Despite cold weather, brokers say Hull's real estate market is heating up
By Joe Berkeley 08.MAR.07
Many people have a feeling that the real estate market in Hull is recovering. Polly Hanlon, the manager of the Jack Conway & Co. office in Hull, has proof.
She points to the fact that between Jan. 1 and March 3 of 2006, 13 single-family homes and condominiums in Hull were sold. During that same period this year, 21 residences have sold, as well as one commercial property, according to data supplied by MLS-PIN, the region’s multiple-listing service.
One of the reasons the market was slow in early 2006, according to Hanlon, was that buyers were being told by the media that prices would come down, and it was a buyer’s market.
“The media said it was okay not to buy,” she said. “And people didn’t.”
Now, buyers are returning to the market. “People buy value regardless of the price. They don’t want to overpay for something. I think we have seen an adjustment in asking price, and interest rates are still low,” said Hanlon.
For her, it’s a matter of supply and demand. She explained that there are a finite number of homes in Hull that will sell in a given year, and when there are three times as many homes on the market, motivated sellers take their prices down, which pulls the market down.
At this point, Hanlon’s only concern with the Hull market is that first-time homebuyers, who are house shopping in the $200,000 to low-$300,000 range, are beginning to be priced out.
“If someone is looking at a mortgage that is over $2,000 a month, it is a very difficult purchase,” she said.
Hanlon also tends to the high-end of the real estate market. In November 2001, she became the first Realtor to list and sell a single-family home in Hull for $1 million. Her listing at 29 Reef Point, off Summit Ave., sold after 100 days on the market.
She still has the touch. On Feb. 28 of this year, her listing at 33 Point Allerton Ave. sold for $650,000 after just 32 days on the market. Of the shingle-style, oceanfront home, she said, “the buyer got a very good deal.”
Things are picking up for other brokers, as well. At the William Raveis real estate office in Hingham, Mary Beth Lidington, a Realtor who lives in Hull, reports seeing increased activity in the market.
She pointed to the $1.4 million home on Seaview Ave. that closed on Jan. 4, and also noted that the property at 75 Point Allerton Ave., which was listed for $1,345,000, is currently under agreement, according to MLS-PIN. “There are other brokers who anticipate other sales in Hull in the million-plus range,” she said.
It was difficult for Lidington to complete the previous sentence, or any other, for that matter. On the
Saturday that she was being interviewed, she was covering the main phone for the office, which rang incessantly. Brokers were calling to make appointments to show properties, and Lidington was saying things like, “Okay, so now you have a 10:30, a 11:00, an 11:30 and a 12:00.”
One of the reasons the phone was ringing is the anticipated arrival of the Greenbush Line of the Old Colony Railroad. Originally, the train was scheduled to start running at the end of 2007. Due to a warm, construction-friendly winter, trains could start ferrying South Shore residents to Boston as early as the fall.
People who would never consider the South Shore are coming to look at homes in Hingham, and some of them find their way to Hull.
“If you can get to Boston on the train or the commuter boat, and come home to enjoy 26 miles of coastline, why wouldn’t you live in Hull?” Lidington asked.
As a Hullonian, Lidington considers herself an ambassador of the town who promotes the benefits of peninsula living to customers and fellow agents.
When customers question the integrity of the Hull schools, she is often called upon as an expert
witness. With pride, she said, “I graduated my three children out of Hull High and they want to Harvard, Colby, and Washington University in St. Louis.”
She believes one of the great draws of Hull is the incredible range of views. “There’s only so much waterfront and they’re not making any more of it,” she said.
Despite her enthusiasm for the place between the tides, and the fact that her office has three listings in Hull for over $1 million, Lidington does not expect to convert all would-be Hinghamites into Hullonians.
“There’s a certain type of person who is going to take to Hull. You have to be a free spirit, or be independent thinking. You don’t run with the masses if you move to Hull, because the masses will tell you that you are crazy.”
Joe Berkeley covers real estate for The Hull Times. You may reach him at josephwilliamberkeleyjr@yahoo.com.
