Cape Cod Real Estate Market

Just Listed! Eastham 3 Bedroom Ranch For Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Situated on a nice corner lot, this well-maintained, expanded and updated ranch offers modern amenities and first floor living. From the modern Ikea kitchen with custom Granite countertops and stainless appliances, to the central air with whole-house dehumidifier and air purifier and built-in Bose sound system, this 3 bedroom, 2 full bath home surprises with its completeness. Professionally landscaped, the yard has mature plantings, an underground sprinkler system and enough space in the back yard for croquet. A room with glass atrium offers a unique space for entertaining or dining. With Ocean, Bay and Fresh water beaches all within a 3 mile radius, this house makes a for a great Summer retreat or year-round home. $445,000.00

More Info

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Cape Cod Assessed Values - Search Site

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Lower Cape PC Services, in a push to position their company as a local REALTOR and Real Estate Services technology resource, has created a new website with helpful links.

CapeFieldCards.com provides a central site location to find assessed values of properties all over Cape Cod.

In addition to providing full tech support to agents and Real Estate offices on Cape Cod, Lower Cape PC Services has been providing computer repair and backup services to Cape Cod residents and businesses since 2006. Located on Eldredge Parkway in Orleans, LCPS has always worked hard to provide comprehensive and affordable technology help to the area.

One service that has become more and more essential in daily computing is backup. LCPS provides an in-house secure and easy to implement backup solution called CapeBackup. In addition to ensuring that data is backed up securely and automatically, Lower Cape PC techs monitor your backup account to ensure that backups are occurring regularly. Should you need to restore files, LCPS will help you get your data back - without further charge.

Facts and Trends Reports...

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:32:00 +0000

*** Publisher's Note ***:
If your email program is not displaying the chart graphs properly, please click on the following link which will take you to a web page that contains the graphs:
Show charts

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2009
Location : Brewster , Chatham , Eastham , Orleans
Number of Homes For Sale vs. Sold
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

	6 months
	Oct 08	Mar 09	% Change
For Sale	618	554	-10.4%
Sold	46	22	-52.2%
Pended	38	23	-39.5%

Date	10/08	11/08	12/08	1/09	2/09	3/09
For Sale	618	571	526	508	522	554
Sold	46	25	31	23	15	22
Pended	38	20	22	22	16	23
Mon of Inv. on Sold	13.4	22.8	17.0	22.1	34.8	25.2
Mon of Inv. on Pended	16.3	28.6	23.9	23.1	32.6	24.1
Avg. Act Price	1045	1045	1038	1051	1041	1029
Avg. Sld Price	945	613	501	532	736	685
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	444.67	298.52	315.31	339.25	387.61	311.67
Sold/List Diff. %	93	94	92	91	90	88
Days On Market	128	157	185	197	182	255
Median Price	504	439	380	400	375	562

All reports presented are based on data supplied by the Massachussets Real Estate, New Hampshire Real Estate, Boston Real Estate and Cape Cod Real Estate or their MLS. Neither the Associations nor their MLSs guarantee or are in anyway responsible for their accuracy. Data maintained by the Associations or their MLSs may not reflect all real estate activities in the market. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2009
Location : Brewster , Chatham , Eastham , Orleans
Average Home Sold Price per SQFT
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

	6 months
	Oct 08	Mar 09	% Change
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	445	312	-29.9%

Date	10/08	11/08	12/08	1/09	2/09	3/09
For Sale	618	571	526	508	522	554
Sold	46	25	31	23	15	22
Pended	38	20	22	22	16	23
Mon of Inv. on Sold	13.4	22.8	17.0	22.1	34.8	25.2
Mon of Inv. on Pended	16.3	28.6	23.9	23.1	32.6	24.1
Avg. Act Price	1045	1045	1038	1051	1041	1029
Avg. Sld Price	945	613	501	532	736	685
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	444.67	298.52	315.31	339.25	387.61	311.67
Sold/List Diff. %	93	94	92	91	90	88
Days On Market	128	157	185	197	182	255
Median Price	504	439	380	400	375	562

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2009
Location : Brewster , Chatham , Eastham , Orleans
Avg DOM & SP/LP %
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

	6 months
	Oct 08	Mar 09	% Change
Avg. Days on Market	128	255	99.2%
Sold/List Diff. %	93	88	-5.4%

Date	10/08	11/08	12/08	1/09	2/09	3/09
For Sale	618	571	526	508	522	554
Sold	46	25	31	23	15	22
Pended	38	20	22	22	16	23
Mon of Inv. on Sold	13.4	22.8	17.0	22.1	34.8	25.2
Mon of Inv. on Pended	16.3	28.6	23.9	23.1	32.6	24.1
Avg. Act Price	1045	1045	1038	1051	1041	1029
Avg. Sld Price	945	613	501	532	736	685
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	444.67	298.52	315.31	339.25	387.61	311.67
Sold/List Diff. %	93	94	92	91	90	88
Days On Market	128	157	185	197	182	255
Median Price	504	439	380	400	375	562

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2009
Location : Brewster , Chatham , Eastham , Orleans
Avg Price For Sale & Sold
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

	6 months
	Oct 08	Mar 09	% Change
Avg. Active Price	1045	1029	-1.5%
Avg. Sold Price	945	685	-27.5%

Date	10/08	11/08	12/08	1/09	2/09	3/09
For Sale	618	571	526	508	522	554
Sold	46	25	31	23	15	22
Pended	38	20	22	22	16	23
Mon of Inv. on Sold	13.4	22.8	17.0	22.1	34.8	25.2
Mon of Inv. on Pended	16.3	28.6	23.9	23.1	32.6	24.1
Avg. Act Price	1045	1045	1038	1051	1041	1029
Avg. Sld Price	945	613	501	532	736	685
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	444.67	298.52	315.31	339.25	387.61	311.67
Sold/List Diff. %	93	94	92	91	90	88
Days On Market	128	157	185	197	182	255
Median Price	504	439	380	400	375	562

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2009
Location : Brewster , Chatham , Eastham , Orleans
Months of Inventory Based on Closed Sales
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

	6 months
	Oct 08	Mar 09	% Change
Months of Inventory (Closed Sales)	13.4	25.2	88.1%

Date	10/08	11/08	12/08	1/09	2/09	3/09
For Sale	618	571	526	508	522	554
Sold	46	25	31	23	15	22
Pended	38	20	22	22	16	23
Mon of Inv. on Sold	13.4	22.8	17.0	22.1	34.8	25.2
Mon of Inv. on Pended	16.3	28.6	23.9	23.1	32.6	24.1
Avg. Act Price	1045	1045	1038	1051	1041	1029
Avg. Sld Price	945	613	501	532	736	685
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	444.67	298.52	315.31	339.25	387.61	311.67
Sold/List Diff. %	93	94	92	91	90	88
Days On Market	128	157	185	197	182	255
Median Price	504	439	380	400	375	562

Kinlin Grover shedding GMAC’s ownership

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:26:00 +0000

by Glenn Ritt Published in Cape Business March/April 2009

Doug Azarian may be just the person to watch if you are trying to gauge the direction of Cape Cod’s changing real estate industry. Last month, he merged his Falmouth-based independent agency – Dream Homes – with Kinlin Grover, enhancing that company’s position as No. 1 in residential sales from Provincetown to Sandwich.

In normal times, Azarian’s decision not to renew his Century 21 franchise might engender nothing more than curiosity. But Azarian, former president of both the Massachusetts and Cape Cod & Islands Realtors associations, joined Kinlin Grover only weeks after it was sold by GMAC to a division of Canadian conglomerate Brookfield Asset Management.

Why make such a big move when Kinlin Grover is undergoing a birthing amid the most challenging real estate market in a generation?

Azarian’s answer has many dimensions:

• The decade-long trend that has seen massive consolidation of real estate agencies by giants like GMAC, Cerberus and now Apollo Management LLP appears to be ebbing, or even disappearing, under the leveraged weight of the nation’s mortgage meltdown and credit crunch.

• The franchise brands these companies own or owned – Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA – are thus in question, making agencies like Azarian’s think twice about their long-term value.

• Just as local and community banks are benefiting from the problems of regional and national banks, local real estate companies are viewed increasingly as more effective and stable to buyers and sellers than the giant conglomerates that dominated the past 10 years.

• While there is growing recognition of the obvious – real estate is local – being too local may not work very well either. Especially in a recession, very small independent agencies must seek economies of scale to survive, especially when it comes to technology and marketing.

That last realization was at the heart of Azarian’s decision to merge his agency in to the Kinlin Grover group of offices.

Kinlin Grover – along with other regional companies, probably represents the next prevailing model here: agencies big enough to achieve critical economies of scale, but still local enough to stay independent, responsive and agile.

This is especially the case for Kinlin Grover, whose roots lie entirely on Cape Cod. The firm now has the largest share of the local residential market by far – three times greater – than any other competitor. Its 12 offices from Provincetown to Sandwich include nearly 250 agents and staff who were involved in some 900+ sales valued at more than half a billion dollars in 2008.

