I feel that I have done so many colonials as my featured property that it was time to pick a different style. The above pictured English Manor home is located at 22 Frost Road in mid country. The home sits on 2.53 acres on Horseneck Lake, was built in 1929 and renovated in 2013. The grounds contain winding paths in a beautiful setting with great views and a lakeside dock. The house is listed as 6,980 s.f. and the amenities are plentiful including, four car garage, a billiards room with a stunning stone fireplace and custom bar, an incredible master suite with a breathtaking balcony overlooking the lake. The house holds eight bedrooms, six full baths and two half baths, was redesigned by Shope Reno Wharton and is priced at $5.995M.
As you will see in the charts below. January is off to just as hot of a start as 2013 ended, if not even hotter. We have already had two over $10M properties sell in the first two weeks of the year. Last year we only had eight sell in the whole year, and the first one did not sell until late July. We have already sold 34 properties in the first two weeks of the year, where we sold 41 in the whole month of January last year. I will keep my 2013 review to give you a comparison as we get January's data.
When we look at 2013 as a whole we can definitely see the market turn. We sold 834 units, compared to 722 in 2012. However, when we dig into the data we realize that it was the story of two different markets. The under $3M market and the over $3M market. Every price range under $3M grew. In 2013 we sold 710 properties under $3M compared to 583 in 2012. That is a 22% increase, which is incredible growth in one year. However, over $3M we sold 124 units compared to 139 in 2012, which is an 11% decrease.
Obviously, this is looking at 2013 as a whole. It is important when looking at these numbers to compare with the current market. I believe these numbers show that last year was the market regaining it's momentum. In the beginning of the year it was anything under $1M was flying off the shelves, in the middle of the year it was anything under $2M, and by the end of the year, under $3M was heating up. Hence, as we look at 2014, I believe we will see two things happen. I believe the message will get out that the market has changed and we will see an onslaught of inventory in the spring. It will be very interesting to see if that inventory moves quickly or not. Secondly, I believe we will see the luxury market pick up steam. If you look below at the Market Report pay close attention to the right side which shows the difference in the past two years. For example the over $10M properties was down 43% last year. However, our first property over $10M did not sell until late June, so in actuality we had eight properties sell in the last five and a half months. Plus, there are three properties currently priced over $10M that are in contract or have executed contract. Hence, you can see that even though 2013 as a whole was tough for that market, it is definitely a stronger market now than in the first six to nine months of 2013.
There is a lack of inventory currently as properties come off of the market for the year end. In my opinion that points to an onslaught of inventory in Spring. If, you are looking to put your house on the market I would advise to put on before rather than later, as I feel there the philosophy of waiting until the spring market is outdated with the internet. The difficulty with that thought process is if everyone else is doing the same then you are competing against numerous properties. However, if you put it between now and February you have the opportunity to differentiate yourself online as well as the Realtor Community. As Realtors we tour houses every Tuesday and Thursday, and if there are not a lot of broker open houses your house will be seen by a lot of Realtors which obviously helps in those realtors showing your house. Currently, we have 455 properties on the market. When you look at my blog from the end of September we had 656 properties, which is a 31 percent decrease in total inventory in the last couple of months.
Please let me know if you would like me to provide customized information or statistics for you based on your criteria.
**The information on the featured property and all statistical information is from the Greenwich MLS.
**All opinions garnered from the statistics are my own
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