"Warren Group in Boston said median single-family home prices last month fell 4.9 percent, to $314,000, from August 2006 - the 16th consecutive month in which prices have declined. The number of sales in the period fell by 1.5 percent.
But the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported a starkly different view of the housing market, based on a smaller number of transactions than those recorded by Warren Group. The realtors group said home prices in creased 1.4 percent, to a median of $357,000, from August 2006, while the number of sales rose a robust 6.6 percent."
NOTE: The Warren Group's number are lower because FSBO transactions typically take longer and get a lower price than transactions where Realtors are involved
"Outside of the foreclosure problems, the Massachusetts market is "very stable," Azarian said. Currently, there is about an 8-month supply of houses listed for sale, down from 9.6 months last year, he said. A smaller supply of properties for sale tends to support prices.
Azarian believes another phenomenon boosted the number of August sales recorded by real estate brokers: The soft market has made it so difficult for homeowners to sell their houses by themselves that more are turning to agents who "have a better ability to get a home sold than the seller does," he said.
The real estate market looks much worse elsewhere in the country. The National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that US sales of existing homes last month declined nearly 13 percent from August 2006 - with the Midwest, South, and West experiencing much worse selling conditions than the Northeast."
The above is an excerp of a 9/26/07 Boston Globe article by real estate writer Kimberly Blanton.
Ed's Comments:
My take on this data is that in Massachusetts we may have turned the corner. Prices are low, interest rates are low, it may be the time for those of you who have been looking to make the plunge before prices start rising and/or interest rates begin to rise.
;)
Links;)
Tags (Tag Cloud);)
Archives
