We are fortunate to have five experienced local Realtors working from our Hanover office. Four have previous experience with the Sotheby’s Realty brand. Norwich resident Celina Barton was a top producer in a highly respected Sotheby’s Realty firm in Washington DC; Hanover resident Janine Williamson, daughter of Woodstock real estate legend Georgina Williamson, brings an unmatched breadth of real estate experience to the team and initially became part of the Sotheby’s family in 1980; Lyme resident Nancy Snyder is a highly respected and consistent top producer in the Upper Valley for over 20 years with previous Sotheby’s Realty experience; Hanover resident Margaret Ward enjoys an extensive background in real estate in both residential and commercial sales and Anita Billado, another top producing agent with over 17 years of sales experience, 3 with Sotheby’s Realty out of our New London office, has lifelong ties to the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region.

We receive listing requests from property owners from nearly every corner of New Hampshire and in to Vermont. Their motivation to call us is due to the strength of the Sotheby’s Realty brand, our unwavering commitment to our clients and our deep ties to and experience in the market place. These clients understand and want the regional and national exposure Sotheby’s Realty brings to the table. This was a major consideration in deciding to change our name to Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty. Our new name allows these customers to identify with our company no matter where our business takes us.  We are still the same people you have come to know over these many years but we are now able to offer a greater level of exposure and quality of service to both our existing as well as new client base well beyond the Lake Sunapee Region.

And it is working! We are on a tear this year. We are currently ranked 9^th in the entire State of New Hampshire in Total Sales Volume closed; Our Average Selling Price is 65% higher than any of the other top 10 companies; Our Total Year to Date sales volume in Grafton, Merrimack and Sullivan counties is up 46% over last year but the market as a whole in Grafton, Merrimack and Sullivan Counties is only up 13% Year to Date. We are outperforming the market by 71% or in other terms by 3 and ½ times!!!*

Thank you all for your continued loyalty and support. We intend to be here for you for the next 105 years!!

* Market Statistics NNEREN and Public Record

We’ve changed our name! New London Agency Sotheby’s International Realty will now be called Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty. This change is in name only.  Pam Perkins and Stephanie Wheeler will continue to be the owners of the company which they have been the stewards of since 1985. They are committed to insuring their clients have the exposure they need to be successful in today’s challenging real estate market and this rebranding will help them achieve this goal.

Pam is extremely excited about the change; “The opportunities that Sotheby’s International Realty has provided our company has allowed us to expand our marketing reach well beyond the Lake Sunapee Region. We want to now leverage those opportunities to the advantage of our clients including increased exposure for our listing clients as well as broader access to quality properties for our buyer clients. Thus we felt the time was right to change our name to something with broad regional appeal which knows no boundaries. We believe that Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty is the perfect moniker to best represent this region we all call home.”

We are also announcing the hiring of Alan DiStasio as our new Managing Director. Alan is a management veteran with Sotheby’s International Realty most recently as V.P. and Regional Brokerage Manager for the four offices that comprise Litchfield Hills Sotheby’s International Realty in Litchfield County, CT. Alan will be overseeing the company’s operations freeing Pam and Stephanie to focus on servicing their clients. Alan intends to leverage his extensive background and connections within the Sotheby’s International Realty network to the advantage of our clients.

Should you have any questions regarding our name change or what it may mean for you personally, please feel free to give us a call at 603.526.4050. We know that the entire team at Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty will continue to work hard on your behalf.

First the good news…from January 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012, units sold in the Lake Sunapee Region* increased 10%.  Total sales volume remained nearly neutral (down 1%) to $19,624,760. However, New London Agency, outpaced the region posting sales volume gains of 14% over our first Qtr of last year.

On the flipside, the average selling price dropped 11% and average days on the market increased 13% to 243 days on average.  Once again however we outperformed the overall market by posting an increase in our average selling price of 23.6%!

