Massachusetts Real Estate on the Rise

Hi, my name is Zur Attias.  I am the owner of in Concord.  Below you will find my insights about the local real estate market.  I know that many of us are interested in the investments we have made in this community.  As a resident and business owner in Concord, I look forward to sharing my knowledge and insights regarding real estate conditions with you, the reader.  I feel that this is a great forum to contribute weekly about our local, state, and national real estate markets.

My review of residential sales in Massachusetts proves the market, though declining slightly, is on a healthier path. Any decline noted in 2011 was insignificant in comparison to the drama of the past few years. In 2011, overall sales volume in the state declined by a mere 1.7%, dropping to 39,344 sold homes in comparison to the 40,031 units in 2010. The median home price declined by 3.3% from 2010 to 2011 ($300,000 to $290,000), while condominiums showed a median price increased of .8% from 2010 to 2011 ($265,000 to $267,000).

I believe that “this is a minor volume adjustment. The data shows stability in our state in comparison to the rest of the U.S. market. The housing market is in the final stages of turning the dial. The bottom 75% of the market seems to have adjusted; the high end unfortunately has a little ways to go. This will be an interesting 2012 since it will be the first year in many that we won’t be comparing sales to a year in which the home buyer tax credit was a factor. I am curious to see what type of growth will result from a scrubbed economy in which improving unemployment rates, favorable buying conditions, and the low cost of capital have to survive on their own.”

Overall, in the business of supply and demand, housing supply grew slightly in Massachusetts in 2011 (from 9 months of inventory to 9.7 months). This impacted the number of days on market slightly from an average of 103 days in 2010 to 114 days in 2011. As noted above, this is a minor turn of the housing dial, which translates to a relatively healthy market condition as we enter 2012.