Azarian’s Dream Homes business represents about 50 additional transactions and $40 million to $50 million in annual sales for Kinlin Grover, which appears primed to consider other acquisitions in 2009, according to Bett McCarthy, who was the company’s regional vice president under GMAC and will direct it under the Brookfield umbrella from her South Yarmouth headquarters.

When Kinlin Grover officially replaces the GMAC brand, Brookfield’s won’t be as prominent. Despite the Canadian company’s dominant position north of the border, McCarthy emphasizes that this is a critical time to reclaim Kinlin Grover’s local roots – and position the company for an eventual housing recovery, hopefully by late 2009 or early 2010.

Brookfield’s value is behind the scenes – its global network following the purchase of GMAC real estate will deliver award winning services throughout 47 states, Canada, Europe and Asia. With 1500 offices across North America, Kinlin Grover will be connected to other strong markets for both sellers and buyers on Cape Cod. It’s an arrangement similar to how agencies such as the OldeCape in Orleans leverage their franchise agreements with Sotheby’s International Realty.

Tracking the local market
From his Falmouth office, Azarian has watched the local market merge with the global one, and now begin to unravel. He also has lived through many sharp cycles, entering the business in the late 1980s – only to encounter within months the worst housing downturn until now.

In addition, Azarian has the benefit of a wide and deep networking circle. After presidential stints for the state and local Realtors associations, he currently sits on the National Association of Realtor’s finance committee, where he has seen the best and worst practices among all sorts of agencies.

All this contributed to his personal vote of confidence in Kinlin Grover. “I feel very comfortable joining them,” he said, noting he has had several opportunities to sell his company to other larger firms in recent years.

“Frankly, I have been impressed on my many trips around the country to encounter Realtors, buyers and sellers who are very familiar with the Kinlin Grover brand,” he said. This was particularly true in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, states that attract many second-home buyers to the Cape.

“Over the last decade, Kinlin Grover is a company with the largest market share across the entire Cape, both in unit sales and dollar-volume sales,” Azarian noted. “And it is a company that has had the largest share of sales over $1 million.

“With my Century 21 franchise agreement coming due, I looked at Kinlin Grover – even with GMAC selling the company off. What I saw was a powerful local brand name that consumers perceive as No. 1, the best real estate company on Cape Cod,” said Azarian, who lives in Sandwich.

“It is a great opportunity to be part of something bigger and better, a single company with a strong infrastructure and professionalism among its agents,” he added. One of those professionals is his wife, Aleta, who manages the Chatham office.

“That fact certainly made my decision even easier,” he said with a smile.

Azarian is eager to share his own experience and expertise with McCarthy and her associates, including Nat Santoro, who was recruited several years ago from Connecticut to expand the company’s commercial division.

“I could not do that with Century 21,” explained Azarian. Each office was independently owned and franchised; and while the owners often tried to cooperate and share resources, “the bottom line was you really were working with someone from a different company.”

Particularly in today’s tough housing market, that kind of voluntary cooperation tends to unravel, he noted. “In contrast, Kinlin Grover lets me be part of something bigger and more cohesive. It is one company, with more structure, direction and consistency.”

Azarian entered the real estate industry just before Robert Kinlin and Paul Grover started their new company in 1992 from an office in Osterville. They rapidly expanded across the Cape; and within seven years, it merged into GMAC, which subsequently combined several other large Northeast agencies into a single division.

At that time, Kinlin and Grover left management to establish their own high-end residential sales brand, but they stayed affiliated with the agency. Under Brookfield, however, they will have no future ties to Kinlin Grover, explained McCarthy, who plans to develop a more prominent premium-home identity for the company in 2009 and beyond.

McCarthy, who successfully managed the Greater Boston Association of Realtors before coming to Kinlin Grover, views Azarian’s arrival as one of many opportunities she intends to take advantage of during this housing down cycle.

Since she arrived, she has helped purchase agencies in Barnstable, Chatham and Plymouth County; and only GMAC’s recent financial meltdown halted that momentum, she explained.

Despite the downturn, Kinlin Grover has maintained a 15 percent market share since the beginning of 2007. No other agency on the Cape has more than 5 percent of sales, based on total dollar value.

“The slow economy offers opportunities along with the challenges,” she said. “This is not Florida or California. The fundamentals are strong here; and there is pent-up demand for the Cape. Prices are historically low, as are mortgage rates.”

It doesn’t hurt either to eventually shed the GMAC brand and welcome Azarian’s far more tantalizing “Dream Homes” moniker.

Published in Cape Business March/April 2009

Facts and Trends Reports...

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:12:00 +0000

*** Publisher's Note ***:
If your email program is not displaying the chart graphs properly, please click on the following link which will take you to a web page that contains the graphs:
Show charts

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Jan. 2009
Location : Orleans
Number of Homes For Sale vs. Sold
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham

	1 year			15 months
	Dec 07	Dec 08	% Change	Oct 07	Dec 08	% Change
For Sale	114	111	-2.6%	123	111	-9.8%
Sold	5	1	-80%	20	1	-95%
Pended	10	3	-70%	8	3	-62.5%

Date	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08	11/08	12/08
For Sale	123	119	114	127	121	130	126	129	120	117	110	128	133	124	111
Sold	20	9	5	10	6	7	7	10	13	7	6	6	9	6	1
Mon of Inv. on Sold	6.2	13.2	22.8	12.7	20.2	18.6	18.0	12.9	9.2	16.7	18.3	21.3	14.8	20.7	111.0
Mon of Inv. on Pended	15.4	13.2	11.4	63.5	12.1	16.3	11.5	12.9	13.3	19.5	22.0	21.3	13.3	31.0	37.0
Avg. Act Price	1155	1178	1192	1210	1209	1163	1150	1115	1148	1141	1152	1026	1021	963	952
Avg. Sld Price	831	870	816	713	681	622	740	826	1002	592	1147	709	781	828	345
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	439.35	374.36	465.98	424.94	379.97	333.74	406.54	328.28	429.98	327.07	630.84	334.38	410.42	359.42	230
Sold/List Diff. %	92	95	89	90	94	92	92	91	92	95	91	92	93	92	89
Days On Market	138	193	179	180	189	271	281	222	244	117	226	117	64	178	152
Median Price	648	585	580	568	702	575	518	724	645	470	845	515	499	520	345

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Jan. 2009
Location : Orleans
Average Home Sold Price per SQFT
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham

	1 year			15 months
	Dec 07	Dec 08	% Change	Oct 07	Dec 08	% Change
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	466	230	-50.6%	439	230	-47.6%

Date	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08	11/08	12/08
For Sale	123	119	114	127	121	130	126	129	120	117	110	128	133	124	111
Sold	20	9	5	10	6	7	7	10	13	7	6	6	9	6	1
Mon of Inv. on Sold	6.2	13.2	22.8	12.7	20.2	18.6	18.0	12.9	9.2	16.7	18.3	21.3	14.8	20.7	111.0
Mon of Inv. on Pended	15.4	13.2	11.4	63.5	12.1	16.3	11.5	12.9	13.3	19.5	22.0	21.3	13.3	31.0	37.0
Avg. Act Price	1155	1178	1192	1210	1209	1163	1150	1115	1148	1141	1152	1026	1021	963	952
Avg. Sld Price	831	870	816	713	681	622	740	826	1002	592	1147	709	781	828	345
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	439.35	374.36	465.98	424.94	379.97	333.74	406.54	328.28	429.98	327.07	630.84	334.38	410.42	359.42	230
Sold/List Diff. %	92	95	89	90	94	92	92	91	92	95	91	92	93	92	89
Days On Market	138	193	179	180	189	271	281	222	244	117	226	117	64	178	152
Median Price	648	585	580	568	702	575	518	724	645	470	845	515	499	520	345

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Jan. 2009
Location : Orleans
Avg DOM & SP/LP %
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham

	1 year			15 months
	Dec 07	Dec 08	% Change	Oct 07	Dec 08	% Change
Avg. Days on Market	179	152	-15.1%	138	152	10.1%
Sold/List Diff. %	89	89	0%	92	89	-3.3%

Date	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08	11/08	12/08
For Sale	123	119	114	127	121	130	126	129	120	117	110	128	133	124	111
Sold	20	9	5	10	6	7	7	10	13	7	6	6	9	6	1
Mon of Inv. on Sold	6.2	13.2	22.8	12.7	20.2	18.6	18.0	12.9	9.2	16.7	18.3	21.3	14.8	20.7	111.0
Mon of Inv. on Pended	15.4	13.2	11.4	63.5	12.1	16.3	11.5	12.9	13.3	19.5	22.0	21.3	13.3	31.0	37.0
Avg. Act Price	1155	1178	1192	1210	1209	1163	1150	1115	1148	1141	1152	1026	1021	963	952
Avg. Sld Price	831	870	816	713	681	622	740	826	1002	592	1147	709	781	828	345
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	439.35	374.36	465.98	424.94	379.97	333.74	406.54	328.28	429.98	327.07	630.84	334.38	410.42	359.42	230
Sold/List Diff. %	92	95	89	90	94	92	92	91	92	95	91	92	93	92	89
Days On Market	138	193	179	180	189	271	281	222	244	117	226	117	64	178	152
Median Price	648	585	580	568	702	575	518	724	645	470	845	515	499	520	345

