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Dear Neighbor,

The 30 sales transactions in Kent in the last 12 months is only slightly more than last year's tally of 27. There were three sales in the neighborhood and we are proud to say Bain assisted in them all!

We are seeing the path back to a more balanced market. There is a small pool of buyers who are serious and will buy if the right house and value coincide. There is still more property supply than buyer demand, but the number of offerings is being slowly chipped away.

Moreover, the national economy is growing healthier providing a more confident buyer pool. We are seeing a very strong upper end of the market fueled by capital that is seeking hard assets, like real estate, in which to invest. It is the main reason we are seeing cash deals for multi-million dollar estates during a time of historically low interest rates. Typically the upper end of the market is the trend setter in value recovery as that level of the market has more capital flexibility and critical evaluation processes.

Incrementally our local market values are getting stronger. One critical indicator is the number of days it takes to sell a house. 5-6 months is considered the standard of a "normal" market. It only took us 64 days to list and close a house in Brookwoods.

Another benchmark of the market's health is the number of available listings. There are considerably fewer listings on the market today (41) than two years ago (58). And there are 3 sales pending. There are only 5 properties available in the neighborhood.

Here is what has transpired in the last 12 months.

I have my house, a completely renovated wonderful old colonial, at 321 Kent Cornwall Road listed for sale. Featuring an open floor plan with a cook's kitchen (Bosch appliances, Sub Zero, Granite and butcher block counters) that flows into both dining room and living room with wood burning fireplace and a large window seat looking over to distant western views. Two large decks, one off the living room and the other off the main floor master suite overlook both the gardens and the view of over 8000 protected acres. There are 4 more light filled bedrooms. The grounds offer stone wall laced gardens, private pool with waterfall, out door shower, a tumbling brook and spacious lawns. Listed for $535,000

Across the street at 316 Kent Cornwall Road we sold a wonderful old barn that has been partially converted to a home. The barn is an antique beauty which once served a lovely colonial that was tragically lost in a fire years ago. The barn had been renovated but not finished and after a bank sale the property was acquired for $300,000, and is being improved and finished!

We also closed on a lovely ranch style home at 381 Kent Cornwall Road. Toni Soule of my firm assisted the purchaser of this one level home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The house maintains 1300 sq. ft. and was recently renovated with hardwood flooring, kitchen with corian countertops and stainless appliances. It was listed for $305,000 reduced to $289,000 and sold for $289,000.

Chris Garrity, my partner, listed the only home in Brookwoods that sold in 2014. Unit #27 was listed and sold in 64 days. The house was completely updated with new appliances, redone cherry flooring and a third floor that was turned into a master suite. The Colonial has 1730 sq. ft. and three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. There is a fireplace and large deck. The house was listed for $235,000 and sold for $215,000.

Chris and I, along with our whole firm hope you enjoy our updates of the market and want you to know you can find this letter and all our Kent market letters on our website www.bainrealestate.com under Neighborhood Stats. There is a place there where you can give us your email address to get these letters and other market updates electronically. We continue to work to assist buyer and sellers in their pursuit of their goals and thank you for supporting our success as the leading real estate firm in Sharon, Kent and Cornwall over the last 10 years.

Happy Spring!

All the best,

David Bain

Chris Garrity

And the Kent office-Toni Soule, Debbie Bain, Dave Fairty, Marilyn DeVos, Eve Iselin & Scott Harvey

This graph shows the number of successful transactions

in our key towns of Cornwall, Kent and Sharon in 2014

Please note that not all listings and sales transactions are through David Bain Real Estate