Category Archives: Market Report

A brief overview of the market.

Buyer or Seller’s Market?

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You can determine the temperature of the real estate market by looking at the months of inventory available in certain locations and price bands.  In broad terms, the months of inventory is the time it will take to sell all current homes for sale without anything new coming to market.  More inventory will dampen prices and a lower amount of inventory will cause prices to rise.

It is considered a seller’s market if there is less than 4 months of current inventory.  A normal or equal market is 5 to 6 months of inventory and a buyer’s market is over 6 month of inventory. In Essex County we currently have an average of 4.2 months of inventory which is considered a seller’s market.

Of course that is an average and price bands will differ.  For example the 800,000 to 1,000,000 price band has an average of 10 months of inventory.  Those numbers will change depending on location. In Beverly that price band is at 6 month of inventory (a normal market). 

If you want to know the months of inventory for any North Shore location or price range just let us know and we will email you the information.


We are Essex County real estate specialists centered in Beverly. Our group has over thirty-five years of collective experience dealing in Massachusetts property. If you would like to schedule a buyer or seller consultation please feel free to call our office at (978) 524-8725 or leave us a message here.

The Northshorist Group offers so much more than just real estate expertise. We spend the time to learn about expectations and lifestyle. Combining that with a strong focus on the buyer or seller’s best interest creates an incomparable experience. Most importantly we are longtime residents of, and love, the North Shore. Click to browse waterfront properties, luxury homes, foreclosures, short sales, multi-families, or make your own search.

Dwindling Supply

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Outlook good for sellers ♦ How the local market has changed

The market has turned in a new direction this winter. Buyers have flocked to the market but their demand is being met with a dwindling supply.

In the short term this is great for sellers, a group which hasn’t faired well over the last few years. Prices are on the rise and homes that are price correctly are seeing multiple competitive offers.

For buyers, this feels a bit like crunch time. If you are looking to buy a home in the next few months getting all your ducks in a row will be critical so that when the opportunity presents itself you’ll be ready.

Let’s take a look at Beverly to see just how much the market has changed. The months of inventory is currently 3.3. Beverly overall has been a fairly healthy market throughout the recession but it has not reached as low as 3.3 since 2006 when everything was booming. This is an extremely positive sign that the market is again on the upswing.

One caveat to that is if the supply of homes stays depressed like it is right now that could cause the housing market to stagnate. Most likely the seasonal rise in supply that occurs each spring will make that problem moot but we can’t count the chickens before they hatch.

We are Essex County real estate specialists centered in Beverly. Our group has over thirty-five years of collective experience dealing in Massachusetts property. If you would like to schedule a buyer or seller consultation please feel free to call our office at (978) 524-8725 or leave us a message here.

The Northshorist Group offers so much more than just real estate expertise. We spend the time to learn about expectations and lifestyle. Combining that with a strong focus on the buyer or seller’s best interest creates an incomparable experience. Most importantly we are longtime residents of, and love, the North Shore. Click to browse waterfront properties, luxury homes, foreclosures, short sales, multi-families, or make your own search.

Improving Real Estate Market: Pending Home Sales Up!

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Across the nation pending home sales or under agreement sales are up considerably from 2011. This chart shows November 2010-2011 in light green compared to November 2011-2012 in dark green. You can see that last year far surpassed the prior year and it is predicted to continue to improve in 2013. We will not see a market like 2006 (because that was an anomaly) but we are back to normal, healthy sale’s levels.

If you are considering purchasing now is the time. Prices are starting to increase and interest rates are projected to rise over the coming year.

We are Essex County real estate specialists centered in Beverly. Our group has over thirty-five years of collective experience dealing in Massachusetts property. If you would like to schedule a buyer or seller consultation please feel free to call our office at (978) 524-8725 or leave us a message here.

The Northshorist Group offers so much more than just real estate expertise. We spend the time to learn about expectations and lifestyle. Combining that with a strong focus on the buyer or seller’s best interest creates an incomparable experience. Most importantly we are longtime residents of, and love, the North Shore. Click to browse waterfront properties, luxury homes, foreclosures, short sales, multi-families, or make your own search.

How’s the Market?

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The great news is that we are now in a recovery.

On the national as well as local level the market is very strong. According to Steve Harney from Keeping Current Matters “ The quarterly report from National Association of Realtors which compared the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012 showed median home prices are up 7.3%. Existing home sales up 8.6%. Existing inventory is down 24.4%. Distressed property are down 33% and mortgage rates are down almost a point. So we can see that we’re in a much better place this year than we were last year. But, again, understand that’s median home prices. Part of the reason that took place is not because the price of an average house is going up, but the main reason the national median price is up 7.3 percent is there’s less distressed property selling. They tend to be the lower discounted properties because less of them are selling. Remember median is 50 percent of the houses sell above that number, 50 percent sell below that number. Since there’s less houses selling at the lower end, that median line is rising. It doesn’t necessarily mean in your market that the price has changed. It’s important you understand that and that your sellers understand that, but overall things are really good.”

On the North Shore we are seeing a huge improvement in the market. Comparing the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter or 2012 locally, the number single family homes sold increased by 30.7% and the sale prices increased by 2% but the number of distressed sale remained the same. Therefore we are experiencing a true increase in sale prices.

This is extremely positive news for our local economy. We are in the second step of recovery. First we saw an the increase in the number of sales and now the sale prices have started to rise. It is predicted that in 2013 prices will increase another 2%.

We are Essex County real estate specialists centered in Beverly. Our group has over thirty-five years of collective experience dealing in Massachusetts property. If you would like to schedule a buyer or seller consultation please feel free to call our office at (978) 524-8725 or leave us a message here.

The Northshorist Group offers so much more than just real estate expertise. We spend the time to learn about expectations and lifestyle. Combining that with a strong focus on the buyer or seller’s best interest creates an incomparable experience. Most importantly we are longtime residents of, and love, the North Shore. Click to browse waterfront properties, luxury homes, foreclosures, short sales, multi-families, or make your own search.

Real Estate Trends

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Beverly Real Estate Trends ♦ Beverly Cove

The real estate market is always changing. The Northshorist Group studies national, regional, and local trends to give our clients current and accurate information. Educated sellers can best determine accurate asking prices. Under pricing or overpricing, especially in a declining market can cost sellers thousands of dollars.

Currently there is a lack of inventory in the city of Beverly. The number of properties for sale is down 6.8% from last year. Some neighborhoods like Beverly Cove exemplify low inventory. You can see from the map above that there are only six properties currently for sale and five under contract. On a positive note, the five under contract have been on the market median of 35 days, very good news for sellers. This indicates a lack of supply which should increase prices.

If you are considering selling and want to know the statistics for your particular neighborhood contact us. We’d love to share our information.

We are Essex County real estate specialists centered in Beverly. Our group have over thirty-five years of collective experience in Massachusetts property. If you would like to schedule a buyer or seller consultation please feel free to call our office at (978) 524-8725 or leave us a message here.

The Northshorist Group offers so much more than just real estate expertise. We spend the time to learn about expectations and lifestyle. Combining that with a strong focus on the buyer or seller’s best interest creates an incomparable experience. Most importantly we are longtime residents of, and love, the North Shore. Click to browse waterfront properties, luxury homes, foreclosures, short sales, multi-families, or make your own search.