Home Prices

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                    [post_content] => What direction is Massachusetts real estate headed in 2010?  To judge from the conflicting statistics published this week by two highly-respected real estate tracking firms, the current state of home sales in MA seems highly confused. 



But the apparent muddle in MA real estate stats may derive from the different data sets being reported on by the two organizations.  Hopefully the data will present a clearer, more uniform picture by the end of the spring Massachusetts home selling season later this year.

The bad news from the Case-Shiller Boston Index

The S&P/Case-Shiller Index for the Boston metro area has now fallen for the sixth month in a row after staging an encouraging 6.9% rallyduring the spring and summer months of 2009.  (Index results for February 2010 are the most recent released by Standard and Poors.)  



Metro Boston home sale price slump

As tracked by Standard and Poors, MA home sale prices in the metro-Boston region for February are now up only 3.8% from their March 2009 lows and are a paltry 1.8% higher compared to one year ago.



Upbeat view from The Warren Group

One day after the release of the rather gloomy S&P/Case-Shiller Index for Boston, The Warren Group, publisher of the influential MA real estate trade publication Banker & Tradesman, trumpeted some new, upbeat Massachusetts real estate market stats.



The Warren Group reported that the median sale price for single-family homes in Massachusetts rose a healthy 7.8 percent in March 2010 (to $275,000) from $255,000 in March 2009. The Warren Group noted that it was the fourth consecutive month that median home sale prices had risen over prior year levels.

The Warren Group also reported that the median single family home sale price for the first quarter of 2010 was $276,750, an 8.5 percent increase compared to the first quarter 2009’s $255,000 median price figure.

MA home sale volume soars

The Warren Group also released very bullish Massachusetts home sale figures for March 2010.



Massachusetts single-family home sales rose 27.6 percent to 3,162 in March from 2,477 in March 2009. Home sales in the first quarter jumped 17.5 percent to 7,310 from 6,223 in last year's first quarter. It was the first increase in first-quarter home sales since 2004, according to The Warren Group.

“We’ve seen a significant turnaround in the local housing market. Monthly home sales have been increasing year-over-year since last July and that has propped up the median selling price statewide," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. "The homebuyer tax credit has been a wonderful impetus for the housing market. We hope that it has been a strong enough factor that consumers will continue entering the housing market."

Clearer picture coming?

As we've seen, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index publishes with a two month lag.  We may see the Boston Index show an uptick in prices once the Index readings for March and April are published. 

If that happens, then there will be some much-needed congruity in the real estate data being published by Standard and Poors and The Warren Group.

In the meantime, if you'd to know what your home is worth in today's market, please click the hot link to get a Home Value Report  . . . it's free, no charge, no obligation!

Copyright ©2010 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Two reports issued separately last week paint a relatively upbeat picture of Massachusetts real estate as we get ready for the Spring 2010 prime home selling season. 

2009 MA home sale volume up



The Warren Group, publisher of the influential real estate trade publication Banker & Tradesman, released annual home sale figures Tuesday showing a three percent rise in MA home sale volume for 2009 compared to 2008.  The rise marks the first time annual single family home sales in Massachusetts have risen in the past five years.

Boston home sale prices slump modestly

In another report also issued last Tuesday, Standard and Poors posted its November 2009 reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for Boston. (There is a 2 month lag in Index reporting).



The Index showed only a slight 0.7% drop in Boston area home prices over the last 12 months (from December 2008 – November 2009.)  

Greater Boston home prices rise from 2009 lows

From its low set back in March 2009, the Index has risen 5.6%, peaking in August 2009 before settling back down a bit in following months.



Seasonal home price slumps

We have seen such home price slumps occur over the last several years, following a fairly regular pattern.



As you can see from the above graph, Boston metro home prices over the past several years as tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index have peaked during the summer months and have fallen back during the cold, dark winter months.

We will watch the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index very closely over the upcoming several months to see if MA home prices resume their recovery as the spring home selling season gets underway.

Keep checking back for updates!

Copyright ©2010 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => If you’re wondering where Massachusetts real estate may be headed in 2010, there’s a new YouTube video which will give you some possible answers. 

New YouTube Video

Created by Franklin, MA Realtor Warren Reynolds, the video examines the likely beneficial effects the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credits will have in stimulating housing demand and extending the ongoing MA home value rebound.



Long-term homeowner Home Buyer Tax Credit helps trade-up and trade-down buyers 

The $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit was recently extended to April 30, 2010.  And Congress created a new $6,500 long-term homeowner Home Buyer Tax Credit which should help real estate markets across the nation.  But the effect on MA home values should be especially strong because the local market has been in recovery mode since last March.

Trade-up and trade-down home buyers take note: if you’ve been in your current Massachusetts home for a number of years and qualify for the tax credit, now looks to be a good time to make that move you’ve been thinking about!