The decrease of average selling price in the overall market is attributable to the abundance of inventory. Overall market inventory in Q1 2012 increased 24% over Q1 2011 inventory. Units sold however were not able to overcome the increase in inventory resulting in lower prices. Our average selling price increased due to substantial activity in the high end of the market.

The ice is out and spring has sprung here in the Lake Sunapee region which means the lazy, hazy days of summer can’t be far behind. It’s a great time to come and enjoy this slice of heaven…but then again, all four seasons are great here!

For a complete report on Lake Sunapee Region Real Estate Sales or individual town real estate sales, contact Doug Peel at doug.peel@sothebysrealty.com or 603-520-7753 cell phone.

*Andover, Bradford, Goshen, Grantham, New London, Newbury, Springfield, Sunapee, Sutton, Warner, Wilmot

The New York Times is reporting that President Obama is nominating Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank, the White House said. Dr. Kim has been president of Dartmouth College for three years. The nomination of Dr. Kim, who is also a physician and helped found Partners in Health and directed the World Health Organization’s department of HIV/AIDS, would recognize the importance of health issues in global development.

Their new home...

It’s not uncommon for buyer clients new to the area to ask for recommendations on topics ranging from where to dine, go for a hike, see a show, or to refer local professionals for everything from doctors to insurance agents. So we’ve decided to start offering recommendations here on our blog for your reading enjoyment.  For this week we want to bring to your attention a local resource that offers truly unique decorating ideas. Art of Nature recently relocated to 9 Newport Road in New London and is a must stop!  Owner Mauli McDonald has a wide variety of natural gifts that are truly fascinating.  Where else can one find ostrich and quail eggs, turtle shells, snake skins and mounted butterflies from around the world?  We really love her rustic natural furniture and birch bark mirrors, they go particularly well in a second home.  Mauli also has 25 years in floral design for everyday or special day occasions. In 2011, Mauli received New Hampshire Magazine’s Best in NH award for Natural Gifts – a really great honor for a local Lake Sunapee Region Shop.  Even Aerosmith’s front man Steven Tyler makes mention of Art of Nature in his new book “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?”  Doug Peel in particular did a lot of my Christmas shopping at Art of Nature this past year and agrees you will not be disappointed!  Check out www.natureswildart.com for more information.

As an old song from the 1930s goes “Better Days Are Here Again” and the local luxury home market is whistling that tune! The luxury market, which is comprised of homes selling over the one million dollar price point, fell victim to hard times during the recession but it appears we’ve turned the corner here in the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire.  It’s no surprise that the stock market crash in the fall of 2008 dampened demand for real estate in general.  Buyers were clearly taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to real estate.  At the height of the recession, economic conditions were particularly unkind to the high end real estate market. In 2009, inventory grew to its highest level in over 6 years. However, as the overall economy started to rebound and asking prices started to reflect new market realities, pent up demand from buyers sitting on the sidelines initiated  a slow but steady recovery. Savvy buyers understood that real estate values were at their best levels since the early 2000′s and that demand for quality listings in desirable areas always rebounds first after a difficult economic stretch.  Buyers started to re-enter this segment of the market rather than wait any longer and potentially miss a great opportunity. Growing consumer confidence and historically low mortgage rates certainly contributed to this rebound as well. As a result, units sold in this category have grown 120% and total sales volume is up 83% since the lows of 2009.

This resurgence certainly didn’t come without major angst on the part of buyers and sellers alike and despite this trend buyers are still looking for value. Pricing remains everything. The bottom line is that if buyers and sellers employ a realistic view and enter into a negotiation in good faith, deals will come together.

For a complete report on the luxury market in the Lake Sunapee Region, contact Doug Peel at doug.peel@sothebysrealty.com or call Doug at 603-520-7753.

