Roy Sanborn --Lakes Region of New Hampshire

On the Waterfront - Lakes Region Waterfront Sales Review

Waterfront property sales in the Lakes Region of NH are obviously a very important segment of our local real estate market. After all, we are the Lakes Region, and people come here to vacation and play year after year. Not surprisingly, many visitors end up wanting to buy their own little piece of paradise on the waters edge. Waterfront sales are also a good indicator of the strength of the overall market and perhaps even our local economy. Waterfront property is, and will continue to be, one of the most expensive kinds of real estate you can buy here or anywhere else for that matter. The old saying "they ain't making any more waterfront" has never been more true. So did buyers continue to see value on the water in the Lakes Region of NHin 2008? A quick look at sales on Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam will tell the story.

There is no doubt that the overall real estate market in 2008 in terms of the total number of sales was down in every price range. It is not surprising, therefore, that the number of sales on Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam were both down in 2008 compared to previous years as well. It is just a sign of the bad economic times and it shows that some buyers are holding off purchasing that waterfront home of their dreams. In 2008 Winnipesaukee registered 76 sales compared to 115 in 2007. That is also just about half the sales recorded in 2004. Winnisquam had just 10 sales in 2008 which is also about half the number for a normal sales year. So maybe not as many people were buying in 2008, but the good news is that on both lakes the average sales price compared to 2007 went up. The average sales price on Winnipesaukee is now at $1,217,880. Except for a big spike in prices in 2006 which caused the 2007 average to look low, the average sales price on Winnipesaukee has gone up every year. The average price on Winnipesaukee has almost doubled from the $637K average price registered back in 2000. The average price on Winnisquam broke the $600,000 mark which indicates how popular and desirable the big lake's little sister has become. The fact that sales prices on the lakes have held up should give buyers of lakefront property assurance that their investment will increase in value over time and give current waterfront owners the confidence that values are there for them if they decide to sell.

The breakdown of sales by town on Winnipesaukee shows that Moultonborough leads the way in terms of total sales followed by Meredith and Gilford. That is not surprising due to the sheer number of waterfront homes in Moultonborough and the very low property tax burden there which makes it a very desirable town to live in. That's definitely where I am headed as soon as I can save up my down payment!

Winnipesaukee Waterfront Sales Including Island Property

Winnisquam Waterfront Sales

Lake Winnipesaukee Sales Report for 2008 by Town

All data compiled from the NNEREN MLS system.

2008 Year End Review

The total number of residential sales in our Lakes Region of NH area towns for the month of December came in at 58 homes. That is up slightly compared to December 2007 which posted 51 sales. The average sales price, however, was down for the month to $373,170 compared to December 2007 at $404,958.

The total number of residential sales for the year 2008 came in at 675 units. That's down about 19% from the 832 sold in 2007. The average sales price also dropped about 12.5% from $398,719 in 2007 to $349,688 in 2008. The total number of sales in 2008 was off 45% compared to 2004 when sales peaked at 1241 units but the average sales price came in higher than the $344,401 average registered that year. Except for the past year and a small drop in 2001, the average sales price of a home in these communities has risen every year since 2000 for a total increase of 47% in value.

Residential Homes Sold December 2008

Home prices are definitely down some, but the drop in the average sales price in 2008 can be partly attributed to about 7% more homes under $200,000 being sold compared to 2007. There were also fewer high end sales over $1 million compared to 2007, 54 versus 37, and the total dollar volume of those sales dropped to $64 million in 2008 compared to just over $100 million in 2007. The average sales price of high end homes (over $1 mil) dropped slightly from $1.854 mil to $1.731 million, but that is still higher than in ‘05 and ‘06 when both came in around $1.65 mil. That means that waterfront owners should feel pretty secure in their investments. The total sales volume for all homes was down from $331.8 million in 2007 to $235.9 million in 2008. So, while sales were down somewhat significantly and there was a drop in the average sales price in 2008, it would appear that when viewed over the longer term the Lakes Region is fairing pretty well!

Residential Home Sales Comparison for Belknap County Plus Moultonborough, NH

Five home selling tips for 2009

We are starting off 2009 in the right direction with a large reduction in the number of residential homes available. The tally now stands at 900 homes on the market in our Lakes Region of NH area towns as of January 1, 2009. That is 19% less than last month and we are now back to the same level as March 2008. A reduction in the inventory this time of year is expected but hopefully it will remain low which will help stabilize the market. All price ranges are pretty well balanced with good buys at both ends of the spectrum.

Moving into 2009 we are still hearing dire forecasts for the coming year for the housing industry on a national level. The press certainly isn't helping the matter by spreading fear into areas where the housing market isn't necessarily all that bad. Real estate is a very localized industry and some areas will recovery quicker than others. Buyers from all over the country want to live and play in the Lakes Region of NH, there are good deals here, and there is plenty of money available at historic low rates. This should be a formula for positive results. Plenty of homes will sell this coming year and you may want yours to be one of them. So what do you do to get your property sold? Here are my top 5 tips for getting your home sold in 2009:

1. Price. Price your home correctly based on a market analysis done by a REALTOR® with a focus on comparable homes that have sold over the past 6 months. Your home should be priced based on what has sold and not on what someone else is asking for their property. They may have unrealistic expectations. While you need to be aware of your competition in the marketplace, price your home to be the best deal out there if you can not the same as everyone else. Show real value to buyers. Price has been, and will continue to be, the Number 1 factor in getting your home sold.

