Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac today announced a major initiative to provide up to $200 billion of immediate liquidity to the mortgage-backed securities market.
This move, combined with recent increases to conforming loan limits for Seacoast mortgages may help the Seacoast real estate market shake off the doldrums that it has recently experienced.
Seacoast Luxury Homes – The Million Dollar Plus Market
In the last ninety days there were ten seacoast homes that sold for a million dollars or more. Half a dozen homes sold in the $1MM to $1.25MM range including two homes in New Castle, two sales in Rye, a sale at Mill Place in North Hampton and a waterfront home in Dover. In Portsmouth a recently renovated downtown residence eclipsed the $1.3MM mark, an oceanfront home in Hampton went for $1.75MM and a classic North Hampton home with views to the ocean saw $2.2MM. An estate in North Hampton changed hands for $4,000,000 in December. This is more or less on pace with activity in the same period a year ago, when there were twelve homes that sold in this price range. The seacoast currently has a single pending sale over the million dollar mark for a home in Rye.
A glance at today’s inventory reveals sixty-one luxury properties for sale on the seacoast that top the $1,000,000 mark. Two thirds of the luxury inventory is in New Castle, Rye, and North Hampton – but a Portsmouth residence lays claim to the pricing pinnacle with a listing price of $9.5MM. Twenty-three of the properties for sale have reduced their asking price from the initial offering price by an average of ten percent.
Seacoast Luxury Properties Under One Million Dollars
There are 48 Seacoast homes on the market with asking prices between $750K – $999,999. Four homes have pending sales contracts – two new construction homes in Newfields, a North Hampton home in Country Club Estates, and a house at the beach in Hampton.
In the last ninety days there were eight homes that sold in this price range, including three in Rye, a newly built home in Newfields as well as one in Greenland, two in Hampton Falls, and a waterfront home in Durham. Activity in this price range is up a little over the same period a year ago when five homes sold in this price range.
Based on information from the Northern New England Real Estate Network, Inc. for the period November 9, 2006 to February 9, 2008.
Congress and the Bush administration announced an economic stimulus plan yesterday that should will have some effect on the local Seacoast real estate market. A component of the package is the recommendation to raise the current loan limits for government backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Under the proposal loan limits would be raised 50% from $417,000 to $625,000 for twelve months. The raised limits should have the effect of giving a boost to higher priced markets.
How would this affect the Seacoast real estate market?
24.1 percent of the 676 homes that are currently on the market have listing prices between the current loan limit of $417,000 and the proposed loan limit of $625,000. Buyers should be able to obtain better rates for those homes should the measure pass.
For instance, according to Bankrate.com this morning the national overnight average for a 30 year fixed mortgage is 5.42 percent, the rate for a jumbo mortgage that exceeds the current cap is over a point higher at 6.51 percent for a fixed jumbo mortage.
The Senate and White House sill must sign off on the plan.
Seacoast Real Estate Update – 2008 Year to Date
Last week Speedway Motorsports Inc. closed a $340 million cash deal to buy New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. For just a little over $55 million more they could have purchased every home currently for sale on the Seacoast (if they were so inclined).
There are currently 680 homes listed for sale on the Seacoast with an average listing price of $581,490 and an average time on market of 180 days. Total asking price for the lot: $395,413,189.
Now for the numbers:
In the first two weeks of the year 40 new listings have come to market for an average asking price of $472,105.
Fourteen homes have sold with an average sold price of $473,732 after 131 days on the market. Selling price was an average of 93.9% of asking price.
There were 21 under agreement homes in this period with an average listing price of $431,095.
Information based on the Seacoast towns of Dover, Durham, Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, Newmarket, North Hampton, Portsmouth, Rye, and Stratham.
Based on information from the Northern New England Real Estate Network, Inc. for the period January 1, 2008 to January 15, 2008.
One of the most important measures of value in the real estate market is how much similar properties have recently sold for. 2007 saw a wide range of property values on the Seacoast. In all 1,092 single family homes sold in 2007 with a total sold value of more than $468,000,000 dollars.
Newmarket to New Castle
The average selling price for a single family home on the Seacoast ranged from $313,714 in Newmarket to more than a million dollars in New Castle. Let’s take a look back at what seacoast homes sold for in 2007.
Seacoast Homes in the $400,000 to $600,000 Range
The average selling price was between $300,000 and $400,000 in half a dozen Seacoast communities: In Newmarket the average was $313,714, Dover came in at $323,371, Hampton and Hampton Beach homes sold for an average of $351,419, Durham values averaging $368,302, Portsmouth houses were $371,143, and Exeter sales averaged $387,653.
Several communities average sales prices fell between $400,000 – $600,000: Stratham averaged $437,235, Newington homes sold for $438,450, Greenland was $479,478, the average sale price in Hampton Falls was $562,024 and in Newfields the average was $567,108.
Values highest along the coast from North Hampton to New Castle
The average sales price in North Hampton was $684,481, Rye (including Rye Beach) averaged $840,749, and New Castle topped the scales at $1,145,728.
Based on information from the Northern New England Real Estate Network, Inc. for the period January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.
