Market Conditions
Signs of Life for Real Estate Market
May 26th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
The April numbers for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors are IN and I like what I am seeing! It is starting to reflect the conditions that my team is seeing on the street. We are busy, and clients are seeing multiple offers and strong seller negotiations.
If you are shopping right now, buy or forever hold your peace.
Single family homes:
Median Prices and Number of Sales have climbed since February. Read the rest of this entry »
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6 Top Mortgage Programs Available Today
April 13th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
It is a historic time in the mortgage business over the past 18 months. The lending landscape has gone thru so many changes and tweaks over this time it made me ask:
What types of mortgages are still available today?
Michael Dunsky, of Mortgage Master in Walpole MA, sent over a terrific summary of the programs and their main features. Here they are: Read the rest of this entry »
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Big Gov’t At It Again - Solving the Foreclosure Issue All Wrong!
April 4th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
The City of Boston has managed to come up with another waste of taxpayers money. Mayor Tom Menino has recently announced $4 Million in funds are newly available for taking care of foreclosure filled Boston neighborhoods. These funds come from the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008″ that you and I will be paying for years to come.
The amount of funds is too small to make any noticable effect on these neighborhoods.
The 51 page Application Package describes the 15 documents that an interested party would have to submit. Some are simple affidavits, but most are huge undertakings, Read the rest of this entry »
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Home Bidding Wars are Back?
April 2nd, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
Current events and local news coverage has not been presenting a very rosy picture out there for the housing market. Economic news is overwhelmed with negative results.
So, Why am I dealing with multiple offers?
- A Hopkinton foreclosure home currently has fifteen, yes 15, offers on it! My Buyer had to offer over asking price just to have a chance at it!
- My Milford estate sale listing is Under Agreement with only 17 days on market.
- A listing I have on Fisher Street in Medway had 3 offers on it and is awaiting Bank Approval on the “short sale”.
Here is an April 1st article about some national experiences like this: Read the rest of this entry »
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Strength in the Ashland Housing Market
March 3rd, 2009 Categories: Ashland, Market Conditions, Real Estate
Ashland Massachusetts is a community that is tucked away in the shadows of the larger Town of Framingham, but some people have noticed it!
The housing market is reflecting overall declines of 12% in median prices, but Ashland is holding up very well.
The median prices in single family homes for the town is $419750, for the 12 months ending 3/1/09. The median price for the 12 months prior to this was $423750.
This is an overall decline in median price of 1%!
The inventory of available homes in Ashland is quite low. There are only 47 single family homes on market. This is a decline of 23% from a year ago.
The single family homes on market have been available for an average of 176 days, or almost 6 months.
The real estate industry uses a term called “consumption rate” to describe whether we are in a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tarot Cards for the Massachusetts Economy
March 2nd, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
There is an awful lot of data out there on the state of the market. Many of these articles give projections of how long this recession will last, and others how a buyer/investor could take advantage of this housing crisis. One of the best sources I have found is the Greater Boston Housing Report Card.
In October 2008, The Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University put together this report card. Here are my summary of some interesting sections:
Building permits are an indicator that new homes are not being added to the marketplace. This results in Read the rest of this entry »
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