Click here to get a free, no-obligation Home Value Report from Warren.  He’ll bring over 10 years of home selling success to your home sale.  Check out all the testimonials happy clients have written on behalf of Warren.

So contact Warren today or simply call him at 508-613-2889 and take the first step on the road to your new home!

Copyright ©2009 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Greater Boston home prices have risen an impressive 6.9 percent from their lows set last March, according to figures released today by Standard and Poors.  The gain marks quite a near-term turnaround for Boston metro home prices.  



The S&P/Case-Shiller Index for the Boston metro area has now risen for the fifth month in a row after falling for the first three months of the year.  (Index results for August 2009 are the most recent released by Standard and Poors.)  

Home prices still down substantially

The 2009 Boston single family home price increase does need to be put into context as demonstrated by the chart below:



The Boston home price Index is 4.2% lower than year-ago levels. 

And the Index remains a sobering 14.5% below the peak it reached in September 2005.  But again, that is quite an improvement over the 20%+ cumulative price decline from market peak we were confronted with last March.

2009 real estate market performance encouraging

Despite where Massachusetts home prices are now compared to 2005, we should be encouraged by the 2009 home price rebound to date. 

This is especially true since Massachusetts home sale volume has also been on the rise in 2009. 

The number of homes sold in MA has risen for the third month in a row according to a separate report issued today by Banker and Tradesman.  Third quarter 2009 home sale volume is 6 percent higher than year-ago levels.

Copyright ©2009 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Many home buyers feel a bit confused or uncertain about how much to offer on a home for sale in Massachusetts.  Is asking price too much?  Is five percent off asking price too low?  How do you know if the seller’s asking price is in-line with real estate market values?

 Here’s a new video that shows you how to decide what price to offer on a home for sale in MA:



This video is a companion to a recent blog post on this topic.

If you have any questions about asking prices on homes for sale in MA, the mechanics of offer and counter-offer in Massachusetts, or any other home buying issues, just ask! 

Simply fill out the “Have a Question?” box in the left column – no obligation  . . . I’m here to help!

Copyright ©2009 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Home owners throughout Massachusetts received some very welcome news today from Standard and Poor’s.   Boston metro area home prices rose 0.4% in April 2009 according to new figures in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.



First Rise in 8 Months

April’s home price rise breaks what was up until now an 8 month stretch of home price declines in the Boston area.  April’s Index data is the most current available from Standard and Poor’s. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index is published each month with a two month lag.



The upturn is consistent with improved consumer confidence on the national level and the markedly stronger home buyer activity noted by local real estate agents starting back in March 2009.

Home prices rose in April in several other metro markets reported on by Standard and Poor’s.  Participating in the modest home price upturn were Washington DC,  Atlanta , Cleveland, Dallas and Seattle.  Home prices continued to decline in other US markets tracked by the Index.

Market Bottom?

April’s home price increase in the Boston region may signify the bottom of the Massachusetts real estate market. 

Or it may prove to be a short-lived seasonal price bounce, similar to what happened in 2006, 2007 and 2008 where prices rose modestly for a few months early in the year only to fall back further as each year progressed.  (See the rises and falls in Boston home values over the past few years in the chart above). 

Time Will Tell

We’ll need to see several more months of Boston home price performance in 2009 before we’ll know if we are finally at the end of what has been the worst real estate market in MA since the severe New England real estate recession of 1989 – 1991.  But any price increase is very welcome news!
Copyright ©2009 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Stocks are up 22% from their lows . . . February new housing sales were up 4.7% nationally . . . Existing US home sales rose 5.1% in February . . . Mortgage rates are at 4.6% . . . Federal stimulus spending is kicking in later this year . . .

All this is giving some economists a sense of optimism; as a financial analyst on CNN said this morning , "no one’s doing their happy dance just yet", but there are reasons to be encouraged about real estate on a national level.



The cover of Business Week magazine for April 13 has the huge headline “Signs of Life”; the feature story details how some of the worst real estate markets in the country have enjoyed more home sales, are carrying less inventory, and are seeing many more purchasers out looking and buying.

Quoting from the article:

“Some of the very regions that led the U.S. housing market into the abyss are beginning to show signs of life. Sales on the Gulf Coast of Florida, California's Inland Empire near Los Angeles, and the Las Vegas metropolitan area surged by more than 80% in February vs. the same month last year . . .

What's more, first-time buyers are finally rushing in, lured not only by plunging prices but also government incentives like ultralow interest rates and hefty tax breaks. Such sweeteners are just too tasty for some to pass up, at least in markets that have already plunged by 50% or more.”