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Jan. 2009
Location : Orleans
Avg Price For Sale & Sold
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham

	1 year			15 months
	Dec 07	Dec 08	% Change	Oct 07	Dec 08	% Change
Avg. Active Price	1192	952	-20.1%	1155	952	-17.6%
Avg. Sold Price	816	345	-17.6%	831	345	-58.5%

Date	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08	11/08	12/08
For Sale	123	119	114	127	121	130	126	129	120	117	110	128	133	124	111
Sold	20	9	5	10	6	7	7	10	13	7	6	6	9	6	1
Mon of Inv. on Sold	6.2	13.2	22.8	12.7	20.2	18.6	18.0	12.9	9.2	16.7	18.3	21.3	14.8	20.7	111.0
Mon of Inv. on Pended	15.4	13.2	11.4	63.5	12.1	16.3	11.5	12.9	13.3	19.5	22.0	21.3	13.3	31.0	37.0
Avg. Act Price	1155	1178	1192	1210	1209	1163	1150	1115	1148	1141	1152	1026	1021	963	952
Avg. Sld Price	831	870	816	713	681	622	740	826	1002	592	1147	709	781	828	345
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	439.35	374.36	465.98	424.94	379.97	333.74	406.54	328.28	429.98	327.07	630.84	334.38	410.42	359.42	230
Sold/List Diff. %	92	95	89	90	94	92	92	91	92	95	91	92	93	92	89
Days On Market	138	193	179	180	189	271	281	222	244	117	226	117	64	178	152
Median Price	648	585	580	568	702	575	518	724	645	470	845	515	499	520	345

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Jan. 2009
Location : Orleans
Months of Inventory Based on Closed Sales
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham

	1 year			15 months
	Dec 07	Dec 08	% Change	Oct 07	Dec 08	% Change
Months of Inventory (Closed Sales)	22.8	111	386.8%	6.2	111	1690.3%

Date	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08	11/08	12/08
For Sale	123	119	114	127	121	130	126	129	120	117	110	128	133	124	111
Sold	20	9	5	10	6	7	7	10	13	7	6	6	9	6	1
Mon of Inv. on Sold	6.2	13.2	22.8	12.7	20.2	18.6	18.0	12.9	9.2	16.7	18.3	21.3	14.8	20.7	111.0
Mon of Inv. on Pended	15.4	13.2	11.4	63.5	12.1	16.3	11.5	12.9	13.3	19.5	22.0	21.3	13.3	31.0	37.0
Avg. Act Price	1155	1178	1192	1210	1209	1163	1150	1115	1148	1141	1152	1026	1021	963	952
Avg. Sld Price	831	870	816	713	681	622	740	826	1002	592	1147	709	781	828	345
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	439.35	374.36	465.98	424.94	379.97	333.74	406.54	328.28	429.98	327.07	630.84	334.38	410.42	359.42	230
Sold/List Diff. %	92	95	89	90	94	92	92	91	92	95	91	92	93	92	89
Days On Market	138	193	179	180	189	271	281	222	244	117	226	117	64	178	152
Median Price	648	585	580	568	702	575	518	724	645	470	845	515	499	520	345

WSJ.com - 2009 Could Be Better Than You Think

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:30:00 +0000

* Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified.

"No, 2008 wasn't just a bad year. It was an awful year. A Johnstown Flood kind of year. The kind that wipes out proud, century-old institutions, decimates entire industries, and leaves everyone decidedly poorer and the world profoundly shaken in its wake.

Enough of that. On to 2009."

Click the following to access the sent link:

WSJ.com - 2009 Could Be Better Than You Think* This article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal for up to seven days after it is e-mailed.


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Facts and Trends Reports...

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:49:00 +0000

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Facts and Trends^TM
Published Nov. 2008
Location : Eastham , Orleans
Number of Homes For Sale vs. Sold
Price Range: $300,000 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Date	8/07	9/07	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08
For Sale	248	247	236	218	203	212	201	211	224	234	229	224	216	233	231
Sold	15	20	25	13	15	20	9	16	11	18	17	15	12	18	13
Mon of Inv. on Sold	16.5	12.4	9.4	16.8	13.5	10.6	22.3	13.2	20.4	13.0	13.5	14.9	18.0	12.9	17.8
Mon of Inv. on Pended	10.3	11.2	14.8	12.8	12.7	42.4	11.2	14.1	14.0	16.7	13.5	18.7	11.4	15.5	11.0
Avg. Act Price	947	950	934	958	967	1014	1006	984	947	905	901	895	894	865	870
Avg. Sld Price	836	579	840	720	623	663	597	704	685	681	885	572	880	674	683
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	423.2	341.87	450.4	342.65	367.49	398.57	338.77	374.74	370.27	326.1	403.19	343.71	471.01	329.48	369.82
Sold/List Diff. %	95	94	92	95	92	92	94	94	93	93	92	96	93	94	93
Days On Market	197	160	170	159	175	147	162	255	234	166	217	137	186	117	84
Median Price	745	473	625	470	568	473	550	565	518	565	492	470	742	502	485

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Nov. 2008
Location : Eastham , Orleans
Average Home Sold Price per SQFT
Price Range: $300,000 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Date	8/07	9/07	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08
For Sale	248	247	236	218	203	212	201	211	224	234	229	224	216	233	231
Sold	15	20	25	13	15	20	9	16	11	18	17	15	12	18	13
Mon of Inv. on Sold	16.5	12.4	9.4	16.8	13.5	10.6	22.3	13.2	20.4	13.0	13.5	14.9	18.0	12.9	17.8
Mon of Inv. on Pended	10.3	11.2	14.8	12.8	12.7	42.4	11.2	14.1	14.0	16.7	13.5	18.7	11.4	15.5	11.0
Avg. Act Price	947	950	934	958	967	1014	1006	984	947	905	901	895	894	865	870
Avg. Sld Price	836	579	840	720	623	663	597	704	685	681	885	572	880	674	683
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	423.2	341.87	450.4	342.65	367.49	398.57	338.77	374.74	370.27	326.1	403.19	343.71	471.01	329.48	369.82
Sold/List Diff. %	95	94	92	95	92	92	94	94	93	93	92	96	93	94	93
Days On Market	197	160	170	159	175	147	162	255	234	166	217	137	186	117	84
Median Price	745	473	625	470	568	473	550	565	518	565	492	470	742	502	485

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Nov. 2008
Location : Eastham , Orleans
Avg DOM & SP/LP %
Price Range: $300,000 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Date	8/07	9/07	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08
For Sale	248	247	236	218	203	212	201	211	224	234	229	224	216	233	231
Sold	15	20	25	13	15	20	9	16	11	18	17	15	12	18	13
Mon of Inv. on Sold	16.5	12.4	9.4	16.8	13.5	10.6	22.3	13.2	20.4	13.0	13.5	14.9	18.0	12.9	17.8
Mon of Inv. on Pended	10.3	11.2	14.8	12.8	12.7	42.4	11.2	14.1	14.0	16.7	13.5	18.7	11.4	15.5	11.0
Avg. Act Price	947	950	934	958	967	1014	1006	984	947	905	901	895	894	865	870
Avg. Sld Price	836	579	840	720	623	663	597	704	685	681	885	572	880	674	683
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	423.2	341.87	450.4	342.65	367.49	398.57	338.77	374.74	370.27	326.1	403.19	343.71	471.01	329.48	369.82
Sold/List Diff. %	95	94	92	95	92	92	94	94	93	93	92	96	93	94	93
Days On Market	197	160	170	159	175	147	162	255	234	166	217	137	186	117	84
Median Price	745	473	625	470	568	473	550	565	518	565	492	470	742	502	485

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Nov. 2008
Location : Eastham , Orleans
Avg Price For Sale & Sold
Price Range: $300,000 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Date	8/07	9/07	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08
For Sale	248	247	236	218	203	212	201	211	224	234	229	224	216	233	231
Sold	15	20	25	13	15	20	9	16	11	18	17	15	12	18	13
Mon of Inv. on Sold	16.5	12.4	9.4	16.8	13.5	10.6	22.3	13.2	20.4	13.0	13.5	14.9	18.0	12.9	17.8
Mon of Inv. on Pended	10.3	11.2	14.8	12.8	12.7	42.4	11.2	14.1	14.0	16.7	13.5	18.7	11.4	15.5	11.0
Avg. Act Price	947	950	934	958	967	1014	1006	984	947	905	901	895	894	865	870
Avg. Sld Price	836	579	840	720	623	663	597	704	685	681	885	572	880	674	683
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	423.2	341.87	450.4	342.65	367.49	398.57	338.77	374.74	370.27	326.1	403.19	343.71	471.01	329.48	369.82
Sold/List Diff. %	95	94	92	95	92	92	94	94	93	93	92	96	93	94	93
Days On Market	197	160	170	159	175	147	162	255	234	166	217	137	186	117	84
Median Price	745	473	625	470	568	473	550	565	518	565	492	470	742	502	485

