First a review of where we came from. For Waltham, the market volume showed a steady increase from 2000 through 2005 where 316 units sold. Much of the volume increase was driven by building and multifamily to condo conversion activities. Price increases have slowed, but prices continued to rise to an annual median price of $362,000 through 2007. In 2007, 283 units sold so the volume has fallen off 10% from the 2005 peak. So far in the first half of 2008 there have only been 120 sales, so the market volume is lower, and the pricing has also dropped.

 There is a weak seasonal effect on the Waltham market with Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar) and Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) being the volume lows. This seasonality should be taken into account when looking at any monthly data. 2008 volume to date has been low in both of the first two quarters.

 Generally there have been fewer units on the market this year. Condo conversion rates have slowed as well as new construction, but it is difficult to predict what the condo market will do moving forward. Once the number of units stabilizes we should expect to see similar behavior to the single family homes, but it is not clear if this market has stabilized as yet.

 What this means for condo owners in the near term is that there is still demand for units and that while sale prices appear to be down from 2007 highs Waltham continues to be a good value market. Homeowners who purchased more than 4 or 5 years ago still have significant equity, those having purchased or re-financed recently unfortunately will likely not see price appreciation in the near term.

 Now for the summary of July results, and where we are today. In the Waltham Single Family market, there were 86 properties listed August 1.  This represents an 8% lower inventory than the same time last year. July sales volume dropped to 21, this was down 36% from a year ago. Monthly median prices have been highly variable but continued to show strength and were up month to month. The average time on market increased to 117 days. Currently we have only a 4 month supply of property which indicates that the Waltham Condo market remains in favor of those selling property. Low mortgage interest rates should continue to stimulate additional buying as we move through the summer.

 For anyone interested in seeing the graphs and numbers behind these comments please go to my website www.MikesREALSolutions.com and look in the community for which you are interested. The reports are available for download as a .pdf file. You can e-mail me at Mike@ MikesREALSolutions.com with any questions.