March Rebound In North Fork Real Estate Continued Even Stronger In April

I reported earlier that March 2010 was a great month for Real Estate in North Fork Wine Country. Now I am able to report that, in terms of contracts signed – which is the among the least delayed measures of RE activity- April 2010 continued very strong trending! With 34 contracts signed, April 2010 was equal to records set in March of 2008 and (data gathered from MLSLI) and August of 2007, when RE was considered exceptionally strong. Upscale sales were keeping up; but most activity showed at slightly lowered median price of $447,000 indicating first time home buyers took advantage of the tax incentives offered by State and Local governments; resulting in strong activity at the lower end in April at the end of the expiration dates of these programs to help the Real Estate Market recover. This did make a dent in availability of lower priced inventory on the North Fork and may signal rising prices. Days on market (DOM) seems to hover around 200 days (a bit over 6 months): sellers need to realize that pricing for their homes may be the most important decision for a successful sale. The theory that you can start high and see what happens may cause sellers to miss the boat as most excitement takes place right when a new listing hits the market. Still, a word of caution for sellers: unemployment seems to remain high -regardless of optimistic consumer spending- along with elevated “hidden inventory” levels (Foreclosures and Short sales) which may again influence pricing – although our area has been very lucky with few distressed sales to date. So sellers: use this up-tick in the market to your advantage to sell your home – value priced. Make sure negatives affecting appeal and cleanliness of the house are taken care of – great curb-appeal will bring quicker and better offers. Never be insulted by offers-many deals these days start out on the low side-but increased activity in the market will allow an experienced agent with the needed negotiating skills to bring buyers and sellers closer together and eventually close deals. So work with experienced brokers, especially now! Call Town and Country at our North Fork Offices in Mattituck or Southold (next door to the North Fork Table -one of our region’s most fabulous restaurants) – and find out why Town and Country remains the fastest growing Real Estate company on the East End – and what doing so organically really means! Join our success story.