The 2009 real estate year finished on a positive note with seven transactions coming into our office during the ten days prior to Christmas. This was a marked difference from the dismal 2008
holiday season which carried on through the first quarter of 2009.
The number of residential sales on B.I. for the year was 209, a ten percent increase over the 2008 number of 187. Median price for 2009 was $545,000 down from the 2008 median of $589,000
reflecting the impact on the higher end of our market. Only one home sold for over 2 million in 2009 while 2008 had five sales exceeding 2 million. On the opposite end of the 2009 spectrum 45 sales were under $400,000 and 76 were between $400,000 and $600,000 providing almost sixty percent of our market. The one million to 2 million price point fared somewhat better in the last quarter finishing the year with 25 homes sold. Real estate brokers and appraisers look to the past trying to predict future trends. The consensus seems to be guarded optimism for continued slow growth and price stabilization for the coming year. Ed