The Halloween Update - October 16th - October 31st

Spooky times here! The wind came up last night and swirled the leaves.  Our new door makes faint howling sounds, I've discovered.  Lovely, lovely evening!  I was reminded of other Halloweens when Alex was little - our famous Garfield costume and subsequent news item on the Albany local news when he was 7 in Saratoga.  Another warm night there, the last time he went trick or treating.  And last year when Super Storm Sandy hit, but the Upper East Side where he lives now was spared, and he could take Liam out in his own Garfield costume.

And the beat goes on....There are currently 82 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, only 13 are in the Village, and 24 are waterfront.  This is one of the lowest numbers we've had in a very long time, almost half as many as a few years ago!  Nothing new came on, just the re-listing of a very lovely waterfront property in the $600,000 range.

There are 22 houses in the contracted categories.  Six new ones came under contract - two each in my self-described three areas.

Gloriously, there are 92 sold and closed single family homes as of Halloween.  This shows that we have less than a year of inventory out there, so buy now!  Seven new ones closed in the two week period.  They spread out almost evenly - two Village, two waterfront, and three in the town.  Of these, 3 had been on the market for over a year.

As a side note, there are times when the "over a year" listing does not accurately reflect the process.  Some owners, recognizing that the market is either overly stocked with homes like theirs, or having the means to wait a bit, will rent out their homes and bring in enough money to pay the mortgage, insurance and taxes plus make a small profit.  Houses simply do not sell as well with a tenant in place.  Real listing time should be marked from when the home is ready to be sold and can be easily shown and quickly closed.

So as we move into November the time will change this weekend - fall back!  Showing times will decrease with this, and ease of movement (as in the arrival of snow).  Please come out to my open on Sunday at 149 North Main Street in Jordan - you might see the first flakes of the year falling into the creek!