cape ann ma homes

Painter Andrew Anderson-Bell will be giving a free "pastel demonstration" this Sunday at 2PM at NSAA. He'll also be teaching a one day workshop called "Pastel Meditative Spaces" on June 15th. We grow lots of painters here. Fertile ground.    

 FINALLY some solid progress towards developing the Birdseye site (sore eye site!) on Pavillion Beach. The 3 members of the Gloucester planning board have voted unanimously to recommend and approve the "hotel overlay zone". The proposal now goes before the whole city council Tuesday 5/8/12 at 7PM. All are invited.    

If the "overlay zone" passes, the Beauport developers will make a formal application to build the hotel. In an editorial yesterday, the Gloucester Daily Times calls it "an early step" needed "to keep this project on track". Click to see the entire editorial.    

We're a very artsy community here in Gloucester MA. Throw a rock and you're bound to hit a sculptor, painter, potter, photographer or thespian. (Please don't hit any tourists!) Rocky Neck is one of the oldest, continually working colony of artists in the country and the NSAA (North Shore Arts Association) is right across the harbor.

(BTW this painting of the NSAA building is by member Bob Aiello.)

 This year, NSAA turns 90 and has several events planned:

• Opening Reception: Sunday 5/6 2-4PM
• Eden's Edge Concerts: June 23rd, July 28th and September 29th
• Annual Art Auction: August 11

For more info, email arts@nsarts.org or call 978-283-1857 or drop in. The gallery is at 11 Pirates Lane Gloucester MA 01930. 

Owning 21 Cliff Rd means...living on Brier Neck on a street with virtually no traffic and walking to, sitting on, swimming from & surfing Good Harbor Beach whenever you feel like it. Plenty of privacy, your own greenhouse & terraced rock garden, almost no lawn to cut, lots of birds & a view of "the pond." No "old house" worries, being able to put the kids or parents in their own apartment next door and/or $2,000 + $1,400 per unit per week rental income in June, July & August.

“Water front” or “water view” is often at the top of the “must have” list when buying property here in Gloucester and Rockport MA (aka Cape Ann). I’ve noticed pricing patterns over the years and so have separated “water front” into 2 categories: river/harbor/beach (RHB) vs open ocean (OO). In the fall of 2010, based on tracking sales and prices for years, I predicted that 2011 was the year to buy and that in 2012 we’d be saying “I wish I had bought in 2011” Well, I was right. As the numbers clearly show (see water front prices chart) 2011’s median sales prices were rock bottom with $490,000 being the median for an RHB property vs. $1.05M for OO. 

This year is quite different. 2012 “asking” prices have almost doubled to $875,000 for RHB and $1.85M for OO. (Note: ask prices, not received.) It remains to be seen whether or not 2012 buyers will pay. Suffice to say, deals will be made and prices will be higher this year. Money's cheap and the views are just too good to resist.