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Nov. 2008
Location : Eastham , Orleans
Months of Inventory Based on Closed Sales
Price Range: $300,000 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Date	8/07	9/07	10/07	11/07	12/07	1/08	2/08	3/08	4/08	5/08	6/08	7/08	8/08	9/08	10/08
For Sale	248	247	236	218	203	212	201	211	224	234	229	224	216	233	231
Sold	15	20	25	13	15	20	9	16	11	18	17	15	12	18	13
Mon of Inv. on Sold	16.5	12.4	9.4	16.8	13.5	10.6	22.3	13.2	20.4	13.0	13.5	14.9	18.0	12.9	17.8
Mon of Inv. on Pended	10.3	11.2	14.8	12.8	12.7	42.4	11.2	14.1	14.0	16.7	13.5	18.7	11.4	15.5	11.0
Avg. Act Price	947	950	934	958	967	1014	1006	984	947	905	901	895	894	865	870
Avg. Sld Price	836	579	840	720	623	663	597	704	685	681	885	572	880	674	683
Avg. Sq. Ft. Price	423.2	341.87	450.4	342.65	367.49	398.57	338.77	374.74	370.27	326.1	403.19	343.71	471.01	329.48	369.82
Sold/List Diff. %	95	94	92	95	92	92	94	94	93	93	92	96	93	94	93
Days On Market	197	160	170	159	175	147	162	255	234	166	217	137	186	117	84
Median Price	745	473	625	470	568	473	550	565	518	565	492	470	742	502	485

News - Plymouth Rock Studios spotlights jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:08:00 +0000

Lee Wareham thought you'd be interested in this story from the CapeCodOnline.com web site:

Story Title: News - Plymouth Rock Studios spotlights jobs

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080925/NEWS/809250325&emailAFriend=1

----------------------------------------------

Here's what Lee Wareham had to say about the story:

How will Plymouth Rock Studios affect the Cape Cod Real Estate Market? Will Waterfront properties be desirable to transplants?

----------------------------------------------
Visit CapeCodOnline.com today for the latest news and information!

BusinessConnector newsletter July 8, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Has the Cape's housing market stabilized?

The housing market nationwide may still be deteriorating, but there is evidence mounting that the worst is behind us on Cape Cod.

For the third consecutive month, the median price of a single-family home across Barnstable County has held steady, as these numbers show.

June 2007:     $338,000.00     +4.0%
July 2007:      $345,500.00     +2.2%
Aug 2007:      $355,000.00      +2.8%
Sep 2007:      $387,500.00     +9.2%
Oct 2007:       $345,000.00     -11%
Nov 2007:      $330,000.00     +4.3%
Dec 2007:      $329,000.00     -0.3%
Jan 2008:      $323,000.00      -1.8%
Feb 2008:      $327,450.00     +1.4%
Mar 2008:      $310,000.00     -5.3%
Apr 2008:      $315,000.00     +1.6%
May 2008:      $315,501.00     +0.16%
June 2008:    $315,900.00     +0.13

These numbers just released by the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds confirming a growing conviction among real estate experts that the Cape Cod market is not feeling the impact of foreclosures or exotic mortgages that have so bedeviled the nation's housing market.

Housing, after extraordinary price run-ups earlier this decade, began to decline earlier than other markets now harder hit. As a result, Cape Cod may be coming out of the swoon earlier than elsewhere.

One reality that has not changed through the tough housing market: More baby boomers are retiring or choosing second homes. That demographic bubble is sure to benefit places like the Cape, and with housing prices now at relatively reasonable levels, the market is beginning to look more and more attractive.

There is little doubt of pent-up demand. The challenge will be whether potential buyers can sell their homes elsewhere to move here.

Five months of improved conditions for Plymouth housing

Plymouth County, meanwhile, saw its fifth consecutive month of growth in real estate sales. June saw more of a continued slow, but steady improvement, said Registrar of Deeds John R. Buckley Jr.

"While the volume of this year's sales compared to last year has been down each month, the deficit in recorded deeds in 2008 has declined from 18 percent in January, 14 percent through March, 12 percent through April to its current point of a 10 percent decline in June," he said.

Sale prices have dropped dramatically in some areas of the country, and while Plymouth County has seen a decline, the fall has been relatively modest. The average sale price through June was $346,489, down from $378,114 during the same period in 2007.

"We've seen sale prices rise steadily for a number of years," noted Buckley, "so we certainly notice the recent decline in prices. But given the more dramatic fall in other areas of the country, an eight-percent decline in Plymouth County represents a relatively healthy sales market."

Buckley did report a decline in refinance activity in recent months. Plymouth County recorded 2,004 mortgages in June, down from 2,070 in May and 2,283 in April. In total, Plymouth County has recorded in excess of $3 billion in mortgages through June of this year.

Gas prices: The good news for Cape Cod

There is one silver lining to $4.25 cents per gallon gasoline. It seemed to have a positive effect on the Cape's July Fourth holiday business. "This was a really good weekend for us," said Wendy Northcross, president of the Cape Cod Chamber of Congress. "I was amazed by how many Massachusetts license plates I saw in the parking lots. I think that with the cost of travel, a lot of people are staying closer to home this summer."

Betsy Wall of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism told the Boston Globe that hotels and inns were reporting strong business. "It's a pretty sensible response to high gas prices," she said in response to the holiday traffic.

A random survey by Cape Business indicated that the deteriorating weather later in the weekend may have actually helped retailers and restaurants. Most visitors already were on the Cape when the weather turned gray. That drove them to indoor locations, especially on Sunday.

The high price of gas and the dollar's plummeting value may be discouraging many people from long trips across the United States or abroad. That means that fewer Americans are willing to travel more than 50 miles from their homes for weekends – and that could be excellent news for the Cape.

State employment picture remains better than elsewhere

The state continues to outpace the nation on the employment front, although the unemployment rate now is rising.

While a lagging indicator, the most recent numbers for May show the Massachusetts economy added 3,900 jobs, while the national economy has shed nearly 400,000 jobs.

Solid growth has been seen in education and health services, as well as professional, scientific and business services. For the month of May, professional, scientific and business services added 700 jobs, education and health services added 400 jobs, and the governmental sector added the remaining jobs. Among the nine major private super sectors, five recorded job increases while four showed over the month declines.

The state reported that the Massachusetts unemployment rate rose from 4.1 percent in April to 4.9 percent in May, after having dropped three tenths of a percentage point from March to April. While this one month increase mirrors the increase in the national rate which was reported last week; the state rate continues to fall below the national rate of 5.5 percent. One year ago, both the Massachusetts and U.S. rates stood at 4.5 percent. During each of the subsequent 12 months, the Massachusetts rate has been below the U.S. rate. The national rate jumped from 5.0 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May.

Next newsletter, we will feature local employment numbers.

Hollywood East

For a while, it looked as if the prospect of a $300 million film and television studio in Plymouth could evaporate – after the company's initial focus, 300 acres near the Bourne border, proved unfeasible for development due to legal issues over titles to the land.

But last week, Plymouth Rock Studios announced it would be purchasing the Waverly Oaks Golf Club off Exit 3 of Route 3 for its planned 14 sound stages, back lots, a hotel and office buildings.

The project still must go through a rezoning vote this fall, but town residents and selectmen have indicated a strong desire to see the so-called Hollywood East project come to the town, where it promises to employ several thousand people over coming years and become a draw for an entirely new, high-income, white-collar industry.

In fact, the movie industry has been booming in Massachusetts since lawmakers approved tax incentives designed to lure filmmakers to the state. To learn more about the studios, visit www.plymouthrockstudios.com.

BusinessConnector.biz headlines

When you register your business at BusinessConnector.biz, you can begin publishing your press releases, job openings, sales and special offers immediately. Here are some of this week's headlines from our members. Once you register for $149 for the year you can begin to publish all sorts of information about your business. All Business Connect 2008 sponsors get their account free for being part of the conference.

To read more details about the following news, go to BusinessConnector.biz.

