OK, You can find what’s for sale, but can you find what has sold and for how much?

Buying Real Estate

Many people ask me “Why do I need to use a “Buyer’s Agent” when I can go online and see all the listings for sale myself?  Well, it’s true. Anyone can go online and see what’s offered for sale.  But how do you know if the asking price is fair market value?  It’s very important to look at a list of sold properties for the last 6 months to understand where the market is at this time.  And it’s also important to look at the trend over the last few years.  Has the single family sales market in Newton hit bottom?  Are prices still falling?  NO, here are the numbers from the beginning of the recession:

 

Single Family Home Sales

 

                                    2008                2009                2010                2011

 

Number of sales                      499                  511                   518                        519

Average List Price                 $940k              $880k                   $922k              $945k

Median Sale Price                   $755k              $710k                    $744k              $760k

Days on Market                     75                       78                        76                     87

 

 

As you can see, the single family sales market hit bottom in 2009.  But this is because I’m an agent, I have access to a lot a data and I know how to read the data.  And you can also see that the market is back to a level of 2008!  This year should be very busy!

 

Thanks for reading,

Michael Spurr

Owner/Broker, Certified Buyer Representative