Many people have a feeling that the real estate market in Hull is recovering. Polly Hanlon, the manager of the Jack Conway & Co. office in Hull, has proof.
She points to the fact that between Jan. 1 and March 3 of 2006, 13 single-family homes and condominiums in Hull were sold. During that same period this year, 21 residences have sold, as well as one commercial property, according to data supplied by MLS-PIN, the region’s multiple-listing service.
One of the reasons the market was slow in early 2006, according to Hanlon, was that buyers were being told by the media that prices would come down, and it was a buyer’s market.
“The media said it was okay not to buy,” she said. “And people didn’t.”
Now, buyers are returning to the market. “People buy value regardless of the price. They don’t want to overpay for something. I think we have seen an adjustment in asking price, and interest rates are still low,” said Hanlon.
For her, it’s a matter of supply and demand. She explained that there are a finite number of homes in Hull that will sell in a given year, and when there are three times as many homes on the market, motivated sellers take their prices down, which pulls the market down.
At this point, Hanlon’s only concern with the Hull market is that first-time homebuyers, who are house shopping in the $200,000 to low-$300,000 range, are beginning to be priced out.
“If someone is looking at a mortgage that is over $2,000 a month, it is a very difficult purchase,” she said.
Hanlon also tends to the high-end of the real estate market. In November 2001, she became the first Realtor to list and sell a single-family home in Hull for $1 million. Her listing at 29 Reef Point, off Summit Ave., sold after 100 days on the market.
She still has the touch. On Feb. 28 of this year, her listing at 33 Point Allerton Ave. sold for $650,000 after just 32 days on the market. Of the shingle-style, oceanfront home, she said, “the buyer got a very good deal.”
Things are picking up for other brokers, as well. At the William Raveis real estate office in Hingham, Mary Beth Lidington, a Realtor who lives in Hull, reports seeing increased activity in the market.
She pointed to the $1.4 million home on Seaview Ave. that closed on Jan. 4, and also noted that the property at 75 Point Allerton Ave., which was listed for $1,345,000, is currently under agreement, according to MLS-PIN. “There are other brokers who anticipate other sales in Hull in the million-plus range,” she said.
It was difficult for Lidington to complete the previous sentence, or any other, for that matter. On the
Saturday that she was being interviewed, she was covering the main phone for the office, which rang incessantly. Brokers were calling to make appointments to show properties, and Lidington was saying things like, “Okay, so now you have a 10:30, a 11:00, an 11:30 and a 12:00.”
One of the reasons the phone was ringing is the anticipated arrival of the Greenbush Line of the Old Colony Railroad. Originally, the train was scheduled to start running at the end of 2007. Due to a warm, construction-friendly winter, trains could start ferrying South Shore residents to Boston as early as the fall.
People who would never consider the South Shore are coming to look at homes in Hingham, and some of them find their way to Hull.
“If you can get to Boston on the train or the commuter boat, and come home to enjoy 26 miles of coastline, why wouldn’t you live in Hull?” Lidington asked.
As a Hullonian, Lidington considers herself an ambassador of the town who promotes the benefits of peninsula living to customers and fellow agents.
When customers question the integrity of the Hull schools, she is often called upon as an expert
witness. With pride, she said, “I graduated my three children out of Hull High and they want to Harvard, Colby, and Washington University in St. Louis.”
She believes one of the great draws of Hull is the incredible range of views. “There’s only so much waterfront and they’re not making any more of it,” she said.
Despite her enthusiasm for the place between the tides, and the fact that her office has three listings in Hull for over $1 million, Lidington does not expect to convert all would-be Hinghamites into Hullonians.
“There’s a certain type of person who is going to take to Hull. You have to be a free spirit, or be independent thinking. You don’t run with the masses if you move to Hull, because the masses will tell you that you are crazy.”
Joe Berkeley covers real estate for The Hull Times. You may reach him at josephwilliamberkeleyjr@yahoo.com.
posted by joe berkeley at 7:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home