Skaneateles Real Estate Update - Almost Halfway There!

This is the exterior of the house and the yard at 2572 East Lake Road. I love this photo!  It gives you the real sense of the house and its setting.  To the left is the pool, then one of the eight gardens in the foreground, the trees, and the house.  You can feel the peacefulness and tranquility the setting generates. See other photos on the MLS - S333098.  (It has 19 acres too!)

Currently there are only 89 active listings (including this one!) in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 26 are in the Village and 14 are considered waterfront.  Since reporting just before Memorial Day there have been 21 "new" listings (like the one above).  Nine are in the Village, ranging in list price from $189,000 to 2.2 million.  The Town's prices are $115,000 to $645,000 (the one above).  Two are waterfront new listings.  I thought the overall number was fairly high, so I went back and looked at which were actually new on the market and which were re-lists.  Only eight had been on recently, so 18 are brand new (like the one above).

There are 26 homes listed as under contract.  We have returned to three categories of this:  C - meaning under contract but continue to show (because you never know!), U - under contract (don't bother showing, we think it's solid), and P - pended, mortgage or cash and getting ready to close with no further contingencies.  When you look something up on REMAX.com, REALTOR.com, or CNYHomes.com you will see only the "A" and "C" listings.  The others will have mysteriously disappeared but may not have closed.

Back to the actual numbers....  Of the 26 under contract, 15 are new since the last update.  They range in list price from $99,000 to $459,000.  Seven are in the Village, and none are waterfront.

Really good news!  There are now 44 single family properties closed so far this year.  Seven are new since mid-May.  One was waterfront and two were in the Village.  This means a "Second Twenty" will be written soon.

That number seemed quite high so I went back and checked.  Last year at this time there were 29 sold and closed homes.  I had to keep looking way back to 2006 for more closings, or even close to 44 properties closing.  In 2006 there were 49.  The height of the market.  So - how do prices compare?

I sort of knew the answer, having had this discussion with friends a week or so ago.  The question is why homes bought in that era (2006 to 2008) haven't appreciated.  That was the the height - everyone scrambling to buy a house, driving prices up.  The good old days, when clients would arrive in town and see five houses and choose one so that they might get their first choice.  If not done then - it could be gone the next day. Prices in Skaneateles and the area were reasonable compared to the rest of the country, so grab the house and fix it up if needed, but make the deal or lose out.  Truly those days were "If you snooze, you lose."

Just the facts.  The median list price in 2006 was $300,000 for the homes that sold.  The median list price for the homes that have sold so far this year is $259,000.  Oh my!  Ouch!  But then again, there are bargains out there and they should be snapped up, as people are obviously doing.  We do volume sales now, that's all.

So hopefully this has been an informative blog.  It's helped me to pass the time while I wait for my three buyers who "snoozed" on their choices and will call me this morning to firm up deals or write offers.   (No, I won't let you know anything more....)