• Complete Home Concepts makes its conference rooms available to business organizations and nonprofit groups to use free of charge. Located within Complete Home Concepts in Hyannis and Plymouth, the rooms are available during business hours and can seat up to 45 people in classroom seating and includes an LCD projector, screen and podium within the room.
• Joel G. Crowell, President of Cape Cod Cooperative Bank, is pleased to announce the successful hosting of the Digikids Child Safety ID Program at the East Harwich Branch of the bank. "This was a very rewarding experience for the bank," said Crowell. "Sponsoring this program for our community was very important to us."
• Richard L. Rowe Jr., President and COO of Scituate Federal Savings Bank of Marshfield, was elected East Regional Director of the board of directors for the Financial Managers Society at its annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
• The Cape Cod Commission will hold three open houses this month on the 2008 Regional Policy Plan. Topics include land use and economic development; water and coastal resources; and transportation, waste management and energy.
• First Citizens' Federal Credit Union announced the appointment of Kevin J. Inkley as Senior Vice President, Lending. In his new position, Inkley will be responsible for creating, managing and implementing First Citizens' strategic planning programs regarding consumer and business lending programs, including direct and indirect programs and mortgages as well as collections.
• Damon, Topham & Company LLC, a full-service multidisciplined firm providing accounting, business development and financial services, has been named one of the area's largest accounting firms by the Boston Business Journal. The Marshfield company was recognized as No. 49 on the Boston Business Journal's list of sizeable accounting firms. The firm has two offices (Marshfield and Boston) and a staff of 11.
• Christopher Joyce, founder and owner of Joyce Landscaping Inc. of Marstons Mills, has received the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce's 2008 Business Excellence Award for service companies. He was honored for his "ongoing dedication to local job creation, community involvement and public service," the chamber said during recent awards ceremonies at its annual dinner and meeting in Falmouth.
• The 2008 American Business Women's Association Cape Cod Charter Chapter scholarship will benefit three women with $1,500 each. To learn more, please contact JoAnna Watson at jwatson@capecod.net
• Job postings include: Curley Direct Marketing in South Yarmouth seeks a part-time, highly motivated administrative assistant.
• Meet our newest member businesses: Cape Cod Mall, Mid-Cape Home Centers, Lady Slipper Stationery, Lipman Development Strategies LLC, DeMelo Brothers Inc., Platinum Auto Service, Account Ability.

New head for Sandwich chamber; merger proposed with SAFLP

Kate Bavelock is the new executive director of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce. Her appointment also is spurring a potential merger of the Sandwich Alliance of Financial and Legal Professionals with the chamber.

After several meetings with executive board members from both groups and Bavelock's recent appointment, the two organizations voted to merge. The SAFLP would become a committee of the chamber, said Tim Cooney, an original founder of the alliance.

The alliance was established several years ago because Sandwich was attracting many new attorneys and financial advisers who saw the location as a hub not only on the Cape but across the canal and throughout Southeast Massachusetts.

One inhibiting factor in the group's growth has been a relative scarcity of office space in Sandwich. Some founding members, in fact, have been forced to look in other towns for space.

Pass it on

If you know someone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, you can easily forward up to five copies at once.

--
Lee Wareham - REALTOR®, TRC, e-PRO
The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate
193 Cranberry Highway - Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 x141, 774-313-6091 Mobile
508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:lwareham@kinlingrover.com
http://LeeWareham.com

http://www.CapeTuckerGroup.com - The Tucker Group Cape Cod Real Estate Team Website

http://LoCape.com - a new "narrow search" local search engine - indexing lower Cape Cod websites only. Brought to you by the Tucker Group.

http://SearchCapeCodRE.com – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

Cape Cod Facts and Trends Reports - Jan. - Mar. 2008...

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:39:00 +0000

Below is a Facts and Trends report for the data available from the Cape and Islands MLS for three Lower Cape Cod towns. March is now included. The most important thing we're seeing is that while list prices are slightly down, the sold prices are holding firm, or up a little (March 2008 avg. sold price is about the same as May of 2007). We are starting to hear about multiple offers on properties that are being perceived as great values currently. There are always people who want to buy here, and it seems they are not as affected by the current Mortgage environment.

There are now 51 properties under agreement and pending sale in these three towns. 19 in Brewster, 14 in Eastham and 18 in Orleans. Inventory is beginning to shrink and that likely means we'll be seeing changes here.

As always, if you would like a customized trend report for any town in Massachusetts, I can prepare one for you.

Regards,

Lee Wareham

774-313-6091

Show charts

Facts and Trends^TM
Published Apr. 2008
Location : Brewster , Eastham , Orleans
Number of Homes For Sale vs. Sold vs. Pended
Price Range: $0 - No Limit
SQFT Range: 0 - No Limit
Single Family Homes		Prepared for you by: Lee Wareham, REALTOR

Festive Cape Rep Theatre Fund Raiser at Willy's/Eastham April 19th - Please Come!

noreply@blogger.com (Sally Tucker) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:26:00 +0000

As a proud member of the Board of Directors at Cape Rep Theatre, nestled in the woods opposite Nickerson State Park on Route 6A in Brewster, I am hoping you'll be able to join us for an evening of fun and entertainment.

Cape Rep Fund Raiser Flyer

Sally

P.S. It's not the yellow building at the entrance. It's a wonderful 142-seat theatre with comfortable seats, summer air-conditioning, and the very best quality that Cape Cod theater has to offer...

Sally Tucker

The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate

193 Route Cranberry Highway – Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 ext. 141 Toll Free, 508-237-3765 Mobile, 508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:SallyTuckerCapeCod@comcast.net

http://CapeTuckerGroup.com

www.SearchCapecodRE.com – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

www.LoCape.com - NEW! Localized search engine for Brewster, Eastham, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans.

Be It Ever So Illogical: Homeowners Who Won’t Cut the Price

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:54:00 +0000

March 26, 2008

Economic Scene

Be It Ever So Illogical: Homeowners Who Won't Cut the Price

By DAVID LEONHARDT

In 2005, Randolph Harrison and his wife, Pamela, decided to move north from Silicon Valley, over the Golden Gate Bridge into wooded Marin County to be closer to her new job. They found a six-bedroom house that seemed ideal except for the price, $1.875 million. The current owner, they knew, had bought the house a year earlier for $1.475 million.

So the couple, who both have finance jobs in the technology industry, told their real estate agent that they wanted to offer $1.575 million. He told them that the owner wouldn't even listen to such a low bid. The owner's attitude was "we'll just stay here until we sell it for 1.875," the agent said, "even if it takes years."

Three years ago, when the real estate bubble was still inflating, this sort of standoff was the exception. It's the norm today. Overall home sales have fallen a remarkable 33 percent since the summer of 2005. Home prices, on the other hand, continued to rise until 2006 and are now only 5 to 10 percent below where they were in mid-2005, according to various measures.

In most other areas of the economy, this combination of plummeting sales and stable prices would not happen. When demand for airline tickets drop, the airlines cut their prices until they have sold their seats. When stocks become less appealing, share prices fall, sometimes sharply.

Just try to imagine stock prices staying roughly flat over a three-year period while sales volumes sank because investors considered the market overvalued. Bear Stearns is still worth $150 a share, and I'm not selling until someone pays me $150!

Real estate, though, is different. For both economic and psychological reasons, there is no asset more conducive to hopeful overvaluation.

That means real estate slumps tend to grind on for years, until sellers submit to reality and reduce their prices. This week's batch of economic reports suggest that the adjustment is finally starting to happen. The decline in house prices is accelerating, especially in some of the big metropolitan areas covered by the Case-Shiller index released Tuesday, while the number of home sales has recently risen a bit.

But prices still have a ways to fall. Relative to the economic fundamentals — like incomes and housing supply — the average price nationwide seems to be about 10 percent too high. (This, of course, hides a lot of variation. In Texas, prices look sensible, while in much of Florida and Arizona, they are probably about 25 percent too high.)

The slow unwinding of the real estate excess, in turn, means that the turmoil in the financial markets and the country's broader economic problems also aren't anywhere near their end. Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, recently told Congress that the stabilization of prices was "what we're looking forward to." That is, the end of the real estate slump is the only thing that can get the economy back on solid ground.

Until house prices stop falling, it won't be clear how many more people will default on their mortgages. Even homeowners who stay current on their mortgage payments will be affected. With the value of their largest asset dropping, many will decide to spend less and save more, aggravating the economic slowdown.

On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported that Americans were more pessimistic about the economy's direction over the next six months than at any point since the bad old days of the 1973 oil embargo.

In many ways, it would be better if the housing correction would happen more swiftly and sharply. The pain might be worse, but it would be over quickly. We seem to understand this principle when we're removing a bandage. Why, then, is it so much harder with housing?

Because houses are almost perfectly engineered to trick owners into overvaluing them.

For starters, people have an obvious emotional connection to their house. After you have raised a family or enjoyed long meals with friends there, you are naturally going to place a higher value on it than a dispassionate buyer would. It's your home.

In normal times, buyers and sellers can still come to an agreement because inflation allows sellers to feel that they have made a nice return on their house. People don't sell houses frequently, so the sale price of a house is almost always higher than it was when the current owner bought it, just as the price of food, haircuts and everything else tends to rise over a five- or 10-year span. Because of leverage — the fact that people buy houses mostly on credit — these inflation-driven price increases turn into true investment gains.

In the wake of the biggest housing boom on record, it's understandably hard to accept a new reality. Robert Glinert, a real estate agent in the Los Angeles area, said he has recently been saying no to almost half the sellers who have asked him to represent them. Their initial asking price is just too unrealistic.

"People say, 'I don't care about the market — my home is still worth what I paid for it in 2006,' " Mr. Glinert told me. "And I say, 'To you. Only to you.' "

Doing what Mr. Glinert is asking sellers to do — dropping the asking price below their purchase price — is especially difficult. It's tantamount to admitting defeat.

