(Original Source:  More From The Tip Of The Town )

Following our look at the state of the market in Colonial Village, here comes the third quarter comparison for its twin neighborhood, Shepherd Park. And that turned out somewhat more interesting.

When it comes to listing activity, the trends are almost the opposite of those in Colonial Village: while there were no new listings in Colonial Village for all of the third quarter, Shepherd Park saw a record number of 15 new listings, triple that of the two previous years. As the houses were scattered about the neighborhood and very different in style and shape from one another, there’s no obvious explanation for it. Mere chance perhaps? Or was it that some potential sellers finally got to a point where they no longer wanted to wait? Where they realized the low interest rates worked in their favor as well?

I’m not sure. The other interesting discovery, however, has to do withsellers as well: they finally seem to price their houses a little more realistically. The average closed price for houses in Shepherd Park was lower (about $550k, down from $580k), but it was skewed by one very small house and one fixer-upper. The real surprise here is the fact that there is practically no difference in average list- versus sold price! Some properties sold for less while others got bid up (in one case more than $30,000). So, there’s definitely some stability here.

Another good sign: the average listing sells fast. It spends 17 days on the market (DOM), in comparison to the 85 days it took last year.

Of course, not every single house sells so fast.  Of the 15 new listings, three are still active for sale, eight have closed their sales, and the other four were taken off the market.