2. Pictures. Pictures are the main tool you have to attract buyers to your home. Buyers focus on price when they search to find a home but good photos will get them to your door. Insist on high quality photography of your home and make sure there are lots and lots of photos not just three or four. Our MLS system allows 12 photos. Unless you live in a cardboard box don't settle for less. If your listing on MLS has only a couple of photos potential buyers will definitely think something is wrong with your property! Fuzzy, blurry, and out of focus shots won't cut it. You are trying to sell your most valuable asset here! Think wide angle shots with good lighting. Rethink who you have hired for a listing agent if he or she shows up with a Brownie Instamatic camera.

3. Presentation. You must present your home in its best possible condition. That means clean, de-cluttered, and as pristine as you can make it. The Patriots aren't in the play offs so you now have time to spruce it up with a coat of paint where necessary, complete unfinished projects, and fix those little items that should have been attended to years ago. Buyers also like to see houses with lots of light. Have your blinds and curtains open and all your lights on at each showing.

4. Presence. Internet presence that is. With 80% of buyers looking on the internet to find their new home you better have a good presence or you are going to be overlooked or never seen at all. This is directly related to #2; having great photographs. But you also need a great description of the property promoting its best features, complete and accurate information about the property, and a virtual tour. When your listing is put into the MLS system it gets shared with every other real estate agency's website as well as other individual agent websites that are part of our MLS system so it does get a fair amount of exposure right off the bat. But there are dozens of other local and national high traffic real estate websites that you also need to be on to get maximum exposure. Many allow for more detailed descriptions and many more photos of your listing so take advantage of them as well.

5. Patience. This may be the hardest tip. It is still going to be a tough year and you must manage to drum up just a little more patience. If you can, and make sure the first four tips are followed, you will have a much better chance to sell your house in '09.

I was responding to Steve Loynd's post; Cannon Mtn Ski Area-Not For Wimps about how my kids learned to ski there when I realized what my New Years resolution was. For those that don't know about Cannon in the Franconia Notch area of NH, these slopes hosted a World Cup event back in 1967 featuring Jean-Claude Killy. Climbing up the near vertical slopes was as close as I had gotten to skiing there until my kids conned me into skiing with them after their ski lessons were over one day after school. They must have been eleven or twelve at the time but could scoot down those nearly vertical, icy, windblown, slopes like they were nothing. They had no fear--none at all.

I, on the other hand, nearly fainted as I first peered over the edge at the top of the run they aptly named Avalanche. I survived, but learned how having a no fear attitude helps you accomplish things. While I generally have tried to apply that attitude to my earlier businesses as well as my current real estate career sometimes you lapse back into your comfort zone and don't push into new areas that are a little uncomfortable at first. 2008 was a year that pushed fear out of the shadows for me personally as my portfolio shrunk and professionally as business took a nose dive. I'm sure millions of others felt the same. But we are still--at least those of us reading this blog.

So one of my resolutions is to have no fear of the 2009 real estate market. Because if you do what you are suposed to do, work hard and consistently every day, be mindlful of the basics and embrace new technology, remember that you are working for your clients and customers, and provide superior service there is no need to have any fear. You will make a great living in 2009.

A few other business resolutions for me in 2009 are:

1. network more by joining the Chamber of Commerce and get to know more business owners on a first name basis.

2. continue to improve my website and presence on Active Rain

3. start my GRI

4. really read more rather than just scanning material

5. and learn more about technology

I am sure there are many others that I should be resolving to do as well as countless personal ones. Oh yes, #6 should be to try harder to have a balanced lifestyle which I suspect will be even harder to obtain in the coming year but I will try.

So what is your New Year's Business Resolution? I may just want to make it one of mine as well! In the mean time I'm ordering one of those cool No Fear stickers for the back window of my truck from that extreme sports clothing company of the same name. It might just impress some of the many buyer clients I will have in 2009!

Merry Christmas...

Residential sales in the towns included in our Lakes Region of NH report took a pretty good nose dive in November. We posted only 38 sales compared to 56 last November. The average sales price came in at $259,817 compared to an average of $409,913 last November. The average sales price was down mostly due to the fact that there were no sales at all last month that exceeded $1 million. That is pretty unusual for our area but sometimes it happens and it does wreak havoc with the averages. In November 2007 there were five sales for a total of $7.3 million in sales volume. Sixty percent of the homes sold last month were under $200,000 which once again shows there is a lot of affordable housing out there and it is selling.

I don't think anyone is going to be sad to see this year come to a close. It has been a long, long year with mostly bad news every day and on every front. The economy is in the tank. We have had the housing crisis, the mortgage crisis, a financial crisis on Wall Street, an auto industry crisis with a potential bankruptcy of two of the big three auto makers, and now here in the Northeast a weather crisis. One thing that struck me this past weekend when I was out getting supplies at Home Depot and the hardware store (like just about every other person in the Lakes Region) was that for the most part everyone seemed to be coping with the fact that their heat was out, that they were cold, that they couldn't take a shower, and that they didn't know when they'd see the power come back on. Most people seemed to have a pretty positive attitude that they'd get through this latest hurdle before Christmas. I think it is because even though we could do nothing about getting the electricity back on we could take some positive actions and do something about the situation ourselves. We can figure out how to get some heat in the house to stay warm and get some candles or a generator to get the lights on. So while individually we can't solve the current national financial crisis, collectively with positive attitudes we can and will get through these tough economic times. Despite what they are saying about 2009 on television and in the newspapers, I'm taking the position that it will be a better year. Doing anything else is like sitting in the cold and dark.

I'd like to thank my clients and customers for a successful year in real estate despite the bad market and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and prosperous, yes prosperous, New Year. I hope that Santa brings a buyer to everyone that has their home on the market and a 5000 watt generator to everyone else. Ho. Ho, Ho

Residential Homes Sold November 2008