It's been a feeding frenzy, especially in Barrington.”

Ian Barnacle, of Residential Properties

There are some buyers who say they're going to wait until the spring, but who knows what the spring market is going to be like.”

Dave Coleman, of Mott and Chace Sotheby's International

Beth Beaver has been selling homes in Barrington for more than 40 years.

And in all that time, she has never seen a sellers market so strong. Homes are listed one day and receive multiple offers the next. Bidding wars. Escalator clauses. Sales topping list prices by more than $100,000.

"I've never seen anything like it," Ms. Beaver said.

The agent for Mott and Chace Sotheby's International office in Barrington said a home in town she was listing had 13 offers. Some of the offers include escalator clauses, which is a deal made by the potential buyer to automatically exceed the highest offer made by a certain amount.

"It's not unusual to get two or three offers with escalator clauses," she said.

A low inventory of homes is one of the key factors fueling the sellers market, said Ian Barnacle, the manager of the Residential Properties office in Barrington. He said the inventory of homes for sale in Barrington is down by about 40 percent — he said it has been that way since late spring, through the summer months and now deep into the fall.

"It's been a feeding frenzy, especially in Barrington," Mr. Barnacle said. "Multiple houses are selling well over their asking prices."

Mr. Barnacle said his office recently had a listing where the homeowners were expecting to receive multiple offers. They were prepared to consider each offer as it came in, but just a few days after listing their home they received an offer they could not refuse.

"There are more buyers than there are listings," Mr. Barnacle said.

The Barrington home sales, he said, have not been limited to one part of the market or another. Mr. Barnacle said high-end homes priced above $1 million are selling just as well as homes priced at $300,000 or $400,000.

"It really is across the board," he added.

David Coleman, manager for Mott and Chace's Barrington office, said he has seen some potential buyers turned off by the current real estate market. People have made offers for multiple properties only to lose out time and again to the higher bidder.

"There are some buyers who say they're going to wait until the spring, but who knows what the spring market is going to be like," Mr. Coleman said.

"I've seen sellers markets before, but never to this extent. I've never seen a seller's market like this.

"It's wild. It's really wild."

Mr. Coleman said some Barrington residents have considered selling their homes now because of the strong market. In many cases they are planning to down-size, moving out of a four-bedroom colonial and into a smaller home, but they grow a bit concerned when they see the prices attached to the smaller homes in town.

"…they can't believe the prices on the scaled down houses," he said.

Mr. Coleman said that the sellers market extends beyond Barrington's borders, but this town's market is stronger than most others in the region.

"It's really basic supply and demand," he said. "In Barrington, there's so little inventory, especially under $1 million."

Pent-up demand

The real estate market is typically strongest during the spring months, most agents agree, but there was a delay to the selling season this year because of the pandemic. When the market did open back up, there was a large amount of pent-up demand, Mr. Barnacle said.

Meanwhile, agents have recognized a recent move by some people out of metropolitan areas and into the suburbs.

"Everybody is leaving the cities," Ms. Beaver said, adding that she typically sees a few people relocating from city-life to suburbia each year. This year, that shift has been greater than ever, she said.

"The pandemic has changed a lot of peoples' views about their way of life," she said, adding that Barrington offers beautiful natural resources, a stellar public school system and a safe community.

Ms. Beaver said people have discovered that they can do their jobs from remote locations — in most cases, their home offices. She suggested anyone considering selling their home right now find space to convert into an office. 

"Turn your old playroom into an office, or an old porch — close it in and turn it into an office," she said.

Winter market

The real estate market normally slows down in the fall and winter, especially during the holidays, but Realtors are curious what will happen following that.

Mr. Barnacle said the demand for homes will likely remain following the holidays. He said that depending on the weather, the market could remain busy in January.

Mr. Coleman said he also anticipates a busy winter and spring, especially considering the low interest rates available.

"I don't know what's going to change the sellers market in the foreseeable future," he said.