David Laibson, a leading behavioral economist, categorizes this sort of behavior under the heading of "the principle of the matter." His point is that people often go to great lengths to avoid taking a loss — or simply having to acknowledge one. "Even a small loss evokes a sense of frustration," said Mr. Laibson, a professor at Harvard. "There's something magical about 'at least breaking even.' "

Often, this hurts no one so much as it hurts the would-be sellers. They stay in homes where they no longer want to live, rather than accepting their loss and moving on. Or they move but endure the hassle of renting out their old home, waiting, usually in vain, for the mythical buyer who understands its charms. All the while, their money is tied up in the house, and inflation is eating away at its real value.

Back in 2005, after Mr. Harrison and his wife couldn't find a house they considered fairly valued, they opted to rent instead. They pay $3,250 a month for a four-bedroom home, which is a bargain relative to what their mortgage payments would have been.

And that six-bedroom house listed for $1.875 million? The last Mr. Harrison checked, it still hadn't sold.

E-mail: leonhardt@nytimes.com

Home resales up first time in seven months

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:29:00 +0000

ECONOMIC REPORT

Home resales up first time in seven months

Median sales prices plunge record 8.2% in past year

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch

Last update: 10:24 a.m. EDT March 24, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Boosted by a record decline in prices, the U.S. housing market showed signs of stability in February, with sales of existing home rising modestly for the first time in seven months, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Resales of U.S. homes and condos rose 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.03 million, ahead of the 4.85 million pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar.

It's the strongest sales pace since October. Sales are down 23.8% compared with a year ago.

Inventories of unsold homes fell 3% to 4.03 million, representing a 9.6-month supply at the February sales pace. Inventories are not seasonally adjusted, but a decline from January to February is unusual. Read more from the NAR.

The median sales price plunged to $195,900, down 8.2% from a year earlier, the largest price decline recorded. Prices of single-family homes fell 8.7% in the past year, also the most since the records begin in 1968.

Since the credit crunch first hit in August, resales have been "stuck" in a narrow range around 5 million, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the real estate agents' trade group.

Sales rose in three of four regions, with the West still lagging. Sales rose 11.3% in the Northeast, 2.5% in the Midwest and 2.1% in the South. Sales fell 1.1% in the West.

Median sales prices are down 13.4% in the West, largely because the market for jumbo loans above $417,000 remains frozen, Yun said.

The median sales prices can be affected by the mix of home sold regionally and within different price ranges. Two other home price indexes that track resales of the same home over time will be released on Tuesday.

Sales of single-family homes rose 2.8% in February to 4.47 million, the second increase in a row and the fastest sales pace since August. Inventories of unsold single-family homes fell 5.5% to 3.43 million, a 9.2-month supply.

Sales of condos rose 3.7% in February to 560,000 annualized. Condo sales are down 29.7% in the past year. Inventories of unsold condos rose 14% to 604,000, a 13-month supply.

The Commerce Department will report on sales of new homes on Wednesday, with economists looking for a decline to 575,000 annualized sales from 588,000.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.

Homes sales dip, but prices rise

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Homes sales dip, but prices rise

March 19, 2008 6:00 AM

CAPE AND ISLANDS

Real estate sales volume continued to fall on the Cape and Islands last month, but median prices edged up, according to numbers released this week by the Cape Cod and Islands Multiple Listing Service.

Last month, 182 residential properties were sold in the region, bringing the total for the year to 367.

These numbers are down from February 2007, when 200 homes were sold, for a total of 417 sales over the first two months of that year.

The median sales price of a residential property was $373,438, up 7 percent from the median of $349,000 in February 2007.

Thus far this year, the median price on the Cape and Islands is $365,000, up from $360,000 over the same period last year.

FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

Online Real Estate Search Surpasses All Other Media

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:38:00 +0000

Research now shows that you are 500% more likely to sell a house through the internet than through a newspaper.

-2006 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

--
Lee Wareham - REALTOR®, TRC, e-PRO
The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate
193 Cranberry Highway - Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 x141, 774-313-6091 Mobile
508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:lwareham@kinlingrover.com
http://LeeWareham.com

http://www.CapeTuckerGroup.com - The Tucker Group Cape Cod Real Estate Team Website

http://LoCape.com - a new "narrow search" local search engine - indexing lower Cape Cod websites only. Brought to you by the Tucker Group.

http://SearchCapeCodRE.com – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

The Cape is Calling

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:22:00 +0000

	THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

REAL ESTATE

The Cape Is Calling

Still kicking yourself for not buying that Cape vacation home years ago? Well, market forces and foreclosures are presenting a second chance, as one intrepid couple discovers.

By Kris Frieswick | March 16, 2008

If you're thinking of purchasing a vacation home on Cape Cod any time soon, stop. Abandon your plans. It's a total sellers' market. Trust me, you can't afford anything you'd want to live in. And the traffic - I mean, do you want to sit in three hours of traffic each way every weekend? Look elsewhere for your vacation home, like New Hampshire or the lakes region of Maine, wherever . . . just not the Cape. Really. You'll be very disappointed.

OK, I'm lying. Statistics, market trends, and reality on the ground make buying a Cape vacation home one of the no-brainer investment decisions of 2008 for those with a 20 percent down payment and pristine credit to meet banks' new stricter requirements and no need to sell an existing home in this tough market. That's why my husband and I are spending most our weekends house hunting. We are relaxed, sipping our piping-hot to-go coffees, politely yielding the way to the other house hunters where Route 6 goes from four lanes to two. In a month, I fear I'll find myself in a drag race to the Sagamore Bridge. (That's why I lied.)

Despite my exaggerated fears, the vacation home buying activity is more likely to resemble a horse race than a drag race. Housing values aren't expected to reverse their slide for another year, based on the latest economists' data. This means that Cape buyers today aren't flippers, investors, or speculators. Today's house hunters are buying because they love the Cape, not because they want to make a quick buck. They'll make money eventually, when things turn around, but this market offers something far more precious: a chance to fulfill a dream that had previously been far from reach - a vacation home on the Cape.

Due to a recent inheritance, my husband and I now quite unexpectedly find ourselves among this group of buyers. When the money came to us, we thought about investing it in a financial portfolio. But you can't watch the sunset from the deck of your mutual fund. You can't walk to the beach from your ETF. You can't host rockin' all-night parties in the backyard of your high-yield CD. So we now find ourselves compulsively scanning the Multiple Listing Service in search of "The House."

There are many reasons why the Cape currently represents a nearly irresistible buying opportunity. First, it's gorgeous down there, in case you haven't been. It possesses some of the finest beaches on earth. "I can feel myself relax the minute I cross the Bourne Bridge," says Courtney French of Norwood, who, with her husband, Warren, purchased a vacation home in Mashpee in October. "I feel like I'm coming home. We can't wait for summer."

Since no one is making any more land on the Cape (and the ocean claims a little of it each year), the amount of buildable property is dwindling. Conservation rules are making it next to impossible to expand many existing homes, says Ed McKenna, an associate with Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod-Berard Associates in Barnstable. Until very recently, the prices of homes on the Cape reflected all of these factors. Which is to say, prices were beyond the reach of most families seeking an affordable second home.

Since the real estate peak in 2005, the median price for a single-family home in Barnstable County (everything on the Cape side of the canal) dropped by 8.7 percent, according to data from the Warren Group, which tracks New England real estate transactions. (These figures do not include foreclosure deeds.) That's a hit, to be sure, but to put it into perspective, prices dropped up to 30 percent in the county in the 1989-1993 real estate crash, recalls John F. Meade, the Barnstable County register of deeds. That crash, which he also witnessed as registrar, was fueled by rampant speculation, overbuilding, and the savings and loan crisis. "I look at this market, and I don't think it comes close to where it was in the early '90s," says Meade. "Back then, you could pick up a great place near the water. They were all over the place and for a reasonable price. I haven't seen that in this market.

What Meade has seen, and we've seen firsthand in our weekly travels to the Cape, is a flood of properties that sold below $200,000 - a real rarity for these parts. "In 2004 and 2005, you didn't see anything less than $300,000," he says. "I'd look at my daily transactions, and everything went for $300,000-plus. Then in the last year or two all of a sudden, you're seeing lots of $200,000-range sales and even some in the $100,000 range." A sector of the market in which Meade has noticed a sales slowdown is the $500,000 to $1 million range. "We're just not seeing those deals, and those were really moving in the early 2000s."

He notes that properties in the high end of the market, $1 million-plus, have been relatively unaffected by the downturn. Many have held their value or continue to appreciate. Others have been in families for a long time or were purchased largely for cash, so their owners still have equity and, even if the home value has decreased, it's unlikely the house is worth less than what, if anything, is owed. These owners have no need to bail out of their properties in this less-than-stellar market.

Our love of the Cape initially interested us in buying a vacation home there. The rate of property foreclosure in Barnstable County - among the highest in Massachusetts - sealed the deal. It's not that we want to buy a foreclosed property - you usually can't make a full inspection prior to making a bid, all sales are "as is," and, often, previous owners must be evicted - but we are interested in the aftereffects of those foreclosures.

