December 17, 2004
What’s Happening?
Realtor Peter Joyce has taken the time to analyze the data from our multi-list service and has kindly shared the results with me. In short, we’ve had a good year in Greenwich, the best since 1999. As of the end of November, seven hundred ninety-one single family houses have gone to contract, a significant increase from the seven hundred nine houses going to contract during the same eleven months in 2003 and the six hundred ninety-nine in 2002. March (one hundred eight contracts) saw the most activity of any single month, while the second quarter, April through June, was the busiest period (two hundred forty-five). Comparing Peter’s figures for the past seven years, the same pattern of activity seems to prevail in the comparable periods of those years. A good argument, I think, for putting your house on the market earlier, rather than later in the year.
Peter’s data also show that the days of single family homes under $499,000 have gone—there was just one house available in that price range this year, and it’s sold. Total inventory (all single family houses offered for sale) had dropped from four hundred-fifty in July to three hundred forty-three (three hundred twenty-four, as of this writing) by November 30th. The number of high-end houses ($3,500,000 and up) has barely budged in that period: one hundred sixty-seven in July, one hundred fifty-one on November 30th, while everything else has moved smartly. Which is not to say that owners of the most expensive houses should despair: one hundred thirty-two homes in that price range sold this year and twenty more are under contract (this last bit of comfort is derived from my own research in the MLS files and any inaccuracies should not be blamed on Peter Joyce). I will wait for the year’s end before supplying the average and mean prices for all these houses but, for now, it looks as though the town as a whole is moving towards an average price of over $2,000,000. That’s a lot of money.
Water HeatersFew new houses have come on the market this month so, casting about for something real estate-related to write about, I came across a New York Times article on tankless water heaters and I thought, “ why not?” According to the Times, higher energy prices are bringing them back after an initial surge of popularity in the Seventies. The theory of a tankless, or “on-demand” heater, of course, is that you save money by not holding one hundred fifty gallons of water at 110 degrees for the hours you’re out of the house (those readers who have their nannies doing laundry and washing the Hummer all day can skip the rest of this article). A tankless heater cranks up when you turn on the hot water and shuts down when you do. The original models were considered to have inadequate capacity (I disagree—I had one that worked just fine) but nowadays they’re bigger than ever and large enough to feed hot water to all the showers, washing machines and dishwashers you care to run simultaneously. Down side? These are more expensive than tank heaters, (perhaps $1,500 vs. $1,000) both in initial cost and in installation, as they may require over-sized flues to accommodate their gas usage or a new circuit for electricity. On the other hand, they’re generally warranted to last for twenty years, instead of a conventional heater’s ten, and because they have no tanks to replace they can be repaired after that instead of replaced. Other bonuses: you will never run out of hot water if you select the right-sized unit (calculate the flow rates of all the faucets and appliances that you’re likely to run at one time) and, of course, you’ll save money by not heating all that hot water when you don’t need it. If you’re planning a short stay in your present house, you probably won’t recoup the extra expense of such a heater but otherwise, I think they’re worth considering. There are any number of sources of information on tankless heaters, including a governmental fact sheet, all available via Google on the internet. As Casey Stengel said, “you can look it up.”
Flood Alert!
Global warming alarmists would have us believe that our ice caps are melting and that we’re in for wet feet sometime in the next century. Judging from the houses I see every week I think we’re in more immediate danger of sinking from the endless tons of marble and granite being imported for our bathrooms, kitchens and walls. Perhaps the next fad will be balsa wood and we’ll balance out just in time. Until then, keep those boots handy.
Realtor Peter Joyce has taken the time to analyze the data from our multi-list service and has kindly shared the results with me. In short, we’ve had a good year in Greenwich, the best since 1999. As of the end of November, seven hundred ninety-one single family houses have gone to contract, a significant increase from the seven hundred nine houses going to contract during the same eleven months in 2003 and the six hundred ninety-nine in 2002. March (one hundred eight contracts) saw the most activity of any single month, while the second quarter, April through June, was the busiest period (two hundred forty-five). Comparing Peter’s figures for the past seven years, the same pattern of activity seems to prevail in the comparable periods of those years. A good argument, I think, for putting your house on the market earlier, rather than later in the year.
Peter’s data also show that the days of single family homes under $499,000 have gone—there was just one house available in that price range this year, and it’s sold. Total inventory (all single family houses offered for sale) had dropped from four hundred-fifty in July to three hundred forty-three (three hundred twenty-four, as of this writing) by November 30th. The number of high-end houses ($3,500,000 and up) has barely budged in that period: one hundred sixty-seven in July, one hundred fifty-one on November 30th, while everything else has moved smartly. Which is not to say that owners of the most expensive houses should despair: one hundred thirty-two homes in that price range sold this year and twenty more are under contract (this last bit of comfort is derived from my own research in the MLS files and any inaccuracies should not be blamed on Peter Joyce). I will wait for the year’s end before supplying the average and mean prices for all these houses but, for now, it looks as though the town as a whole is moving towards an average price of over $2,000,000. That’s a lot of money.
Water HeatersFew new houses have come on the market this month so, casting about for something real estate-related to write about, I came across a New York Times article on tankless water heaters and I thought, “ why not?” According to the Times, higher energy prices are bringing them back after an initial surge of popularity in the Seventies. The theory of a tankless, or “on-demand” heater, of course, is that you save money by not holding one hundred fifty gallons of water at 110 degrees for the hours you’re out of the house (those readers who have their nannies doing laundry and washing the Hummer all day can skip the rest of this article). A tankless heater cranks up when you turn on the hot water and shuts down when you do. The original models were considered to have inadequate capacity (I disagree—I had one that worked just fine) but nowadays they’re bigger than ever and large enough to feed hot water to all the showers, washing machines and dishwashers you care to run simultaneously. Down side? These are more expensive than tank heaters, (perhaps $1,500 vs. $1,000) both in initial cost and in installation, as they may require over-sized flues to accommodate their gas usage or a new circuit for electricity. On the other hand, they’re generally warranted to last for twenty years, instead of a conventional heater’s ten, and because they have no tanks to replace they can be repaired after that instead of replaced. Other bonuses: you will never run out of hot water if you select the right-sized unit (calculate the flow rates of all the faucets and appliances that you’re likely to run at one time) and, of course, you’ll save money by not heating all that hot water when you don’t need it. If you’re planning a short stay in your present house, you probably won’t recoup the extra expense of such a heater but otherwise, I think they’re worth considering. There are any number of sources of information on tankless heaters, including a governmental fact sheet, all available via Google on the internet. As Casey Stengel said, “you can look it up.”
Flood Alert!
Global warming alarmists would have us believe that our ice caps are melting and that we’re in for wet feet sometime in the next century. Judging from the houses I see every week I think we’re in more immediate danger of sinking from the endless tons of marble and granite being imported for our bathrooms, kitchens and walls. Perhaps the next fad will be balsa wood and we’ll balance out just in time. Until then, keep those boots handy.
posted by Chris Fountain at 8:14 AM
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