That dreaded yellow fever has affected many condo buyers as well! Gilford, Laconia, and Meredith had a total of 139 condo sales in 2008 and 142 sales in 2009. That is 30% off the total sales number of 200 in 2007 but down a whopping 56% from 2004.

Surprisingly though, the average sales price of condos in Laconia and Gilford have held up pretty well with Gilford posting its highest average in the last six years at $208,197 and Laconia posting a gain over last year at $193,646. The $182,481 average sales price in Meredith is down considerably from the $300k plus numbers posted in 2004 and 2007, but that is due to the majority of the sales being lower priced bank owned units at Meredith Bay Village. These units have all sold at about 60% of the tax assessed value making them pretty good deals!

As with single family homes, there are some deals out there to be had in the condo market for those buyers willing to take the plunge. Will buyers go swimming in 2010? It is anybody’s guess, but those that do will find good values and great investments in the Lakes Region.

There were 993 residential homes on the market in the communities in this Lakes Region of NH market report as of March 1, 2010 or about 15.5 months worth of inventory. The average asking price stands at $583,496 and a median of $289,900. This compares to 941 homes last March at an average asking price of $547,575 and a median price of $299,000.

It won’t be long and we’ll be back into the spring buying season. Ah, the smell of flowers blooming, the sound of birds chirping, a warm spring breeze, and the rustling of buyers as they come out of their winter hibernation. Well, we can hope, can’t we? If you are buying a home, and particularly if you are a first time buyer, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you look for that perfect place to call home:

1. Educate yourself, particularly if you are a first time buyer. Take a first time home buyer class or read some books on home buying and ownership (there are plenty available at Borders or Amazon.com). A little knowledge will go a long way in giving you some confidence about the home ownership adventure you are about to start.

2. Meet with a local lender to find out if and how much of a mortgage you qualify for. There is no sense in looking at $300,000 homes if you can only qualify for a $200,000 home. And, you’ll also need a letter from the bank to (more…)

We are through an almost snowless January and half of February with but  4-6”  or so and I’m thinking this is pretty great as I haven’t had to plow my driveway much and I haven’t sanded it once! However, the lack of snow in the Lakes Region of NH definitely has a negative impact on the local businesses and is certainly not good for the local economy. Although January residential home sales weren’t really stellar we had an avalanche of activity compared to last year. You may recall, last February I reported that January of ’09 had to be just about the bottom of the market with only 28 sales with an average of sales price of $217,283. It was pretty bad! Well, last month we had 44 residential sales at an average price of $377,781. That may not sound like much, but that is a 57% increase in sales over January 2009.

More importantly, on a rolling 12 month basis we posted 736 residential home sales for the period ending 1/31/10 compared to 669 sales for the 12 month period ending 1/31/09. That is a 10% increase in sales over a 12 month period which might not be as exciting as a blizzard to Gunstock  Ski Area but it certainly is better than the downward trend we had been experiencing. The average sales price is down from the $336,088 posted in 2009 to $298,879 as of 1/31/2010 but that is to be expected with the large number of low end sales and foreclosures.

Again, half the sales in January 2010 were below the $200,000 mark which seems to be the case just about (more…)

February is here and the days may be getting longer but the home inventory in the Lakes Region of NH is getting larger. We edged up from 869 homes on the market last month to 926 homes listed as of February 1 with a current average asking price of $590,214. That is on par with last February when the inventory stood at 923 homes, but the average price was lower at $548,470. Currently, we have a 15 month supply of homes on the market based on sales numbers over the past year. That is still about three times what is considered a normal or good inventory level.

As reported previously, the average sales price of homes is definitely down in the Lakes Region as well as the rest of the country. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to break the numbers down a little further and see how the (more…)

Lakes Region Real Estate Year End Review

It is not only the end of the year, it is the end of the decade, so it is the perfect time to review home sales in the Lakes Region of NH! First, a quick look at December. There were 68 residential home sales this past December compared to just 58 in December 2008. That’s a 17% increase which should make us all feel pretty good! However, the average sales price was down from $373,130 in December 2008 to $290,008 in December of 2009. That’s a huge decline, however, comparing the same month in different years doesn’t generally mean a whole lot. Statistics looking back over a year or a decade are much more meaningful but even they can be somewhat misleading.