Two things happen when foreclosures spike. The first is that since many of those foreclosure auctions end without a bid large enough to cover the cost of the existing mortgage, the bank ends up retaining ownership. The bank must then market the property, often through a realtor, just like a regular home - only much, much cheaper - and bank-owned properties are now flooding the Cape. Bank-owned properties allow a full inspection and price negotiation, as do short sales (when an owner about to be foreclosed upon sells the property at a price that is approved by the bank).

The second effect of a high foreclosure rate is a price drag on all properties for sale. "Comparables," also known as "comps," are the sample properties that buyers and sellers use to determine the offering price for homes, and that bank appraisers use to determine whether the house is worth the purchase price and the mortgage they will write. In many communities, foreclosures are becoming the dominant comps in certain price brackets (in Hyannis, this is true in the $200K-and-under range), which is driving down the fair market value of properties not in foreclosure. It's a bummer for homeowners selling, but it is a powerful negotiating tool that a savvy buyer is a fool not to use. Add in historically low 30-year fixed mortgage rates, and it truly is a perfect time for buyers.

"We were happy about the amount of house we could buy for the price range we were looking in," says French, who ended up buying a three-bedroom, two-bath Saltbox near a freshwater pond in Mashpee for $295,000. The asking price was originally $350,000.

Some towns are softer than others, of course. The farther out the Cape you go, the firmer the market becomes, and there are pockets all along Route 6 that have retained their value. Median single-family home prices in Bourne dropped 16 percent between 2005 and 2007, but Chatham values have merely flattened. Cotuit never stopped appreciating in value. Hyannis home values are getting creamed. How 2008 will play out is anyone's guess, but given the ripple effect of the subprime debacle, increasingly tightened access to loans, and overall decline in property values, no one expects things to truly turn around until the first few months of 2009. That's just fine with us.

WE WANTED TO BUY A HOUSE SOMEWHERE on the elbow of Cape Cod - Chatham, Harwich, Orleans, and Brewster - towns that were expensive to begin with and that have mostly held their value. However, there are short-sale and bank-owned properties coming on the market every week, and when they do, we pounce. Many other homes have sat unsold for far longer than their owners expected. The owners are finally starting to lower their prices in response. Most of the properties we have seen have had at least two price reductions in the past few months.

The first thing we did before we set foot on the Cape was to determine what we were willing to spend, including assumptions about taxes, maintenance, utilities, and the occasional surprise expense (like a roof or boiler repair). We guesstimated that the mortgage payments would be about three-quarters of what we expected to lay out in monthly expenses. Secondly, we got a preapproval letter from our current mortgage company based on those preliminary assumptions. Our third step was to recruit the help of a buyers' broker who would represent us but still receive her commission from the seller. We chose Maria Lamb of Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod-Berard Associates. She specializes in the lower Cape, lives in Chatham, right smack in the middle of the towns we're exploring, and knows most of the available properties by heart.

After our first visit, we dialed in what we wanted (no more than a half-mile from the ocean, at least three bedrooms, a deck and yard, at least 1,000 square feet but no bigger than 1,800) and what we'd pay ($400,000 max and hopefully well below that). Lamb went to work, scouring the MLS for suitable properties, doing drive-bys to determine if they were worth our time, and giving us the real history of many of the "new" listings. A well-worn real-estate trick involves taking an old listing off the market, repricing it, and putting it back on the MLS as a "new listing," which will place it near the top of the many listings vying for your attention.

The first house we looked at was exactly what we wanted, an adorable three-bedroom Cape, huge backyard, a half-mile from the beach in Harwich, sold fully furnished with items that we actually liked. Many vacation homes come furnished - some with beautiful pieces, some in a style best described as Early Frat House. But we didn't feel right about bidding on the first thing we saw. We wanted to see what we could get closer to the ocean. During the rest of the weekend, we learned the truth of the old adage "location, location, location." A $400,000 house will get progressively smaller, uglier, and more run-down the closer you get to a major body of water. It seemed to us that the listing agents who showed us these hovels, some of which had rooms barely big enough to turn around in, were banking on the fact that people will still buy anything close to the beach. "They still have a bubble-icious mind-set," Lamb told us.

McKenna, Lamb's co-worker, seconds that motion: "There are still a lot of listing agents who have to . . . reeducate . . . their clients about what the current values of properties are. Many are still living in 2005."

The good news is that we could nonetheless find plenty of options for under $400,000. We are also continually surprised by the number of new listings coming on the market every day. These are generally homes owned by people who have to sell (although each summer, Lamb tells us, many vacation homeowners put their houses on the market just to see if they can snag an outrageous offer from a visiting New Yorker who falls in love with the Cape). Many homes are already vacant. If they're not bank-owned, this tells us that the sellers are carrying at least two mortgages and will be more open to aggressive negotiations.

We're also pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the properties that are more than 1 mile from the ocean - huge homes priced well below our threshold. About half of the homes we looked at that were within a half-mile of the ocean came with a rental history - a list of names of people who had already rented the home and were interested in doing so again - meaning renting out our vacation home would be easy if we wanted help paying the bills. However, new buyers are not obligated to honor rental reservations made with the prior owner as long as that is stipulated in the purchase and sale agreement - despite what one listing agent tried to persuade us of.

We're heading back down for a two-day house-hunting trip. We're in no rush to make what, in the final analysis, is still a huge investment. We are confident, though, that one day very soon, we'll find "The House."

See you on Route 6.

Kris Frieswick is a regular contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.

Mortgage Ratesheet

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:54:00 +0000

March 14, 2008

Purchase Transactions $225K+

Conforming Loans

Assuming FICO of 720+

Rate Points

30 Year Fixed 6.125% 0 15 Year Fixed 5.250% 0

30 Year Fixed 6.50% 0

* Low income programs for borrowers at or below 80% of the area median income

(Standard purchase price limits apply)

JUMBO Loans up to $2,000,000!

Rate Points Margin Caps

3/1 ARM 6.75% 2 2.75% 5/2/5

30 Year Fixed 7.75% 0

*Rates are subject to change without notice

Primary, Secondary & Investment Properties
Home Equity Lines & Loans
3/1, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1 ARM’s Interest Only
Fast pre-approvals

Matt Dolan

508-737-3509

Matthew.Dolan@gmacm.com

Rates subject to change without notice

Loan Limits Increasing!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Slade Mortgage Loan Limit Alert!

March 10, 2008

On March 5, the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") released the new Federal Housing Administration ("FHA") loan limits set for either (1) FHA-insured loans in a specific area or;(2) Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac limits set for conventional mortgage loans in a specific area.

As an example, following loan limits apply for FHA loans ONLY:

Single Family Two Family Three Family Four Family

BARNSTABLE

BARNSTABLE TOWN, MA (MSA)

$ 462,500

$ 592,050

$ 715,700

$ 889,450

MA	BERKSHIRE	PITTSFIELD, MA (MSA)	$ 417,000	$ 533,850	$ 645,300	$ 801,950
MA	BRISTOL	PROVIDENCE-NEW BEDFORD -FALL RIVER, RI-MA (MSA)	$ 475,000	$ 608,100	$ 735,050	$ 913,450
MA	DUKES	NON-METRO	$ 729,750	$ 934,200	$ 1,129,250	$ 1,403,400
MA	ESSEX	ESSEX COUNTY, MA METROPOLITAN DIVISION	$ 523,750	$ 670,500	$ 810,450	$ 1,007,200
MA	FRANKLIN	SPRINGFIELD, MA (MSA)	$ 417,000	$ 533,850	$ 645,300	$ 801,950
MA	HAMPDEN	SPRINGFIELD, MA (MSA)	$ 417,000	$ 533,850	$ 645,300	$ 801,950
MA	HAMPSHIRE	SPRINGFIELD, MA (MSA)	$ 417,000	$ 533,850	$ 645,300	$ 801,950
MA	MIDDLESEX	CAMBRIDGE-NEWTON-FRAMINGHAM, MA METROPOLITAN DIVIION	$ 523,750	$ 670,500	$ 810,450	$ 1,007,200
MA	NANTUCKET	NON-METRO	$ 729,750	$ 934,200	$ 1,129,250	$ 1,403,400
MA	NORFOLK	BOSTON-QUINCY, MA METROPOLITAN DIVISION	$ 523,750	$ 670,500	$ 810,450	$ 1,007,200
MA	PLYMOUTH	BOSTON-QUINCY, MA METROPOLITAN DIVISION	$ 523,750	$ 670,500	$ 810,450	$ 1,007,200
MA	SUFFOLK	BOSTON-QUINCY, MA METROPOLITAN DIVISION	$ 523,750	$ 670,500	$ 810,450	$ 1,007,200
MA	WORCESTER	WORCESTER, MA (MSA)	$ 417,000	$ 533,850	$ 645,300	$ 801,950

Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac or conventional loan amounts will also be rising, but the final loan amounts have yet to be determined. We will keep you updated as soon as we find out the new limits.

As to interest rates, the markets are expected to lower interest rates in the next few weeks. Today is already a good example of the direction that rates will be going... Which is DOWN! Please call or email your Slade Mortgage loan officer for the most up to date information.

If you do not have your application in yet, please call/email me right away to get that part of the process out of the way, so when rates drop.... you are READY!

