Aug
13
Cape Cod Real Estate Market Watch, First Half, 2000-2010
By LandVest
 
High-End Real Estate Market Watch, First Half, 2000-2010 – Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Wings Neck Waterfront, one of two, LandVest listed, Pocasset homes for sale

Cape Cod is internationally famous as a summer resort area and is increasingly popular for retirement living. It features miles of beaches, natural attractions, historic sites, art galleries, and four star restaurants and hotels. Outdoor activities include world class yachting, coastal and deep-sea fishing, numerous public and private golf courses, and a wide variety of other informal summer sports. The Cape is just 75 miles from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island. Executive jet services are available at the Hyannis airport and there are several other smaller airports.

Cape Cod is divided into four regions: Upper Cape, Mid Cape, Lower Cape, and Outer Cape, each including several towns and villages. Upper Cape towns include Bourne (which includes the Wings Neck area of Pocasset), Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee.  Mid Cape towns include Barnstable (which includes the village of Centerville) , Dennis, and Yarmouth.  Lower Cape towns include Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, and Orleans. Outer Cape towns include Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown.

Active Cape Cod Real Estate Listings, $2,000,000+, First Half of 2000-2010
On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the first half of 2010 the inventory of high-end listings grew to historic levels (248 listings vs. 210 at the same point in 2009). First half high-end sales almost doubled compared to last year (24 sales vs. 17 at the same point in 2009). The peak for first half sales was 44 sales in 2006. 2009 sales were the lowest since 2002. It is interesting to note that the first quarter 2010 performance was lagging 2009 (5 sales vs. 8 in 2009), but a surge in the second quarter resulted in an additional 19 sales vs. 9 in the second quarter of 2009. LandVest is seeing a burst of energy across its markets in the second quarter of 2010 and we are cautiously optimistic that the reminder of the year will see increasing activity in the high-end market.

Highest and Median Sale, $2,000,000+, First Half, 2000-2010
First half sale prices peaked in 2006 with a sale in Osterville at $12.5 million that remains the record sale for Cape Cod. In 2010 the top sale to date was $5.8 million for a property in Centerville that was on the market for an astounding 2,180 days starting at $9,800,000. The next two highest sales were $5 million in Chatham and $4.4 million in Osterville. The median value for high end sales in the first half of 2010 was $2.8 million matching the previous record in the first half of 2006.

Days on Market, $2,000,000, First Half 2000-2010
Days on market for high-end properties sold during the first half of 2010 grew substantially to 589 days compared to 226 days for the first half of 2009. This increase seems skewed by the sale of the property in Centerville, although there were several other properties selling after 3 years on the market. In the past three years, the average days on market for sales in the first half of the year ranged from 226 to 264 days.

Sales by Town, $2,000,000, First Half, 2000-2010
For the past few years the high-end market on Cape Cod has broadened as the perennial top markets have been perceived as being too expensive and as buyers have bid up the prices of special properties in other towns. This year the market seems to be contracting. Cape Cod towns with high-end sales in the first half of 2010 include the leader, Barnstable, (with 7 of the 12 sales in the village of Osterville), followed by Chatham (7), Harwich (2), Falmouth (2), and Orleans (1). In 2006 at the first half peak, 13 of the 15 Cape Cod towns had high-end sales.

The LandVest High-End Market Watch is a periodic review of select high-end markets in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the Adirondacks. Market data is collected from Multiple Listing Services and does not include private listings. LandVest makes no representation as to the accuracy of the data and therefore is not responsible for any actions taken as a result of use of or reliance on this information.

Centerville, MA real estate for sale

The Playhouse is a 6.2-acre estate in Centerville, MA and is available for sale.

View Cape Cod Area Select Sales

To view available real estate on Cape Cod visit www.landvest.com or click Cape Cod Real Estate for Sale

For information about buying or selling real estate on Cape Cod, please contact Stewart Young at syoung@landvest.com or 617-357-8930

For additional information about LandVest’s real estate consulting,  appraisal, and brokerage services, please contact:
Robert R. Borden III, President rborden@landvest.com or 617-723-1800

 
Jul
20
Seapuit, The Transformation of the Second Oldest Golf Links In The US Into Some Of Cape Cod’s Best Real Estate
By LandVest
 

This post was brought to you by Stewart Young (syoung@landvest.com).  Whether it’s an elegant Greek Revival in Lincoln, a 130 acre farm in Medfield, or a waterfront summer estate on Stage Harbor in Chatham, Stewart advises buyers and sellers of some of the most distinctive properties in Massachusetts with a focus on the Metro West area of Boston and Cape Cod.

Seapuit Club in Osterville has become the site of some of Cape Cod's best real estate

Seapuit Club is now the site of some of Cape Cod's best real estate

The Seapuit Club, located in Osterville, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod operated from 1896 to 1942 and is reputed to have been the second oldest golf links in the United States. The property consisted of about 1,000 acres in Osterville and Marstons Mills. The golf course was 3001 yards long with 9 holes rated as a par 36. In 1926 the daily greens fee was $1.50, raised to $2.50 on the weekends. A seasonal membership cost $35.

1926 Seapuit Golf Membership Rates

The Seapuit Club Inn provided lodging and fine dining from 1898 to 1925. The Golf Club House at the ninth green provided registration and men’s and women’s lockers and at the third green Bernard Hinckley operated an oyster bar that also served martinis, maybe even during prohibition.

The "Head House" located on the 9th Green

Supporting operations included Seapuit Bay Farm that housed horses, cows, and chickens. There were several cranberry bogs that were harvested into the 1950s. The Seapuit Nursery operated as a commercial nursery up to 1985.

The transformation of Seapuit occurred in the early 1970s when the Davis family engaged LandVest to develop a master plan for residential development of the property. The plan was not a conventional subdivision. Careful inventories of the landscape were followed by the identification of key sites that would feature the bogs, marshes, woods, fields, and especially the water and inland vistas that made the property so unique. LandVest’s marketing campaign was also carefully planned and orchestrated with a slow release to the market over several decades. In the end, by 1990, about 50 lots were sold leaving extensive land in conservation.

Today Seapuit maintains a special sense of place. One of the most special properties in the neighborhood is located at 250 Smoke Valley Road in Osterville, MA and is listed by Stewart Young of LandVest is now under agreement.  This waterfront retreat offers complete privacy, a pastoral setting with views toward Prince Cove and conservation land, and a deep-water dock with three floats. The Cape Cod-style residence provides three bedrooms and there is also an exceptional waterfront boathouse with one bedroom and a waterside deck.

Ostervile Waterfront Retreat - Former site of Seapuit Golf Club

For additional information on the Seapuit Club, click the link to a recent article in Cape Cod Life:

Remembering Osterville’s Seapuit Golf Club

For more information on Cape Cod Real Estate contact Stewart Young via email syoung@landvest.com

To view exceptional Cape Cod Real Estate for Sale, visit LandVest.com or click Cape Cod Real Estate