The following list of communities with lowest ratio of sale price to most recent list price is taken from Boston.com.
It might surprise a lot of people, but the ratio of sale price to last list price in many communities is more than 97 percent.
Community
| 1. Bourne | 92.5% |
| 2. North Reading | 92.8% |
| 3. Fairhaven | 92.9% |
| 4. Athol | 93.4% |
| 5. Westport | 93.6% |
| 6. Dartmouth | 93.6% |
| 7. Chelsea | 93.9% |
| 8. Ipswich | 93.9% |
| 9. Swampscott | 93.9% |
| 10. Falmouth | 94.0% |
Massachusetts single-family home sales declined 12.7 percent in May compared to May 2007; however, prices did not fall as dramatically as
they have during the last three months, The Warren Group, a publisher of real estate data, reported June 25, 2008.
“The first sign of a recovery in the housing market will be a rebound in home sales,” said Timothy Warren Jr. CEO of The Warren Group. “We’re not there yet, but this is the second month in a row that sales have shown smaller declines than we’ve been seeing since the last quarter of last year."
Sales of single-family homes fell from 4,284 in May 2007 to 3,739 in May 2008. Year-to-date sales are down 20.4 percent from 17,372 sales in the first five months of 2007 to 13,822 this year.
The median price for single-family homes dropped 7.8 percent in May, falling from $350,000 last year to $322,500. The year-to-date median price fell 8.6 percent from $342,000 to $312,500.
Condominium sales continued to fall dramatically in May, with a 29.6 percent decline, from 2,855 to 2,010. Year-to-date sales declined 29.7 percent, from 10,751 to 7,556. Condo prices rose 1 percent in May from $285,000 to $288,000. Year-to-date prices fell 1.8 percent from $276,000 to $271,000.
The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR), which obtains it housing data strictly from the state's various multiple listing services, reported a 10.1 percent decline in sales in May 2008 compared to May 2007.
Also from the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:
“While the number of sales for both single-family homes and condos were down in May, these decreases continue to narrow since the start of the year, which is definitely a move in the right direction,” said MAR President, Susan M. Renfrew.
A recent article in The Boston Globe points out that the entire country isn't facing severe housing declines.
While Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Southern California are getting crushed from the real estate market slump, other areas of the country are doing just fine, such as Seattle, Dallas and Salt Lake City. The Globe received its information from homesmartreports.com.
The Greater Boston Area is considered "low risk."
The following communities, with at least 50 properties on the market, have the largest percentage of home on the market for 90 days or more, according to Boston.com. The data comes from Motovo.com.
| 1. Salisbury | 66.4% |
| 2. Northbridge | 64.1% |
| 3. Mattapoisett | 63.5% |
| 4. South Hadley | 63.4% |
| 5. Westport | 62.6% |
| 6. Templeton | 62.1% |
| 7. Berkley | 62.1% |
| 8. Hubbardston | 61.1% |
| 9. Douglas | 61.0% |
| 10. Whitman | 60.9% |
Pending U.S. home sales surprisingly increased in April compared to March; however, pending sales were still down about 13 percent from April 2007, the Associated Press (AP) reported June 9, 2008
"The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 88.2 from a March reading of 83.0, the lowest since the index was started in 2001. However, it's still 13 percent below April 2007's reading of 101.5."
A reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001.
Some economists believe home sales have reached a bottom, but home prices may have a way to go before hitting bottom. These numbers, of course, are for the nation, and, frankly, have little meaning in Massachusetts and almost no meaning in particular community within the state.
Read The AP Article
.
April U.S. housing starts increased by the largest amount in more than two years, Boston.com reported May 17, 2008.
"The Commerce Department reported ... that housing construction rose 8.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. While apartment construction rose 36 percent, building in the much larger single-family sector of the market fell 1.7 percent, the 12th consecutive monthly decline, pushing single-family activity down to a 16-year low."
Real estate analysts downplayed the increase, noting that all the strength came from the volatile apartment sector. Analysts believe the housing slump is far from over as a record flood of foreclosures continues to add to the sizable stockpile of unsold homes.
The Boston Globe took a look at Massachusetts towns with the highest increase in houses sold in the 1st quarter of 2008 over the 1st quarter of 2007, with a minimum of 25 sales. That's correct, not all communities continue to see sales decline.
Tewksbury, MA doesn't surprise me at all. I have many buyers attracted to the reasonable-priced homes there.
| City/Town/ZIP | % increase |
|---|---|
| 1. Milton | 55% |
| 2. Westport | 47% |
| 3. Provincetown | 28% |
| 4. Scituate | 24% |
| 5. Eastham | 23% |
| 6. Everett | 23% |
| 7. Dennis | 16% |
| 8. Danvers | 12% |
| 9. Tewksbury | 12% |
| 10. Orleans | 11% |
The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts declined 12 percent in April compared to the same month in 2007, The Boston Globe reported May 28, 2008.
The Warren Group, a publisher of real estate data, provided the statistics for the report.
"Warren Group reported 3,215 single-family sales in Massachusetts in April, down from 3,654 last year. The median price fell to $305,000, from $346,750 last year. Both drops were about 12 percent."
The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) also reported that single-family sales involving a real estate agent dropped 15.8 percent and the median price fell 8.7 percent. The number of sales reported by MAR was the smallest for April since 1995, according to The Globe.
