What will you pay -- or get -- for this Westport home? A lot less than 4 years ago.
A local realtor — hoping to separate reality from rumor — recently ran some numbers.
She examined all Westport sales of single-family homes in the $500,000-$2 million range — the majority of Westport properties. She used median prices rather than averages, because a few sales at either the high or low end can skew the average. She found:
2006 — 305 homes sold
Median listing price: $1,299,000
Median selling price: $1,255,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 96.6%
2009 — 183 homes sold
Median listing price: $988,000
Median selling price: $940,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 95%
Difference between 2006 and 2009: Down 26% in sales dollars, down 40% in volume
January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes sold
Median listing price: $1,158,000
Median selling price: $1,075,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 92.8%
January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes under contract
Median listing price: $988,000
What’s it all mean?
“To me, the lower median prices at the beginning of this year are because the tax rebate is getting the low-end and first-time buyers to buy,” she says. “And it shows that if houses are priced right, they go fairly quickly.”
Homes in higher ranges usually start selling in March. In fact, she says, March is traditionally the strongest sales month — followed by April and May.
A typical comparative sale, she says, is a “charming Currier and Ives” home on Anchor Lane off North Compo, across from Winslow Park. In 2005 it was listed at $1,195,000, and sold fast — at the listing price.
This year the same home came on the market at $949,900. Again it sold quickly — again at the listing price.
“If the price is right, you’ll sell,” the realtor says.
“But people still have a hard time realizing they’re not going to get what their neighbors got 5 years ago.”
She adds: “On the one hand, that’s sad.
“On the other, maybe it will mean we’ll get more younger buyers coming in. For a while, Westport was one of the fastest-growing graying markets around.”
Dan,
You get what you pay for…..what may be interesting is I’ve raised my kids in West Chester, (suburban Cincinnati) Ohio, we have a nationally ranked school system, as in Westport, I have a $350,000 house (5KSF, not a POS it would easily go for $1.5MM in Wspt) and pay about $5K in property taxes most of which is for schools. By comparison, I’ve heard property taxes in Westport are much more reasonable on a % of assessed value basis plus there’s Longshore, Compo, etc., etc., etc. all of which makes me wish I’d just stayed in town after college was over. In 1960, Cincinnati real estate was much more expensive than Westport.
I am not sure “You get what you pay for” and the Cincinnati analogy is pertinent here. You can find the same amenities mentioned in suburban Houston, Minneapolis, Charlotte or San Diego. The question really is what your return is on investment? My father bought his house here for $48,000 in 1953 and it sold for $675,000 in 2003, torn down and resold for 1.8 million, then resold in 2.3 million in 2005 and then resold again in 2008 for the same 2.3 million. So you see the market exploding and then now flatlining with buyers actually losing money on resale with commissions and taxes. Are the golden days of Westport home market gone? With the Wall Street carpetbaggers so close, probably not. They can always find a way to make money even if it is via Congressional bailout. But I sure wish I could know the name of that agent. A bright, honest real estate agent? Wow, what a find! Come on Dan, reveal your sources.
“To me, the lower median prices at the beginning of this year are because the tax rebate is getting the low-end and first-time buyers to buy”
Right. All those first home buyers at the $1M price-point are driving down prices in Westport. Not-to-mention my doubts that $8k on $1M is a motivator. I think this analysis is bunk.
I think the analysis is right on. It used to
be that 28% of area sales were relocation from
within this area. That figure is way down.
Plus, buyers are purchasing smaller houses
to avoid huge utility and upkeep costs. Thus, this coupled with the tax rebate, you see the market falling off 40%. Perhaps you ought to take a closer look, you are too far away.
Yo afar! $8,000 ain’t a motivator? Whoa, you be in never never land if you believe that ain’t
no motivator for first time buyers. They be fighting over a grand in this market.
Even on the low end for Westport (say 500k), 8k is just about 1.5% of the purchase price of a home. Yes, it’s a higher percent of the down payment, but still only single digits. If that small a rebate is the different between making a highly leveraged bet on housing or not, than you probably shouldn’t be buying. Plus you need to live in the house for 3 years or you have to pay it back.