Thanks for your interest in these updates... I have enjoyed all your feedback and have hired additional staff to help with your inquiries.

Talk with you soon.

Mike

Mike Burton
President

Slade Mortgage Group Inc.

222 Main Street Falmouth, MA

Phone: 508-548-0177

MB # 1294, Licensed in Massachusetts and Florida

"We are here for you today and tomorrow!"

www.slademortgage.com

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Putting your home into a trust

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Putting your home into a trust

Is your home valuable enough to become a tax headache for your beneficiaries and, if so, can you afford to put it into a trust?

Transferring residential property into a trust could be advantageous for both you and your beneficiaries - but only in certain circumstances.
Trevor Beeton, MD of Standard Trust, warns that not everyone can afford to do so, as putting a home into a trust requires an often substantial initial outlay of capital, suitably invested, to cover expenses associated with the property.

What is a trust?
Mr Beeton explains: "A trust is a legal device, in terms of which assets are transferred from the owner to trustees who care for them for the benefit of designated persons.
"A home owner, for instance, could decide to transfer the house into a trust to secure the property for his child, who may later become the owner."

Advantages of putting a home into a trust

Limiting estate duty liability

Considering that estate duty is levied on the value of a deceased estate over 1 million, limiting the amount payable is probably the most obvious reason for a trust. "The current rate is 25 per cent, which means substantial tax may be payable when a person dies. This has obvious implications for the financial well-being of those left behind," says Mr. Beeton. The estate duty saving incentive arises where the value of the asset has the potential to grow considerably over time. "A house valued at R750 000 and in a suburb where values are likely to rise, could be worth a few million rands in 20 years. "The beauty of a trust is that the house would be transferred to the trust at its current value and the growth in value would occur in the trust, rather than in the original owner's hands." If a property is donated to a trust, donations tax (presently 25 per cent) is payable at the time of the donation but there are no further tax implications. If the property is sold to the trust, however, no donations tax is payable. Says Mr. Beeton: "Upon the seller's death, the sale price (or the outstanding loan, should credit have been granted to the trust) will inflate the deceased estate by no more than the original value of R750 000, as distinct from its current value of, say, R2000 000. "the advantage for those with growth assets likely to attract estate duty is obvious. By establishing a trust you can rest assured that the assets you've worked so hard for will be secured for your love ones, instead of being eaten up by taxes."

Securing your house for your dependents

Consider including a provision in your will for your house (and other assets) to be put into a trust in case you die while your children are under 21. This will allow people you trust to look after the property suitably so your children, or other dependent such as a disabled relative, will be guaranteed a home after your death.

Protection from insolvency

If you are involved in business, there is always the risk of going under. To avoid losing your personal property to creditors you could, in certain circumstances, put it into a trust. "Because your home is so crucial an item in your family's future, it is definitely the sort of asset you'd want to keep safe," Mr. Beeton says.

Disadvantages

While a trust meets a variety of needs, it is not suitable for everyone, for two reasons:

The value of the house is a significant factor. The cost of transferring a home into a trust and of the formation and administration of the trust may not warrant using this device, particularly if the property value is unlikely to grow to the extent where estate duty becomes a worry.

If you have a valuable home but insufficient cash to put into the trust to meet future costs such as maintenance, rates, taxes and insurance it would not be advisable to establish a trust.

(From: At Home with Standard Bank magazine)

15 BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH A BUYER’S REPRESENTATIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:28:00 +0000

15 BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH A BUYER'S REPRESENTATIVE

A Buyer's agent can save you time by:

1. Locating suitable properties.
2. Previewing properties.
3. Verifying the properties' condition.
4. Suggesting necessary inspections by experts.
5. Helping buyers determine what they can afford.
6. Verifying property taxes and utilities.
7. Verifying the value of the property.
8. Advising clients on structuring an offer.
9. Presenting the offer to the sellers' representative.
10. Negotiating favorable contract terms for the buyer.
11. Explaining legal documents needed for closing and helping secure them.
12. Assisting in securing financing.
13. Assisting buyers and their attorney in clarifying title, zoning, building codes, and access easements.
14. Referring them to qualified vendors.
15. Analyzing the future salability of the property.

Source: realtor.org

--
Lee Wareham - REALTOR®, TRC, e-PRO
The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate
193 Cranberry Highway - Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 x141, 774-313-6091 Mobile
508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:lwareham@kinlingrover.com
http://LeeWareham.com

http://www.CapeTuckerGroup.com - The Tucker Group Cape Cod Real Estate Team Website

http://LoCape.com - a new "narrow search" local search engine - indexing lower Cape Cod websites only. Brought to you by the Tucker Group.

http://SearchCapeCodRE.com – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

Mortgage Rates 2/29/2008

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:33:00 +0000

Leap Year Day! Make it special.

February 29, 2008

Purchase Transactions $225K+

Conforming Loans

Assuming FICO of 720+

Rate Points

30 Year Fixed 6.00% 0

5/1 ARM 5.25% 0 15 Year Fixed 5.125% 0

30 Year Fixed 6.125% 0

* Low income programs for borrowers at or below 80% of the area median income

(Standard purchase price limits apply)

JUMBO Loans up to $2,000,000!

Rate Points Margin Caps

3/1 ARM 6.00% 0 2.75% 5/2/5

30 Year Fixed 6.625% 0

*Rates are subject to change without notice

Primary, Secondary & Investment Properties
Home Equity Lines & Loans
3/1, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1 ARM’s Interest Only
Fast pre-approvals

Matt Dolan

508-737-3509

Matthew.Dolan@gmacm.com

Declining Property Values and the Mortgage Market

noreply@blogger.com (Sally Tucker) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:17:00 +0000

Coincidental to the following TIME Magazine article, the Orleans MLS Tour was hosted by Claudette Vickery, Mortgage Officer for Sovereign Bank this past Thursday. She related an incident which took place about a week and a half ago when the mortgage rates dropped to 5-1/4% for a period of less than a day. She called forty borrowers with whom she had been working to share her professional opinion that this was a very short-lived, incredible opportunity to lock in at a very low rate. Twenty of those forty did so; the other twenty are now looking at rates of 6-1/2.

She also discussed the obvious fact that even though some prospective buyers may feel waiting for property values to drop even further, with interest rates on the rise, their ultimate cost for purchase will be much higher than if they were to act now.

This TIME Magazine article sets it forth very clearly, I think...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713483,00.html

Sally

Sally Tucker

The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate

193 Route Cranberry Highway – Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 ext. 141 Toll Free, 508-237-3765 Mobile, 508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:SallyTuckerCapeCod@comcast.net

http://capetuckergroup.com/

http://www.searchcapecodre.com/ – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

http://www.locape.com/ - NEW! Localized search engine for Brewster, Eastham, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans.

Mortgage Rates as of February 15, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Sally Tucker) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:39:00 +0000

Sally Tucker

The Tucker Group
Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate

193 Route Cranberry Highway – Route 6A
Orleans, MA 02653
800-275-9210 ext. 141 Toll Free, 508-237-3765 Mobile, 508-255-1489 Fax
mailto:SallyTuckerCapeCod@comcast.net

http://CapeTuckerGroup.com

www.SearchCapecodRE.com – sign up for daily email alerts and search MLS listings!

www.LoCape.com - NEW! Localized search engine for Brewster, Eastham, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans.

Mortgage Ratesheet

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:21:00 +0000

February 15, 2008

Purchase Transactions

Conforming Loans

Rate Points

30 Year Fixed 6.375% 0

5/1 ARM 5.50% 0 15 Year Fixed 5.75% 0

30 Year Fixed 6.375% 0

* Low income programs for borrowers at or below 80% of the area median income

(Standard purchase price limits apply)

JUMBO Loans up to $2,000,000!

Rate Points Margin Caps

3/1 ARM 6.00% 0 2.75% 5/2/5

30 Year Fixed 7.50% 1

*Rates are subject to change without notice

Primary, Secondary & Investment Properties
Home Equity Lines & Loans
3/1, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1 ARM’s Interest Only
Fast pre-approvals

Matt Dolan

508-737-3509

Matthew.Dolan@gmacm.com

Cape Cod Home For Sale - New to Market

noreply@blogger.com (Lower Cape PC Services Inc) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:31:00 +0000

64 Brick Hill Road, East Orleans, MA - 1 Mile to Nauset Beach.

Don't miss this very well-maintained ranch-style home in East Orleans, just off Beach Road. Situated on .72 acres, it is nestled among mature plantings of many varieties, including rhododendron, lovely evergreens, shade trees and many seasonaly colorful foundation choices. Offering total one-floor living, including laundry, it features 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, (master w/private bath,) a spacious living room with raised-hearth fireplace, kitchen with dining area, and a wonderfully private back yard and deck. The 2-car garage, directly off the kitchen, also provides access to the spacious basement and to the back yard. Be entranced by the meandering pathways and creative garden sites, awaiting spring and the loving hands of the appreciative, avid gardener. Dimensions are approximate. Offered at $539,000.

Visit www.64brickhillroad.com for more info.

VIRTUAL TOUR