Eastman Real Estate Blog

Hard to believe that we are three weeks into the new year already….how time flies!!!

For all you condo owners, potential and future here is what 2011 looked like for Eastman Condo sales.

For the year there were 9 units sold. The lowest priced was 68 Pintail Knob for $130,000 The highest priced was 24 Pleasant Dr. a waterfront Parkhurst, selling for $260,000. The median price was $185,000 and the average price was $191,100. Usually the median price is used but since there are only 9 sales using the median or average is fair and realistic.

On a business note…. All the condos that sold last year were listed by Country Houses. On the buyer side Country Houses brought the buyer to 7 of the 9 units. I think it’s fair to say that we at Country Houses will get your condo sold!! 9 sales equals 18 transaction sides (buyer/seller) and we had 16 of 18!!!

I was just looking at the most recent sales stats for Eastman NH, Sullivan County and across the state of New Hampshire. I will get specific to Eastman in another post. To get the PDF click on NNEREN Stats 2011.

The biggest thing that I see for Sullivan County is the fact that the median residential home sale price is down 10.29% for the year compared to 2010. That is a healthy number, way to big than we want to see!!! The number of houses sold in 2011 v. 2010 are about the same (355 v.352) so prices have dropped!! Home prices across the state are down 6.19%

The median price of condos dropped 20.78% but when there is only 12 condos sold in Sullivan County for the entire year of 2010 then we sell 22 in 2011 I could see that number being swayed easily. Twelve condo sales for an entire year is just to small a number to be statistically accurate. If we look at the entire state the median sale price of a condo is only down 6.06%

I’m very excited to announce that the Eastman Tennis players now have an tennis web page of their own. Here’s the link:

http://eastmannh.org/amenities/tennis/

Thanks to todays snow storm it looks a lot like winter now and hopefully a second storm is right behind this one.

If you are looking for things to do, this weekend there are some great options. How does comedy night on Saturday at the Bistro sound? The Nordic Nibbles is an annual event that was going to happen snow or no snow. How about Jazz On Sunday Afternoon?

These are just a few things you will be able to partake in. For a full list PDF click on Eastman Highlights 1/12/12

Well, it’s been a few issues since I posted the Eastman Happenings but there are several things that take place in the next week or two that I think many people should be aware of.

What I think is the highlight, is the visit from C. Everett Koop. The former Surgeon General will speak about his years as General and answer questions from the audience. This is an outstanding opportunity to get into an interactive discussion with someone as high profile as he.

Another high profile event and certainly an emotional one will be the last concert put on by the Eastmanaires,  “A Jolliest Christmas Concert.” After over 20 years the group will disband. Hopefully this group or one like it will start again in the near future.

Other events include the Golf Members Holiday Party, Chocolate Workshop (YUM!!), exercise classes and even a build your own Gram Cracker House with your kids or grand kids.

Recently I was fortunate enough to visit California and attend the NAR National Convention.

I was there for 4 days. Mostly I spent my time in classes and seminars. The education that I got was impressive. I am hoping I can translate that knowledge into making me a better Real Estate agent and better my service to my clients.

Some of the highlights were listening to Michael Eisner speak about management, using your time and resources to their fullest and making a budget that works. It was quite interesting to listen to him speak then show us examples of his work. It was, this is how I want to do it and this is how we did it watch this. Very interesting!!

Another highlight was listening to Lawrence Yun, he is the chief economist for the NAR. He spoke for over an hour and his outlook was for a recovery in housing to happen sooner rather than later and the historical charts and statistics he used really proved his point and made us believers. Well almost….It’s not that I didn’t buy into his theories, I just believe that (on a local basis) there are too many homes on the market to make a quick turn around. Eastman NH is still carrying 62 homes and 24 condos for sale. This number is down especially the homes but it is December and it’s just a few more weeks and new listings will start to hit the market right after the holidays.

I started to get off track but one other thing I wanted to mention how important QUALITY photos are. The internet plays such a huge roll in selling a home and I’ve always know that. Learning from some of the pro’s out in Anaheim will make me better and benefit my clients!!! One thing I have done is upgraded my camera and lens. I am certain this will pay off for my clients and as I learn more about the camera the photos will only get better and better.

34 Barn Owl

A new condo is hitting the market and it has an amazing view!!!

Eastman sewer owners will be seeing a small increase in their sewer bills. Quite honestly the sewer costs have been amazingly stable and inexpensive for a very long time.

The three page PDF will certainly explain all the details, rules the Eastman Sewer Co has to follow and what they do is not easy!!!

Eastman Sewer Update

It’s been a few months since I posted some of the state sales figures but here they are. Some of them are rather scary if your a seller. Click on August Sales Stats if you want to go straight to the 3 page PDF file.

Some of the highlights are: The median sale price for all improved properties is $175,000 averaged out year to date. That’s down 6.42% from last year. Sullivan County is down 4.69% but Merrimack County is down 9.51%. I think locally, particularly in Eastman we are somewhat shielded from a 9% drop in a year. We just don’t have that many foreclosures driving prices down like they have in Concord area.

Another number going the wrong way is average selling price per square foot. At $120.00 that is not the lowest I’ve seen but these are August numbers. August sales are typically stronger than November and December. This year we peaked in June. July and August are trending down. It will be very interesting to see where Septembers numbers are.

Eastman specific: We have sold 19 homes so far this year vs. 39 for the same time period in 2010. Slightly less than half of last years numbers. Yet condo sales are up. Year to date there have been 8 units sold vs. 5 last year. By the end of the month the 9th condo sale will take place so that is a good sign.

Another extremely good sign is the fact that the average sales price for homes in Eastman has remained stable from last year. This years average sale price is $284,240. Last year there were three home sales over $600,000 and one sale at $530,000 which raised the average to $304,342. So even though the average is off this year by $20,000 realistically by taking out the highs and lows the average should be right around $280,ooo so this year we have a solid number!!

If you are a buyer, Interest rates are astoundingly low. 30 Year fixed rates with no points at 3.75% Who would have thought that??? The combination of interest rates and home prices are extremely attractive. Don’t be the one to say I should have bought then….It’s a great time to buy….and now is the time!

The results are in and the Eastman NH end of season tennis tournament is all behind us. What a fun season it was and the tennis tournament was just icing on the cake!!!

Winners of the men’s combined age of 125 years or more were Bruce Johnson and Glenn McKune

Winners of the men’s doubles are Peter Ericson and Jeff Adie

Winners of the women’s doubles are Jen LaChance and Christine Cecchetti

Winners of the mixed doubles are Jen LaChance and Jeff Adie

Fun was had by all who played!! Everyone is look forward to next year.  Tennis will continue for a few more weeks as the weather holds out and the courts are in outstanding condition.