Cautiously Optimistic?

Happy New Year! And I mean it. The start of 2017 is showing some positive signs on the local real estate market. Compared to last year, we are off to a good start. Personally, I have averaged just over one sale or conditional sale per week in the first month of the year. So why the "cautiously optimistic" title? Last year was weak. Comparing 2017 to 2016 is somewhat unfair...so far. The market did not have much choice but to go up this year compared to 2016. Thus, I remain cautious. Our total number of single family residential sales in the Town of Vulcan dropped quite a bit from 2015 to 2016. Yet, the average house price that sold went up from around the $182,000 mark to right about the $200,000 mark. The reason for this is that there were only a couple of houses that sold under the $100,000 mark, but there were a few new builds that sold above the $400,000 mark. Houses selling above $400K have been few and far between in our area over the past five years. However, they did sell in 2016, and those sales helped drive up our average sale price. What does that mean for 2017? The builder of those new houses plans to construct a few more this year, and if they sell, that could keep our average sale price up higher. Then again, we will need to see what comes on the market, because if there are some much lower priced properties that sell in town, that could affect things too. Anyhow, in the meantime, we will hope for a good selection of houses to come on the market, and that we have a good variety of qualified, and motivated buyers, ready to make a move this year!