"Some of Boston's nearby suburbs continue to buck the trend. Median prices are up so far this year in Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, and Needham, for example."
The Massachusetts communities hit hardest by the housing slump include Brockton, Fall River, Lawrence and Lynn.
As for condos, The Warren Group reported that sales fell 22 percent in April, compared to the same month last year, and median prices fell 3.6 percent.
The contraction of the mortgage market appears to be the reason for the continued poor housing market, according to The Globe article.
"It's not the economy. Job losses or wage stagnation are the most common causes of a housing slowdown, but the Massachusetts economy grew at a 3.2 percent annual rate during the first three months of the year, according to the University of Massachusetts. That's about five times the national rate."
As a whole, the Greater Boston housing market continues to do better than the nation.
"The most widely respected index of home prices, the S&P/Case-Shiller index, reported yesterday that Boston's housing slump completed its 30th month in March, as prices fell a steep 5.9 percent, compared to the same month last year. Prices now have fallen 13 percent from the peak of the local market in September 2005."
In other major markets prices were down 14.4 percent since last year, and more than 20 percent since the peak of the market, according to Case-Shiller.
Some industry experts believe the Case-Shiller numbers are more accurate. The Case-Shiller data are reported one month behind The Warren Group's numbers. The Warren Group calculates the median price for home sales, which can be skewed by unusual sales volume of homes in a particular price category. Case-Shiller bases its index on a comparison of repeated sales of the same homes, considered a more stable measure of price trends.
The Federal Reserve cut its key rate, the federal funds rate, by a quarter point April 30, 2008.
At 2 percent, the rate is at its lowest point since December 2004. The rate cut was the seventh reduction in a campaign that has brought rates down by 3.25 percentage points since September 2007.
The hope in the real estate industry is that financial institutions will now be more willing to lend money to consumers.
Boston is not on Forbes' worst places to sell your home list.
Miami, Orlando and Phoenix top the list of 10 locations.
You can check out the rest of the list at the Boston Condo Blog.
Massachusetts home sales declined 31.6 percent in March 2008 compared to March 2007, the Boston Herald reported April 28, 2008.
The data comes from The Warren Group, a publisher real estate market information. Just 2,637 homes changes hands in March in the Commonwealth.
The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts sank more than 10 percent to $304,000.
Bank-owned properties and short sales certainly are putting downward pressure on prices.
Condominium sales dropped 35.6 percent, but condo prices fell just 1.8 percent.
Read The Boston Herald Article
Despite the state of the real estate market, the cost of renting in the Greater Boston Area appears to have remained steady or slightly increased, Boston Globe reporter Binyamin Appelbaum wrote in the Boston Real Estate Now blog.
With prices down and interest rates low, renters have to ask themselves whether it makes sense to continue paying a landlord or buying a home of their own. Using a rent v. own calculator to consider the costs is helpful.
Read The Boston Real Estate Now Post
An article by Reuters news service April 15, 2008 discusses the feeling among real estate professionals that potential home buyers appear to be ready to take advantage of lower home prices and attractive mortgage interest rates.
"It's too early to talk of a trend, but lower house prices and mortgage rates are bringing buyers out of hibernation, at least in some markets. Provided sellers are prepared to cut prices, buyers are willing to bid, real estate agents say."
My business partner and I certainly have seen this trend over the past couple of months. We're as busy as we have been any time over the past two years showing homes to potential buyers.
Many home buyers also are interested in learning more about foreclosed properties.
I'm don't expect home sales or home prices to start to increase anytime soon, but we might be nearing the end of the declines. Stay tuned.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) U.S. Pending Home Sales Index slipped 1.9 percent in February to 84.6 from an upwardly revised reading of 86.2 in January 2008; however, the index was 21.4 percent lower than in February 2007.
The index is a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in previous months. The NAR expects a stronger market in the fourth quarter of 2008.
"Existing-home sales are likely to rise from an annual pace of 4.9 million in the first quarter to 5.9 million in the fourth quarter. With relatively weak activity in the first part of the year, existing-home sales for all of 2008 are forecast at 5.39 million, increasing 6.6 percent to 5.74 million in 2009."
Of course, the above projections are for the nation. State and local real estate sales will vary.
As part of the recently implemented economic stimulus package, home buyers will be able to borrow and homeowners will be able to refinance larger loans approved by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Boston Herald reported March 30, 2008.
"Depending on the location of the property you want to buy or refinance, you can now get an FHA-insured mortgage for as much as $729,750 with a 3 percent down payment. You can also apply for loans designated for funding by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to that amount - or 125 percent of your area’s median home price - but with larger down payments of at least 10 percent."
The previous amount was $417,000.
"Absent congressional action, the limits will drop back to $417,000 for Fannie and Freddie, and to $362,790 for FHA, beginning New Year’s Day. In the meantime, there should be plenty of jumbo mortgage money available for anyone who can afford it."
Among other conditions, you'll need a minimum of 10 percent for a down payment, and you need a minimum credit score of 700, if you're putting down less than 20 percent.
I am a Massachusetts real estate broker and lawyer and co-founder/owner of Buyers Brokers Only, LLC. I am also a partner in the law firm of Rosa & Kres, LLP.
If you have a question for me about any aspect of the home-buying process (i.e., house hunting, mortgages, negotiations, buyer agency, purchase and sale, etc.), please don't hesitate to send me an email. I'm happy to try to answer your question.
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