Frenetic buying in a few depressed areas doesn't mean the national bust is over—far from it. But it does herald the start of a new phase in the boom-and-bust recovery cycle. Economists might call it equilibrium: Prices have fallen so much in some areas that shoppers are getting interested again, improving the balance between buyers and sellers. That doesn't mean prices will surge anytime soon. But heavy buying should at least begin to put a floor under prices.

"Are we at the bottom?" asks Christopher Thornberg, an economist with Beacon Economics. "We are getting close."

END OF EXCERPT

You can read the whole article here.

Business Week follows the article with a highly cautionary commentary on the current national real estate market that throws cold water on any uncurbed enthusiasm.  So there’s need for prudence – we’ve got a long way to go nationally before we can announce the real estate recovery.

But bear in mind that the Massachusetts real estate market is not nearly as damaged as the highly depressed US markets discussed in the Business Week article.  So a rebound might come more quickly here. 
 
Click the link below to read a report on the current state of the Franklin, MA real estate market and regional markets in Massachusetts:

http://02038.com/SpringReport2009

So if you’re thinking of buying your first home or maybe doing some real estate investing, 2009 in Massachusetts might be a great buying opportunity!

Copyright ©2009 02038.com
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                    [post_content] => Single family home prices in the Greater Boston metro region fell again in January 2009.  Values declined 1.5% from December 2008’s levels, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for Greater Boston.

The Greater Boston single family Index dropped to 150.73 in January 2009, a level not seen since the 150.42 reading back in April 2003.  The Index was at 153.05 last December.



For the past 12 months, single family home prices in the Greater Boston market have fallen 7.3% (from the 162.59 Index reading for January 2008).

Standard & Poor’s publishes home price indices for a total of 20 US metropolitan regions.  What’s been going on in many of these regions makes what’s happening in Greater Boston look relatively benign.

Standard & Poor’s is showing home price declines in all 20 metro areas it tracks, both on a monthly and an annual basis.  Seven of the metro areas turned in monthly declines exceeding 4% for January 2009.  (As detailed above, Greater Boston was down “only” 1.5%.)

Phoenix experienced the worst loss of home value in January 2009 (a whopping 5.5% monthly decline).

For the last 12 months, the three worst performing metropolitan regions according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are Phoenix (-35.0% on an annual basis), Las Vegas (-32.5%) and San Francisco (-32.4%).

Condominium values in the Greater Boston metropolitan region also turned in a negative performance in January 2009 according to the applicable S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.



Condo values fell 1.6% in January according to the Greater Boston Index (155.78 in January 2009 vs. 158.39 in December 2008). 

For the last 12 months, the Index showed a 6.7% decline in Greater Boston condominium values (from the 166.98 Index reading for January 2008).  Boston area condo prices are down to levels achieved back in September 2003 according to Standard and Poor’s.

If you're a homeower interested in seeing how your property is faring in today's market, click here to discover the current value of your home!

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                    [post_title] => Case-Shiller Boston Home Price Index 1/09
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                    [post_content] => Buyers will occasionally ask me whether they can make an offer of 20%, 30% or even 40% less than a listing’s asking price.  The expectation is that a motivated seller will take almost any price to get a property sold.



Many low-offer buyers seem sincere in their intent. And they are often astonished when the seller refuses to negotiate with them.

If you are considering making a very low offer, please keep in mind that while home prices in Massachusetts are down, conditions in MA are not nearly as bad as they are in heavily damaged markets in Florida, California and Nevada.

The very low home selling prices in other parts of the US you may be hearing about on the national news are not the norm in Massachusetts.

There are other compelling financial and practical reasons why home sellers reject very low offers.


Financial Reasons Why Sellers Say “No” to Low Offers  



• Low Equity

The vast majority of home sellers carry mortgages.  Many sellers have low home equity.  They often want a high enough price to cover their mortgage and the expenses of selling.

They simply lack the equity to pay off their mortgage liens at a selling price 20% or 30% off the asking price.
• “Negative Equity”

Where a homeowner is in financial distress and owes more on a property than the home is worth, he may try a short sale.

But with short sales, the mortgage lien holder(s) can veto the sale.  The lenders often will not consent to a sale at a steep discount off the asking price.  

I recently had a short sale listing where one buyer offered 17% off asking while another buyer offered 36% off asking; the lender involved turned both of these buyers down flat.

If you make a heavily discounted offer on a short sale, you might waste weeks waiting to see if the lender will approve the sale, only to be told “no”.

• Bank-owned “REO” listings

When a lender forecloses on a home, the property is placed on the market as a REO (bank owned) listing.

REO lenders have a strong financial incentive to maximize the selling price on homes they own. 

At least in the regional real estate market surrounding Franklin, MA, I have not seen REO lenders willing to sell at steep discounts off asking price. 

The REO listing history shown below is from an actual listing on the MLS and is pretty typical:



When a bank-owned REO property does not sell quickly, the REO lender often will start a series of asking price reductions over time until the house does find a buyer, but that price reduction process can take months. 

