Watch out for Ice Dams in Winter Weather conditions

An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow from draining. As water backs up behind the dam, it can leak through the roof and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation and other areas. 

How do ice dams form? 

Ice dams are formed by an interaction between snow cover, outside temperatures, and heat lost through the roof. Specifically, there must be snow on the roof, warm portions of the upper roof (warmer than 32° F), and cold portions of the lower roof (at freezing or below). Melted snow from the warmer areas will refreeze when it flows down to the colder portions, forming an ice dam. 
Although the primary contributor to snow melting is heat loss from the building’s
interior, solar radiation can also pro-vide sufficient heat to melt snow on a roof.   Gutters do not cause ice dams to form, contrary to popular belief. Gutters do, however, help concentrate ice from the dam in a vulnerable area, where parts of the house can peel away under the weight of the ice and come crashing to the ground.


Problems Associated with Ice Dams 

Ice dams are problematic because they force water to leak from the roof into the building envelope. This may lead to: 
 Rotted roof decking, exterior and interior walls, and framing; 
 Respiratory illnesses (allergies, asthma, etc.) caused by mold growth;   Reduced effectiveness of insulation. 
 Wet insulation doesn’t work well, and chronically wet insulation will not decompress even when it dries. Without working insulation, even more heat will escape to the roof where more snow will melt, causing more ice dams which, in turn, will lead to leaks; and peeling paint. Water from the leak will infiltrate wall cavities and cause paint to peel and blister. This may happen long after the ice dam has melted and thus not appear directly related to the ice dam. 
 
Prevention 

 Keep the entire roof cold. This can be accomplished by implementing the following 
 Install a metal roof. Ice formations may occur on metal roofs, but the design of the roof will not allow the melting water to penetrate the roof’s surface. Also, snow and ice are more likely to slide off of a smooth, metal surface than asphalt shingles. 
 Seal all air leaks in the attic floor, such as those surrounding wire and plumbing penetrations, attic hatches, and ceiling light fixtures leading to the attic from the living space below. 
 Increase the thickness of insulation on the attic floor, ductwork, and chimneys that pass through the attic. 
 Move or elevate exhaust systems that terminate just above the roof, where they are likely to melt snow. 
 A minimum of 3” air space is recommended between the top of insulation and roof sheathing in sloped ceilings. Remove snow from the roof. This can be accomplished safely using a roof rake from the ground. Be careful not to harm roofing materials or to dislodge dangerous icicles. 
 Create channels in the ice by hosing it with warm water. Because this process intentionally adds water to the roof, this should be done only in emergencies where a great deal of water is already flowing through the roof, and when temperatures are warm enough that the hose water can drain before it freezes. 
Prevention and Removal Methods to Avoid 
 Electric heat cables. These rarely work, they require effort to install, they use electricity, and they can make shingles brittle. Manual removal of the ice dam using shovels, hammers, ice picks, rakes, or whatever destructive items can be found in the shed. The roof can be easily damaged by these efforts, as can the homeowner, when they slip off of the icy roof. 

 In summary, ice dams are caused by inadequate attic insulation, but homeowners can take certain preventative measures to ensure that they are rare.

Thanks to BIS Home Reporter for this report.

Great Time to Sell and Buy

While inventory has been coming to the market slowly we are still at lower levels than we've seen in the past several years.  There have already been signs of movement in some of the new listings that have come to the market since the beginning of the year, an indication of the pent up demand and buyers that have already started to look at homes.

In the meantime, in the past month or so, there has been a shift in the mortgage market as already low rates have come down to truly historic lows. 30 year fixed loans, even Jumbo loans up to $2 million are now well below 4%-I've seen rates of 3.625% today from Skip Wasserman at Atlantic Residential for these fixed rates, and rates as low as 2.625% for 5/1 fixed Adjustable Rate Mortgages.

So what does this mean to the buyer and seller?   For the buyer this is a market where prices have recently been holding steady or even declining slightly in some markets.  Prices, therefore, are at reasonable levels.  There has been talk about the Fed raising the interest rates on mortgages at some point this year.  It's hard to say how much this increase will be, but let's just imagine what that would
mean for someone looking to purchase a home with a $800,000 mortgage (putting 20% down for a purchase of a home selling at $1 million).  At current rates the monthly cost would be $3648 per
month for a 30 year mortgage.  If the rates go back to the levels that we saw only one month ago, at 4.125%, the cost differential would be $229 per month, or $2,748 a year. Looked at in a slightly
different way, this type of change would represent a 12% increase.  Seen in a different way,
if home prices were to go up 12%, a home now selling for $800,000 would be the equivalent of a home selling for $896,000 if the rate was at 4.125%.

For the seller, the fact that rates are so low means that buyers can now afford more than they could even one month ago (see above).  This will increase the buyer pool in different price points, and should therefore may it easier to sell their homes (especially if inventory levels remain low). 

October-Prices Holding Steady/Late autumn activity

There was increased monthly activity in all towns compared to October of 2013. Westport saw the biggest jump with 45 homes going to escrow in October vs 32 in the previous year, a 40.6% increase.

Yearly sales figures are still behind 2013 levels though.  Westport is nearly 15% behind last year's levels, followed by Weston which is a little over 10% behind 2013 levels, Wilton -5.8%, Fairfield -5.7%. 

