Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

For many Massachusetts home buyers interested in purchasing a foreclosed property time may have run out. 

The number of foreclosure petitions – the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts – plunged by 82 percent in March, declining to 284 foreclosure petitions compared to 1,621 petitions in March 2012, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported May 13, 2013. 

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) publishing arm recently released a study of what home buyers want in a home. 

"The housing downturn of the last few years affected not only the number of new homes that are built each year, but also the characteristics, features and size of the ones that do get built.  Builders and other industry professionals now have an opportunity to find out what home buyers really want and will not give up in  today’s market, as well as which features they are ready to leave behind in light of current economic realities," according to the NAHB study released February 19, 2013. 

The median price of a single-family home in Tewksbury, Massachusetts increased nearly 25 percent to $304,000 in March 2013 compared to March 2012, the TewksburyPatch reported May 6, 2013. 

The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, provided the Tewksbury, MA real estate data. 

The median price of a single-family home in Westwood, Massachusetts declined 19 percent in March compared to March 2012, the WestwoodPatch reported April 24, 2013. 

The median home price in Westwood declined from $480,000 in March 2012 to $390,000 in March 2013. The median price declined just 2 percent in the first quarter to $484,000 from $494,000 in Q1 2012. 

Greater Boston home buyers saw the average price of a single-family home increase by 5.2 percent in February compared to February 2012, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which was last released April 30, 2013. 

The report showed that home prices in Boston, using seasonally adjusted data, increased 1.1 percent from January to February. The index is made up of 20 cities, and all 20 cities have shown an increase in home values for at least two consecutive months on a year-over-year basis. 

NECN's This Week in Business segment on April 7, 2013 took a look at the Spring real estate market in the Greater Boston Area. This 10:42-minute video is a discussion of the real estate market with Tim Warren of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, and Kimberly Allard-Moccia, President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.  

The number of single-family home sales in Burlington, Massachusetts declined nearly 50 percent, from 17 home sales in March 2012 to nine home sales in March 2013, the BurlingtonPatch reported April 29, 2013. 

The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, provided the data.

The following 9:26-minute video from WGBH News, from March 2013, discusses the lack of inventory in the Greater Boston real estate market and the situation facing Boston area home buyers.

A month later and the inventory situation hasn't changed much, with properties moving fast and bidding wars commonplace. 

The median price of a single-family home in Wayland, Massachusetts declined 23.55 percent in March, falling from $550,000 to $420,500 on 12 sales, the WaylandPatch reported April 26, 2013. 

The Warren Group, publisher of Bank & Tradesman, provided the data. 

Despite the price decline in March, Wayland, MA home prices grew 2.48 percent in the first quarter of 2013; however, that lags behind the rest of Middlesex County where median single-family home prices increased 6.44 percent. Statewide median home prices rose 10.57 percent in the first quarter.

Canton, Massachusetts is a suburb located south of Boston, with a population of just over 21,000 people. Canton is conveniently located at the junction of Routes 93 and 95, providing easy access to the North or South. Serviced by two MBTA commuter rail stations, commuting into Boston is an easy 20 minute ride by train.

Canton is governed by a five-member elected Board of Selectmen and has an Open Town Meeting form of government.  Town Meeting is held every spring and every registered voter can attend and vote in town meeting.  Each resident of voting age has the opportunity to make decisions which directly affect the quality of life in Canton.  It is democracy at its finest.

The price of a single-family home in Milton, Massachusetts increased 21 percent in March compared to March 2012, the MiltonPatch reported April 23, 2013. 

The median price of a single-family home increased 8.37 percent statewide and 5.66 percent in Norfolk County in March 2013 compared to the previous year. The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, provided the data. 

The lack of real estate inventory had Massachusetts home buyers paying more for homes in March 2013 compared to March 2012.

The median price for single-family homes sold in March rose more than 8 percent to $285,000 from $263,000 a year earlier, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported April 24, 2013. March marked the sixth consecutive month that monthly home prices have increased year-over-year. The first quarter median selling price was $282,500, a 10.6 percent increase from $255,500 in the first quarter of 2012.