The REO price history shown above details how the REO lender listed the home at $237,900 on November 13, 2008.  It took the lender several months to finally reduce the asking price down to $179,900, the price at which the home eventually went under agreement.

Making an offer well below asking on a REO property typically will not work in Massachusetts, at least in more desirable communities!

Practical Reasons Most Sellers Reject Very Low Offers

There are many home sellers in Massachusetts who are not in financial distress. Quite a few of them have substantial equity in their homes.

You’ll very likely find that even home sellers with good equity won’t typically deal with offers substantially below asking price, at least not early in the life of the listing.

Sellers with equity often need to buy another home with the sale proceeds or have other plans for the money. 

Selling at a huge discount off asking price would deny these sellers the cash to consummate their next home purchase or achieve their other goals.

These sellers often lack the desire to negotiate low offers.

So in conclusion, the typical home buyer in Massachusetts should not have the expectation that offers 20%, 30% or more off asking price will be productive.
Copyright ©2009 02038.com
                    [post_title] => Low Offers: Why They Don’t Work
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                    [post_content] => Since peaking at its high of 182.45 in September 2005, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for single family homes in the Boston metropolitan area has declined a total of 16.2%.



Metro Boston’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index fell to 153.05 for December 2008, the most recent month reflected in the report.  This puts Boston home values at levels last seen back in June 2003.

December 2008’s index represents a 7.6% decline from year-ago levels and a sharp 1.3% drop in Metro Boston single family home values for the one month period (November to December 2008).

Interestingly, December 2008’s index of 153.05 is still 15% higher than the 129.93 index level recorded back in January 2002.



The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for condominiums in the Boston metropolitan area fell to 158.39 in December 2008. 

This represents a 6.1% decline from December 2007 and a hefty 13.8% fall from condo values’ high of 183.86  achieved on the Index in October, 2005.

Please click the link if you’d like to discover what’s the value of your current home or investment property!

Copyright ©2009 02038.com
                    [post_title] => Case-Shiller Boston Home Price Index 12/08
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            [post_content] => What direction is Massachusetts real estate headed in 2010?  To judge from the conflicting statistics published this week by two highly-respected real estate tracking firms, the current state of home sales in MA seems highly confused. 



But the apparent muddle in MA real estate stats may derive from the different data sets being reported on by the two organizations.  Hopefully the data will present a clearer, more uniform picture by the end of the spring Massachusetts home selling season later this year.

The bad news from the Case-Shiller Boston Index

The S&P/Case-Shiller Index for the Boston metro area has now fallen for the sixth month in a row after staging an encouraging 6.9% rallyduring the spring and summer months of 2009.  (Index results for February 2010 are the most recent released by Standard and Poors.)  



Metro Boston home sale price slump

As tracked by Standard and Poors, MA home sale prices in the metro-Boston region for February are now up only 3.8% from their March 2009 lows and are a paltry 1.8% higher compared to one year ago.



Upbeat view from The Warren Group

One day after the release of the rather gloomy S&P/Case-Shiller Index for Boston, The Warren Group, publisher of the influential MA real estate trade publication Banker & Tradesman, trumpeted some new, upbeat Massachusetts real estate market stats.



The Warren Group reported that the median sale price for single-family homes in Massachusetts rose a healthy 7.8 percent in March 2010 (to $275,000) from $255,000 in March 2009. The Warren Group noted that it was the fourth consecutive month that median home sale prices had risen over prior year levels.

The Warren Group also reported that the median single family home sale price for the first quarter of 2010 was $276,750, an 8.5 percent increase compared to the first quarter 2009’s $255,000 median price figure.

MA home sale volume soars

The Warren Group also released very bullish Massachusetts home sale figures for March 2010.



Massachusetts single-family home sales rose 27.6 percent to 3,162 in March from 2,477 in March 2009. Home sales in the first quarter jumped 17.5 percent to 7,310 from 6,223 in last year's first quarter. It was the first increase in first-quarter home sales since 2004, according to The Warren Group.

“We’ve seen a significant turnaround in the local housing market. Monthly home sales have been increasing year-over-year since last July and that has propped up the median selling price statewide," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. "The homebuyer tax credit has been a wonderful impetus for the housing market. We hope that it has been a strong enough factor that consumers will continue entering the housing market."

Clearer picture coming?

As we've seen, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index publishes with a two month lag.  We may see the Boston Index show an uptick in prices once the Index readings for March and April are published. 

If that happens, then there will be some much-needed congruity in the real estate data being published by Standard and Poors and The Warren Group.

In the meantime, if you'd to know what your home is worth in today's market, please click the hot link to get a Home Value Report  . . . it's free, no charge, no obligation!

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