Though volume has decreased, median home prices have increased at a rate slightly above the cost of living in Westport & Weston, with median prices of $1,325,000 and $807,000 respectively.  Wilton and Fairfield have seen almost no movement, with median prices of $800,000 and $573,000.

Going outside the Mid-Fairfield towns that I usually discuss, there has been something interesting happening in Easton.  There have been 105 homes that have gone to contract in this small rural-feeling town, which represents a 40% increase over last year.  The median sales price in Easton progressed by 6.4% with a median sales price year to date of $592,000.  Easton had at one point been a part of Fairfield. 

Playing Catch Up

We continued to see positive results in July, though we are still behind 2013 figures. Wilton, which in June had seen the largest increases, saw more modest improvement in July, with 37 properties that went to escrow versus 35 the previous July. Wilton's median price in 2014 now stands at $790,000 which represents a .6% decrease compared to 2014. For the year, Wilton has seen 162 properties go to contract compared to 172 through July in 2014, or a 5.8% decrease. There have been 295 homes that have come to the market vs. 306 through July 2013. In terms of closed sales, Wilton is down 18% compared to the first 7 months of 2013, with 136 closed sales vs. 166 sales through July 2013. Wilton's close neighbor, Weston, saw a big jump in July, with 32 properties going to contract compared to only 14 in July of 2013. This 128% increase was the largest in the area, and brought year to date escrow numbers to 112 compared to 119 properties through July 2013. Closed sales have followed a similar pattern with 94 vs. 102 through July 2013, a decrease of only 7.8%. Weston's median price has also seen gains of 6.8% to $825,000. Westport has also seen it's median price increase to $1,323,204, and also saw a marked spike in escrow activity in July. 54 single family homes went to contract in July compared to 38 in July 2013 (a 42% increase), though the yearly figures are still down 13.4%. Yearly closed sales are down 16.3%, but should see a slight improvement based on recent escrow activity. The largest town in the area, Fairfield, had a solid month of July, with 110 properties going to escrow, a 22% increase. Closed sales are lagging the 2013 numbers by 6.2%. The median price has increased 3.2% to $575,000.

Some Improvement in May

Sales were slightly better in May, 2014 than they were in the previous year but as a whole year to date sales trends are mixed. In Fairfield and Wilton yearly sales are ahead of 2013, but Westport and Weston are still lagging in unit sales numbers. The median prices are on an upward trend, following more historic levels. Westport median prices through May were $1,321,409, a modest increase of 2.8%. Wilton’s median price is now $760,000 an increase of 6.7%, and Fairfield’s median price of $550,000 is up 3.9%. The largest increase was seen in Weston with an increase of 11.1%, reflecting greater numbers of sales over $1million that have taken place. Both Wilton and Weston finished 2013 with a median sales price of $712,000. Wilton has a greater number of properties at the entry level due to the fact that certain areas of Wilton are zoned at 1 acre or less, whereas Weston is 2 acre zoned except for pre-existing smaller lots. 179 closed sales have taken place in Westport through May , down 12.3%. Weston saw a 7% drop off in sales, with 72 homes having sold through May vs. 78 at the same time in 2013. Wilton had the largest drop, from 88 to 71 thus far, representing a loss of 19%. Only Fairfield, with 230 closed sales vs. 215 the previous year, has seen an increase (7%). This drop off has occurred while inventory levels have remained stable or fallen off slightly. Sales under $1million make up the lion’s share in all towns except Westport, which has seen about 2/3 of its sales over $1million.

It may be cold outside, but...

February 2013 Update The spring market started to take off in February. The number of properties that went to contract in February is up considerably in each of the towns. In Westport there were 53 properties that had accepted offers compared to 36 in the previous year. In Fairfield the numbers were even more impressive with the number of accepted offers more than doubling, from 40 in February 2013 to 91 last month. Weston also had an impressive increase, doubling the number of contracts in February compared to the previous year, with 18. The figures were a little less impressive in Wilton, 28 compared to 20 in the previous year, but Wilton had had a particularly brisk January. Interestingly, Wilton was the only town in February that saw an increase in the median price of properties with accepted offers, at $1,200,000 for the month, well above the February 2013 number ($670k), which was explained by the fact that 2 of the properties were listed at over $2 million, and 9 additional properties were listed at over $1million. This was partially a case of the selling off of existing properties, with buyers fearing that there might be a shortage of new inventory later in the spring. As a result, inventory supply is down in all towns to levels close to 6 months of inventory. There has been a slight increase in inventory since the beginning of the year, though many of the properties had previously been on the market. I know of many brokers who are holding back on listing new inventory until the weather improves. I expect to see a large influx of properties in April, and with an existing buyer demand, I think that buyers should be prepared to deal with multiple offer situations. In these situations buyers should be in touch with their mortgage brokers now, to be prepared to have Pre-approval letters provided at the time when offers are made. Buyers who are already familiar with the market will be prepared to make offers within one week of a property being listed if it is priced at what is perceived to be within a few percent of its fair market value. This will be particularly true of certain price ranges in different towns. In Westport, inventory below $1 million will likely be very active, as will homes listed between $1 million and 1.5 million. New construction continues to be very active, and supply is still below demand. In Wilton, Weston & Fairfield there continues to be a lack of inventory between $600,000-800,000 and I expect that well-maintained, well-priced properties in those price points will be extremely active this spring.