There were 720 residential sales in the communities in this report for the calendar year 2009. That’s about a 6¾% (more…)

A Bold New Decade In Real Estate 

The New Year started off with 869 homes listed for sale in the towns in this Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report. That’s a big drop from the 1044 homes on the market as of December 1, 2009 and slightly lower than the 900 homes on the market January 1, 2009. There always seems to be a lot of homes that expire on December 31 of each year. Unfortunately, they slowly work their way back onto the market. The average asking price for homes in the area has actually gone up from $527,122 last January 1 to $613,371 on this New Year’s Day. The increase in the average asking price is most likely a result of more high priced homes on the market rather than any surge in asking prices although there are still many, many overpriced homes especially on the upper end of the market. The 869 homes currently on the market represent about a 14.5 month’s worth of inventory.

As we enter a new decade, it is clear that the real estate marketing world will undergo some dramatic changes. What can we look forward to? Obviously, the computer and the internet have completely revolutionized the way people buy homes, and for that matter, everything else. Having a buyer walk into your office looking for help in finding a home is generally viewed as cause for great celebration by the agency’s managing broker. It just doesn’t happen much anymore. Today’s elusive buyers do their shopping on the internet. Once they have zeroed in on what they like and have compiled a list of homes that they would like to see they might give an agent a call or more likely send an email. But this is nothing new, as this has been the standard operating procedure for a while now.

What is new is the huge role that technology will play in marketing homes and how it will evolve in order to reach and connect with technology savvy buyers. No longer will it effective to market a property by using the old MLS system and feeds to agency websites offering 6-12 fuzzy photographs and even fuzzier property descriptions. Sellers deserve and will expect a much broader and more professional marketing campaign to reach out to potential buyers. One big evolution in marketing is the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter to reach and interact with potential buyers and sellers. The use of video and podcasts promoting properties on websites, blogs, and sites like You Tube will be much more prevalent. People are visual. Information about real estate (beyond the routine and often mundane property data found on the MLS listing sheet) will be found on real estate blogs.

Buyers want information and they want it now, no matter where they are. Today’s smart phones are more like mini-computers than phones and like every other electronic device they will only improve and become more powerful. Not only can you surf the web and email from your smart phone, now you can see all the current real estate listings on it. You can see all the homes in any given area, get property information, and see photos along with a Google Map of where you and the houses are located (to get the application on your phone just Text: RRG To:87778). This application is perfect for anybody just driving around looking for homes! There is no doubt in my mind that real estate applications will soon be available on in-car GPS devices like Garmin and Tom-Tom.

The use of virtual tours comes as standard equipment in just about every agency’s marketing program, but did you know that “virtual home staging” is a reality right now. Everyone knows that empty homes are a little more difficult to sell just because they are…well, they are empty and many people just can’t envision where the sofa and TV go. Beautiful virtual furniture can be placed in empty rooms to create that appealing lived-in look at a fraction of the cost. I can’t wait for the virtual home make over program that can show buyers what can be done with that fixer-upper that needs the wall paper taken down and a wall removed. How far into the future will it be before we see true 3-D virtual home tours? Perhaps not far…

But through all this technological advancement, the real estate business will always remain a true “people business”. It will be the brokers and agents that will institute and utilize these advancements to better serve the buying and selling public. And despite the evasive nature or the desire on the part of many buyers to remain virtually invisible to the last possible moment, ultimately it will come down to agent relationships, personal interaction, and good old fashion negotiations to make a deal happen!

Winnipesaukee Waterfront Sales Report December 2009

After a very busy November on the the big lake we finished off the year with 3 more waterfront sales with a volume total of a little over $4 million.  The largest sale was in Meredith on Wagon Wheel Trail for $2.99 million, one in Moultonborough on Homestead Lane for $610,000, and one down in Alton on Farmington Rd for $500,000.

Click on the picture for details of these sold properties.

 As always, you can see the latest waterfront listings on Lake Winnipesaukee by clicking here or you can get information on and search for waterfront on any lake in the Lakes Region of NH by clicking here!

Lakes Region Home is you best source for exploring all the communities and homes in the beautiful Lakes Region of NH and Lakes Region Real Estate News will ensure that you are armed with all the latest market trends and data!