I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. This Sunday I will be doing an open house at 65 Lockwood Lane in Riverside. I believe this is a great value located in a cul de sac within walking distance to schools and train. This could be used as an investment property or a residence.  It has an updated kitchen and is in pristine condition.

This week the house that struck me the most was the above house located at 450 North Street and is currently listed at $4,195,000. This is a beautiful Georgian style Colonial new build.  It is on one acre of land. One aspect that I really like is that it has the prestigious North Street address, yet the driveway entrances are on side streets. One, does not have to contend with the North Street traffic getting in and out of the driveway. The location is ideal as it is steps from North Street Elementary, close to town, and not far from the Merritt. At first look my concern was that the house sits so close to North Street, the traffic may be a nuisance. However, the builder did a great job with the frontage wall, giving the feel you are farther from the street. The back yard is sloped downwards.  It has 6 bedrooms and 7.5 baths. There has incredible detail throughout the house. The main floor has a very open feel with high ceilings and a nice flow from room to room. The amenities include a gorgeous kitchen, four fireplaces, a lower level that includes; a game room, a wine cellar, a home theatre, and an in-law suite.

In the month of June we passed the 2010 numbers. Due to the Conveyance tax that hit July 1, 2011 we cannot really look at June of 2011 as a fair metric. We can combined June and July of this year and compare that to June and July of last year to give us a true assessment of the market.

Below you will find my analysis of the market, open houses, as well as mortgage information. I am still working on touching it up, but feel free to check it out at www.greenwichrealestateguy.com.  

Properties Sold         As you look at this chart June of 2011 jumps out with a huge spike of 120 sold properties.  However, there was a rush to close properties before the new conveyance tax hit on July 1st of 2011.  In my opinion, we have to look at June and July together to see where the market is currently vs 2011.  The positive being that May and June of this year outpaced May and June of 2010 whereas in the first four months of the year 2010 was busier than 2012.   New Listings     It looks as for the first time this year new listings did not outpace last year's numbers.  We will have to wait for the actual report which is usually ten days from now, but it looks like the unofficial numbers from June put us below last year's totals for new listings.

Year to Date Sold   This chart shows us the breakdown of the 320 properties sold year to date. As you can see, the 0-1M range is 41.5% of the properties that have sold. Yet, it is only 23% of the properties that are currently available. This is again reflective of the different markets that each price range is currently trading in. The lower price points are more seller's markets than the other price points. Whereas, the more expensive ranges the buyers have the majority of the leverage.     Year to Date Available      As, we are exactly halfway through the year, I feel it is the right time to illustrate the months on average it would take to sell through the inventory we have. In the $0-$500K range we have 6.36 months on average to sell through. $500K-$1M  we have 7.98 months. $1M-$1.5M we have 11.48 months. $1.5M-$2M we have 10.86 months. $2M-$3M we have 15.27 months.  $3M-$4M we have 21.82 months. $4M-$5M we have 37.33 months. $5M-$7.5M we have 30.92 months. $7.5-$10M we have 57 months. $10M and above we have 40.29 months. Again, illustrating the higher the price range the stronger the leverage for the buyer.

Open Houses July 8th       I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. The Greenwich fireworks are on Saturday at Binney Park, and Todd's Point Beach in Old Greenwich.  I hope to see you there. This week there are only two open houses, and I am doing one of them. I am not sure if that is a good sign or a bad sign.  Enjoy your week.   Address Town Price Time Broker 453 East Putnam #4A Greenwich $510K 12-3 pm Prudential 65 Lockwood Lane Riverside $1.769M 1-4 pm Prudential

Mortgage Information   The two individuals I feel most confident about when it comes to home mortgages are Jeff Ihrig of HSBC and Iliad Estrada or Ct. Home Mortgage.   Jeff's rates can be found at:    http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal/home-loans    Jeff can be reached at 646-372-5181.   Rates below courtesy of Iliad Estrada.  She can be reached at 203-637-6202.     CT Mortgage Rates Product Interest Rates APR 15 YR Fixed Conforming 2.625% 2.863% 30 YR Fixed Conforming 3.375% 3.514% 30 Year Fixed Agency Jumbo n/a n/a 30 YR  Fixed Jumbo 3.990% 4.116% 5/1 YR ARM Conforming 2.250% 3.081% 5/1 YR ARM Jumbo 2.250% 3.060% 10/1 YR ARM Jumbo 3.375% 3.453%  Updated: Friday June 22, 2012