The above pictured just completed 2015 construction is located at 2 Binney Lane. Located south of the village on this coveted street, the new owners will be close to school, the village and the beach. The custom detailed home consists of five bedrooms, four and one half baths, with a beautiful open flow perfect for entertaining. My favorite aspects of the home are the nine foot ceilings, the double height family room with a fireplace, and the chef's kitchen with marble island with Bosch dishwasher, Wolf Range, and SubZero refrigerator. The master suite has a great walk in closet, and beautiful bath. The house is priced at $2.895M.
There are currently 737 properties for sale in Greenwich up two from last week. The charts are updated as of August. I have invested in my own MLS portal for individuals to set up their own custom searches. This way people can follow their specific search by area, school, price point, lot size, s.f. etc. Feel free to search properties. For a customized search click the gray arrows and you can edit the fields. For example, it is currently populated with all properties clicked. You can just click Residential then click type, area, and price range, and you can see what is available in your specific price range. After you have narrowed the search to your liking you can click "save this search" and you can set up your own portal, and receive emails as new properties come available. You can even track your favorites, and add notes or messages about properties. Or, you can just email me our parameters and I can set up a portal for you.
The goal of this blog has always been to inform buyers and sellers alike. I feel the Q3 Greenwich Report that the owners of my company put out, best describe the current landscape and market. You can click on the whole report broken down by area below. Here is what their summary is:
This summer had us doing a lot of number crunching here in Greenwich. The local market varies dramatically depending
on the neighborhood. While Greenwich itself remains a highly desirable area, buyers are willing to wait on the sidelines for the
right property. Our team has become experts on the complicated and changing variables driving the current market, and what
makes a property sell.
Wall Street's volatility is increasingly evident in the real estate market. The summer was a roller coaster for investors, who
remain on edge. Those jitters have naturally spread to the housing market and have made buyers wary of making the wrong
move. They demand value to get off the sidelines. Recent evidence of some economic weakness has many believing rates will stay low for longer than expected, giving buyers even less reason to compromise, or buy into a property that isn't turnkey.
Here are some trends we see as the rest of 2015 plays out:
Get ready to play "Deal or No Deal". If your property is well renovated, in move-in condition, and priced right, you will be able
to make a deal. Bonus points if you are near transportation, restaurants, shopping and schools that buyers want. But be warned.
Miss on any of those and buyers may bypass your offering, and you will be scrambling to re-group. Buyers don't want to play
games. They don't want to lowball. They want value and quality.
Fishing is not the sport of choice this season. Sellers must be realistic when setting a price. Many properties are sitting on
the market for longer than we would like. The key to cutting down Days On Market is setting the right price from the start. Let's
take some advice from Marie Kondo, author of "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and
Organising". That means staging, painting and perhaps most importantly, de-cluttering. Sellers must take steps to limit the
creativity a buyer needs to imagine what their life would be like in the house.
Some regional statistics we'd like to share:
Buyers with the biggest budgets can take their pick in Greater Greenwich. There is a lot to choose from in the $10m plus
category with 53 homes to choose from. That said, the hottest price range in the area is the $5-6m, where sales are up 77 percent year-to-date. Overall though, the number of sales is down in the area, and they are taking longer to sell, but prices are higher.
Buyers will pay a premium for new or renovated properties.
Patience is a virtue North of the Parkway: Homes sat on the market the longest in the area, an average of 276 days. It's no
surprise that prices fell. But in the end that value pricing resonated with buyers, and units sold rose 66 percent.
Location paid off South of the Parkway: Buyers were willing to pay more to be close to town. The median price of a home went
up 27 percent in the third quarter. It still took a long time to make those sales, and the number of homes sold held steady, but
more expensive homes did show gains.
The laws of supply and demand worked in sellers favor South of Post Road. Homes got 97 percent of their last list price, and
median prices were up 11 percent in the third quarter. There were fewer homes to choose from. That meant fewer days on the
market, and a faster moving market working in favor of smart sellers.
Cos Cob took a break after a strong first half of the year. Inventory grew, and sat on the market longer. Prices fell, as did sales.
Old Greenwich also slowed down, moderating after a strong 18 months. Both prices and sales were lower, though there was some
improvement in the amount of time it took to sell a home.
Riverside was a mixed bag. More homes sold, but prices were down. Homes that sold were on the market a relatively short
amount of time, at an average of 89 days. The hottest category here was the $4m to $5m range. That is typically a new home or a
fully renovated home.
Condo sales remain solid, but value remains a high priority for buyers. Prices are down, as is inventory. Buyers are holding
out for renovated opportunities, but only at the right price.
Outlook for the rest of 2015: We are energized and excited about the continued appeal of the Greenwich area. We are thrilled to
report that Houlihan Lawrence was the sole brokerage behind the largest transaction of the third quarter. We have the data and
expertise to get the best results for our clients, and look forward to sharing more good news with you, as we get ready for 2016.
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
Properties Sold
We have sold 606 properties year to date. There were 88 properties sold in Greenwich last month which is on target vs the last few years.
New Listings
We had 61 new listings in Greenwich in August, which is also in line with the last few year's numbers.
Year to Date Sold
Looking at these two graphs as well as the months on average can really guide you on the markets in your price range. As you can see the markets are a lot more competitive under $2M than over.
Year to Date Available
In an effort to define the different markets as a good time to buy or sale I believe one needs to look at the months on average it would take to sell through the inventory we have. The first chart is the 2014 inventory vs. sold numbers. The second chart is inventory today vs. sold properties.
