January Home Sales Strong, Weather Hampers

If relentless snowstorms kept you indoors more than usual last month, you're not alone.  Cape Cod second home buyers put off their search for vacation homes, according to Kinlin Grover Branch Manager Lester Allen.

Lester told the Cape Cod Times online that "if they can't get out of their driveways, they are not going to come here".  In addition, with a major snowstorm each week for the last six, many seasonal Cape homes were inaccessible due to snow.  

In spite of the challenges, January home sales beat figures from the unusually slow January of '13.  The Barnstable County Registry of Deeds reports 397 property sales last month with a median price of $328,000.  

That compares to 383 sales one year ago and a median price of $280,000. The number of foreclosures continued to plummet with 11 sales last month compared to 20 in January 2013.