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Are Housing Prices expected to Rise in the Boston and MetroWest areas of Massachusetts in late 2008? Yes, and according to some experts, the housing prices will increase Gradually During 2008 For more details, please read the following article:
"Market Signs Suggest Worst is Over; Sales Gaining Steam" - What kind of shape will the Massachusetts housing market be in this year? It depends.
If you're selling a home, it's not great, but not awful, either. Expect a still-slowish market for a time, though not as dreadful as 2007, which posted the fewest home sales in a decade, and a nearly 6 percent drop in prices. Don't expect prices to bounce back much this year, though one silver lining is they probably won't fall anymore, either.
But if you're shopping for a house, 2007 looks pretty good -- so far. You have many houses to choose from, and the upper hand in negotiations. One risk: other buyers are also more active, so moving too slowly may mean missing out on good opportunities.
"There is no question that it is a buyer's market," said Zur Attias of Barrett & Co. Real Estate in Concord.
But buyers, don't get too comfortable. For one thing, the pace of sales is picking up: Homes sales through the first two months of 2007 were 3.4 higher than the same time last year, according to Warren Group, a real estate data and publishing firm. And "prices will eventually follow," said Timothy Warren, the company's chief executive. He predicted prices will begin to trend higher by mid year, but it will not necessarily be a steady increase.
Even that would be a reversal from the start of the year. The median home price for a single-family home in Massachusetts was $299,395 for the quarter that ended March 30 -- 5.7 percent lower than a year earlier, according to Global Insight, a Waltham economic and consulting firm.
The company's forecast for the remainder of 2007 has prices rising gently: 1.2 percent in the second quarter, compared to the same period in 2006 ; flat during the quiet summer months; and up about 2.8 percent in the final quarter.
Regional economist Larissa Duzhansky, who made the forecast, said the supply of excess houses for sale will dissipate throughout the year, firming up prices. And prospective buyers are already re entering the market in hopes of finding an affordable property in the wake of last year's price drops. "You have to have this drop to equalize the market," Duzhansky said. "When prices go down to a level where people are willing to buy, people will jump into the market," she said.
Venkat Karuppian and his wife, Agila Ramamoorthy, ventured back into the housing market this year, after a two-year hiatus from the roller coaster of a market. They wanted a nice house, maybe a split-level or Colonial, on a quiet street in Acton where their daughter, Aadhiti, age 4, could safely ride her bicycle and play with other children.
The couple, both software consultants, first started looking in 2005 when the market was "crazy," Karuppian said. Every day, they checked new listings on the Internet, and raced to open houses every Sunday. After unsuccessfully bidding on five different houses over the year, they gave up.
On March 1, the couple closed on an Acton split-level that sits on a half-acre on a cul-de-sac. The house originally was listed in June 2006 for $565,000 -- Karuppian went to an open house then but deemed the price too high.
By the time they started looking again seriously in February, the listing price had dropped to $499,900. They bid $470,000 and, with the help of Attias, their broker, negotiated the final price down to $450,000 after a home inspection revealed the house needed a new furnace and a new sliding glass door to the back yard, he said.
This spring's market is a long way from what Karuppian experienced two years ago. Now, he said, "You can put in a realistic offer, and you feel comfortable"
Pat Magnell, a buyer's broker with Buyers Choice Realty in North Andover, said she is doing only "a few more sales" than she was a year earlier, but the "pipeline of prospects" for definite buyers is much better this year.
Last year, agents said home sellers were unwilling to reduce prices to sell their properties. Magnell said that sentiment changed markedly in recent months. Buyers now have "a chance to purchase a highly desirable property at a reasonable price," she said. "There's a bit more inventory, and there's a bit more realism" on sellers' part.
When those two things coincide, she said, "it's a good balance for the buyer."
By Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | April 14, 2007 * Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com
For tons more real estate information, Listings E-mailed to you Every Day for Boston or Any Town in Massachusetts and for Free 12 Page School Reports (Public & Private), please click on this link, www.TheBuyersBroker.com or give Nick Rioux, CRS, ABR... a call on his direct line, 508 410-9522, anytime.
ZIP Codes: 01701, 01702, 01776, 01754, 01721
Approximate Location Boundaries: Framingham & Towns Nearby (i.e., Sudbury, Maynard, Ashland...)
Location Characteristics: Framingham is a diverse community located 20 miles west of Boston. Framingham offers excellent public services and a well-respected school system. A Town Manager/Board of Selectmen executive branch governs the town, with a representative Town Meeting serving as the legislative branch. At nearly 67,000 inhabitants Framingham is the largest Town in Massachusetts and the home to several major corporations including Bose Corporation, Staples, Lifeline, Natural Microsystems, Perini and TJX. They have a wide range of housing opportunities and a large retail base for residents to enjoy.
Go to this link, www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2949 for tons of info on Framingham (site has over 100 links that are about or related to Framingham or go to the town of Framingham's website via this link, www.framinghamma.org where there are many convenient e-mail links that will put you in immediate contact with town officials.
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