Arthur Chapman

Ok, let's not get too excited, but....

Its only been a few days in this month BUT the Pending Index is matching the New Listing Index. 4.75 listings per day and 4.75 contracts per day in Newport County, RI. Does this mean that supply is matching demand? NO.

What it does mean is that the buying activity is strong and I would expect that our median and average sales prices will start to stabilize over the next few months.

We are coming out of a very bad market. Renewed interest and considerable job creation in the area will pull us out of the doldrums by early summer.

If you are a Buyer, hire a good Buyers Broker who knows the area well and has a strong reputation and great negotiating skills. If you are a Seller, hire an agent/agency with strong regional presence and great website.

Keep Hope Alive!

It really feels like 1998. At least the current trends of the real estate market feel that way. Buyers are coming out of the woodwork, looking at property...looking and looking and looking...

Then when they find a property they like, they bid at least 20% under current list price to get the conversation started. Many sellers have already taken a perceived hit on the value of their properties. So most of the time conversations never get off the ground.

BUT..in the past 3 weeks we have seen more multiple bid situations where several people are after the same property. One seller threatened to take the property off the market and re-list for a much higher price this summer!

With 4.5 contracts per day in Newport County, we will see our sales numbers rise AND average sales price will rise as well as there has been a good amount of high end activity.

Keep Hope Alive!

The market has come alive along with all the daffodils! Our Pending Index has risen from a extremely low .8 contracts per day in December to a robust 3.5 contracts per day in April! March settled at 3.85 contracts per day!

With a healthy increase in job creation in our are due to the US Naval Base and related services, we very well could be at the low point in our market. There are too many jobs coming in and we are a "mature" market. On an island, you cant create more land..so supply is finite. With demand increasing we should see values stablizing late this year.

It's been very busy with multiple bid offers becoming quite common! Buyers are BACK!

We have an extremely dynamic market in Rhode Island with very diverse housing stock and market conditions. The metropolitan Providence market is rife with foreclosures and short sales. However, southern RI is in much better shape, albeit it's not a great market. Statistics are very helpful in educating the consumer on our market trends, but statistics only go so far. The consumer needs an advocate on the ground in the area of interest. Our job as agents is to provide the statistics and also bring them into prospective by our understanding of the local employment situation and other material factors that will effect the long term interests of our clients.

Click here for your market data: http://arthurchapman.raveis.com/localhousingdata.asp

The first quarter of 2009 ended with a barely deceptable whisper. Sales volue was so light that the usual sounds at a real estate agency; the whirr of the fax maxhine, the constant ringing of cell phones and desk phones, the chime of your email program telling you another email has arrived and the constant banter of the agents talking about all the people they had at thir open houses the past weekend, never happened. It was very quiet this winter, ghostly quiet and the numbers show just how quiet it was. Transaction volume in Newport County was down nearly 40%. Ugh. Prices are down as well. Ugh.

There is good news. The Pending Index is up. There are 175 properties under contract currently up from 110 in February. There is more and more activty every day and supply is DOWN! Actual supply of property is down from last year.

Job creation in the area is strong. US Navy along with General Dynamics are bringing thousands of jobs to the southern RI market. There are too many jobs being created for the market to languish as many have predicted.

Plus the weather is gorgeous! Another reason to be hopeful!