Upper Valley residents should watch the outcome of the 7pm Thursday Fairlee Town Hall meeting to discuss a proposed three town effort to manage Lake Fairlee. This meeting will explore the budgetary constraints the towns face in managing this 450 acre community asset, the legality and practicality of the joint town management proposal on the table, and whether other options exist. The milfoil infestation that appeared over the last decade required an expensive commitment of dollars to treat in 2010 and 2011 and will require a follow-up treatment in 2012 to deal with the remaining major infestation at the mouth of Middle Brook. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns, (which rallied meaningfully to Hurricane Irene), has not yet decided on a recommendation for Thursday’s meeting. Also unclear is the current status of the Thetford Dam. The board faces a May 2012 tax appeal meeting which could be contentious if the issue of taxing residents to buy the Thetford Dam gets pushed. The current Dam owners have yet to convey their position on the potential transfer of dam ownership to the three town dam alliance. Having control of that key resource would enable the alliance to fund the dam improvement and management costs, leaving residents and lake users free to enjoy the beautiful watershed with reduced risk.  For more information on the Upper Valley and waterfront sales in the region please email Celina Barton at celina.barton@sothebysrealty.com.

Residential sales in the Lake Sunapee Region performed better than many real estate experts predicted for 2011 but still fell short of 2010 numbers.  Units sold last year were down 5% over 2010 but total sales volume remained virtually even.  So how is this good news? First, one must take into account that a contributing factor driving sales in 2010 was the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit which increased unit sales 24% in Q1 10’ and Q2 10’ over 2009 levels.  This was a substantial year over year gain which more than likely would not have taken place had it not been for the tax credit.  Thus for unit sales in 2011 to be off just 5% in 2010 is actually good news since there were no direct factors affecting sales.  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly,  the average sale price for the region increased 5% to $354,523 since sales volume remained flat year over year. The average number of days on market for these sales still remains high at 175 days.  For a complete report on Lake Sunapee Region real estate sales or individual town real estate sales, e-mail Doug Peel at doug.peel@sothebysrealty.com or call him at 603-520-7753.

Northern Stage’s clever and sexy production of ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ reminds us once again what a wonderful arts resource that Northern Stage is for the Upper Valley. This mesmerizing play reunites many of the finest equity actors in theatre with multiple stellar performances. Viscount Valmont and Marquis de Merteuil engage in conspiratorial repartee and competition to wreak havoc in 18th century French court life, plotting intrigues and deception. The nature of their courtship is twisted and all too familiar as you suffer the failure of the mainstream media to talk about issues in a Presidential election year – no, the turn of the screw is more alluring. “Turn of the Screw” author Henry James encouraged, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”The play turns dark late in the conspiracy where words beget tragic actions, alas ending the games of romance and betrayal. The cast executes a wonderful tableau of posing, posturing, sparring and parrying – let the end surprise and confound you! We are blessed to have some many diverse and interesting productions that can be enjoyed in an intimate venue with such fine and enthusiastic actors. Make it a date night and be delighted! Please contact Celina Barton at celina.barton@sothebysrealty.com for more information about this wonderful community treasure!!

Real Estate by nature is local. What rules apply for Boston are quite different than those which apply in Manchester for instance. Even here in the Lake Sunapee region, there are differences from town to town. This is what makes predicting trends quite difficult. We can however report on one particular area where we see a very positive trend happening; Lake Sunapee. Direct waterfront sales on the lake have experienced substantial gains in a number of categories including units sold and total sales volume for 2011 as compared to 2010. Units sold were up 25% and total sales volume was up 13%. These figures represent the largest year over year gain in each category since 2004. There were seven total sales over $1,500,000 which further illustrates the strength of this desirable second home market. There was no difference in the Average Days on Market year over year. It remained consistent at 234 days. We consider these results to be a clear indicator that the second home market is rebounding on the Lake and that regardless of what the broader market is doing, unique and desirable neighborhoods will always attract attention. For a complete sales break down on Lake Sunapee sales activity for 2011 or any other year, contact Doug Peel at doug.peel@sothebysrealty.com.