Hello and Happy Fall!
Luckily for us and all of our families who have made the island their home beyond Labor Day, the weather has been extraordinary! Driving through the island on any given night you see lights on in homes on in virtually every block in town. Friday and Saturday nights you had best make a reservation for any place to eat – the restaurants and stores are bustling with activity. Such a pleasure to see after so many business owners lost so much early in the season.
Activities such as Festive Friday and Snowfest Saturday are in the works for Thanksgiving weekend. Don’t miss this wonderful celebration of family and friends here in Avalon and Stone Harbor.
Speaking of activity, our island sales were up 44% for the month of September. In fact, we sold as many homes in September as we did the month of August which is not typical for our market. Single home sales were up slightly only 11%, with 73% of those sales in Avalon. This is all a function of lack of inventory.
The Bay continues to be a strong market segment with 6 sales in Avalon and 2 in Stone Harbor. New construction pricing was in the $5.9 range in Avalon and $4.5 in Stone Harbor. The Stone Harbor beach block saw a new construction sale in the $4.6 range while the Avalon oceanfront saw two teardown sales in the $4.7-$4.9 range.
Townhome/condo sales were up 93% with condos leading the category simply due to inventory. The townhome inventory continues to be very deficient.
In spite of a 46% reduction year over year in Avalon single home inventory and 20% reduction in Stone Harbor, we continue to find homes to meet our buyer’s interests and needs. This demand vs inventory continues to create multiple offers and final sale prices exceeding or matching list price. The same holds true in the condo/townhome segment where our inventory is off 42% in Avalon year over year and 50% in Stone Harbor. Through it all we continue to move through whatever inventory we have to sell.
The Ferguson Dechert Sales team continues to dominate the market in all categories. We consistently participate in more Avalon transactions than the combined sales of the next 6 agencies with a 43% market share. And almost 40% of the time we are on both sides of the transaction – buyer and seller!
Our message to homeowners and buyers is simply this: if you are ever a seller, now is certainly the time to be one. Call or email my team and we will share the most up to date information regarding your home’s value. I am sure we have your buyer waiting on the phone right now! If you are buying, get in touch today and share your needs and specifics. YOUR new home may be listing right now and someone else will be purchasing it because you don’t have a trained professional as your advocate in this exceedingly competitive market. Zillow and Realtor.com do not live on the island and there is lots happening that Zillow and Realtor.com don’t have access to, like a trained local realtor.
On a personal note, I wish you and yours a healthy and Happy Halloween and Thanksgiving season! Come down to see us. The weather is super and TOWN IS OPEN!
All the best,
Holly C. Rennie
