OK, I keep hearing the news media bashing the housing market day after day after day. While I'm sure there are places that are slow and are experiencing lower pricing trends, Chatham is not one of them. Here are a few statistics from the first quarter of this year. The number of properties sold in all of Chatham stayed approximately the same, going from 47 during the first quarter of 2007 to 48 during the first quarter of 2008, showing that we sold 102% as many properties in the first quarter of 2008 as we did in the first quarter of 2007. And supporting the premise from above that the higher end is more active, the dollar volume of properties sold in all of Chatham increased dramatically from $34.7M in the first quarter of 2007 to $51.7M during the first quarter of 2008, representing a 49% percent increase. Similarly, the average sale price of a property sold in Chatham increased dramatically from $738,400 in the first quarter of 2007 to $1,077,100 in the first quarter of 2008, which amounts to a 46% increase. During this same period, the median price for a property sold in Chatham increased from $605,000 in the first quarter of 2007 to $687,500 in the first quarter of 2008. The underlying data continues to show that the properties under $600,000 and over $1,500,000 have been more active. There is a huge opportunity for buyers in the $600,000 to $1,500,000 range with 107 properties currently on the market.

These are statistics from MLS

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 April Fool The guy calls me up and tells me he's thinking of selling his home. Wants to know what it is worth. So, "natch" I'm up for the listing and off I go to see the house. This was a few days ago. I take the run through, pull my numbers do my thing, and on Monday, yesterday, I jingle him to tell him I've got a number for him.

"Natch", he's not at home so I leave a message. "I have number for you," I say, give me a call. My number is 6 1 7 -...." and so on and so on.

Nothing that day. Today, on April Fools he calls.

"Ah," I say, "Glad you called, "I've got a number for you. I'd like to get together and discuss how it came about and share with you how I will maximize your..." blah, blah...blah...

And he says, "No need. I like the number, I think we should go with it. I'm surprised...I thought this was a dead market but wow..."

And I am thinking he's got the wrong agent on the line. So says I, "This is Al. over at..."

And he says, "I know I like your number..."

"But," I retort, "I have not given it to you, yet"

"Yes you did on the phone...It was 'six-one-seven'"

Knowing now that my land-line-correspondent is not playing with the full 52, I carefully tread. Delicate, Gentle as a summer wind. "That is my AREA CODE and phone number! Not the dollar number."

To wit, I forward to him the factoid of his home's value. He is crushed. He is deflated. He's decided to wait out the storm and see what next season will bring. In the meantime, I suggested to him he should call me in my Winchester office. My number there is 7-8-1... He can make a quick 160 grand!

Article from "Real estate is Fun" blog

WASHINGTON, March 06, 2008 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today published new FHA and conforming loan limits, based on median home prices as mandated by the Economic Stimulus Act signed by President Bush in February. New loan limits for FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now calculated at 125 percent of the HUD published median prices, with a floor of $271,050 and $417,000, respectively, not to exceed $729,750. NAR expects the impact on the housing market to be significant because of the infusion of capital into the mortgage market, which should result in lower interest rates across the board. In addition, there will be a direct impact on high-cost areas that previously required borrowers to take out costlier jumbo mortgages

The following article appeared in the Boston Globe on March 16, 2008. It is an excellent article providing insight into the Cape Cod real estate market. Click on the link below or paste it into your internet browser to view the article.

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/03/16/the_cape_is_calling