Is it April Showers (How's it selling in Belmont, MA?)

Ok, so we blamed the snow for the lousy sales in January, but as Granny used to say, "wassamaddanow?". Must be the April showers.

So far this month in Belmont, 25 days into it, 7 "happy homemakers" have put out the "Welcome Home" mat. Last year, for the first 25 days of April, 16 new owners began the weekend trips to Home Depot or Lowe's for the new owner what-nots. Of those 16 props in 2010, 11 were singles, and they popped out at an average of 755,000 bucks. 2011's edition has 4 singles selling at an average of 702k. I know that is not a very big sample, but that may well speak volumes in itself. But take heart, there might be some May flowers abloomin'...there ARE 29 properties Under Agreement.

It is cloudy and drizzly today. A good day for umbrellas -- and Gene Kelly.

First Quarter Real Estate "Round Down"

Get it? Round-up? ... "down"?... Never mind. The idea up there was a hint that first quarter 2011 sales were down in numbers of transactions in 2011 versus 2010...at least in the areas that I haunt.

Looking at the 3 Musketeers of residential RE (Singles, Condos and Multis), only Watertown improved over 2010 in the seven towns where I did some work. Belmont was down 2 (32 in 2011 versus 34 for 2010), Newton dropped 7 units from 2020's 122; Lexington sank to 58 from 2010's 62. Waltham got "clocked" (get it? Waltham Watch/Clock Company?) -- down to 78 sales from 2020's 93. Medford finished out the quarter at 79 sales (11 below 2010); Arlington ran out at 69; 8 shy of 2010's total. Only Watertown upped the ante: 61 sales for Q1 2011 UP from 2010's 52.

I wouldn't put too much stock into this, yet folks. Let's wait 'til we review the numbers and the mix -- then we can decide what to do with "all" our stock...Stay tuned.