Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

After sliding in February due to several snow storms and a lack of inventory, Massachusetts pending home sales increased in March compared to March 2012, the Boston Business Journal reported it April 9, 2013. 

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors provided the pending home sales data. 

The price of a single-family home, including distressed properties, in Massachusetts increased 6.7 percent in February compared to February 2012, CoreLogic, a California-based residential property information provider, reported April 3, 2013.

CoreLogic's Home Price Index indicated a 8.2 percent single-family home price increase in Massachusetts when distressed properties were excluded from the data. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

A recent survey of milleninals shows that age group has a strong interest in homeownership, and their interest in becoming first-time home buyers has increased in the past year, PulteGroup, Inc., a national homebuilder, reported April 1, 2013.   

For renters ages 18-34 with an income of more than $50,000, 65 percent indicated their intention to buy a home has significantly or somewhat increased in the past year.  The definition of millennials varies slightly depending on who you ask, but generally it makes up people born from about 1980 until about the year 2000.  

The number of completed foreclosures in Massachusetts through February 2013 are down about two thirds compared to 2012, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported April 2, 2013. 

In February, 240 foreclosure deeds – the final step of the foreclosure process – were filed in Massachusetts, down almost 69 percent from 767 foreclosure deeds filed in February 2012. The recording of a foreclosure deed represents a completed foreclosure. Through February, foreclosure deeds have plunged 66 percent. A total of 532 foreclosure deeds were filed in January and February compared to 1,566 during the same two months in 2012.

Greater Boston home buyers may start to rejoice in the sweet sounds of the commuter rail or subway. 

According to a study released March 20, 2013 by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Boston real estate values during the last recession performed 129 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service.

After several years of declining prices, Massachusetts home buyers must navigate a real estate market with low inventory and increasing values in 2013. 

The median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts rose more than 12 percent last month to $275,000 from $245,500 in February 2012, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported March 26, 2013. The year-to-date median home price is also up about 12 percent, rising to $279,000 from $250,750 last year.

The Town of Arlington, Massachusetts was founded more than 375 years ago in 1635. The settlement was originally known as Menotomy, an Algonquin word. In 1807 the town was set off from Cambridge, Massachusetts and incorporated as West Cambridge. After the Civil War in 1867 the name was changed to Arlington in honor of the heroes buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Although pending home sales in Massachusetts were positive for the 22nd straight month compared to the previous year, the strong pending single-family home sales numbers seen in previous months were absent in February 2013, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported March 12, 2013. 

Real estate professionals blame two stormy weekends in February and a lack of inventory for the slow growth in pending home sales, which are a leading indicator of actual home sales in Massachusetts for the following 30 to 60 days. Massachusetts home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, are well aware of the current lack of inventory. 

First-time home buyers in Massachusetts and around the country will want to speed up their home search, if they plan to finance the purchase of a home with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan. 

FHA announced recently that fee increases and underwriting rules for FHA loans will increase the cost of homeownership for first-time and other borrowers. FHA loans are especially popular with first-time home buyers because the minimum down payment required is 3.5 percent, as opposed to 5 percent to 20 percent or more for conventional loans. In addition, FHA will lend to home buyers with credit scores a little lower than scores acceptable to lenders of conventional loans. 

Home buyers searching for single-family homes in Wakefield, Massachusetts in 2012 witnessed an improving real estate market, with both sales and median price rising. 

The median price of a single-family house in Wakefield, MA increased 3.4 percent in 2012 compared to 2011. The median price stood at $391,000 in 2012, up from $377,988 the previous year. The most expensive single-family home sold for $1,300,000 in 2012. 

It appears that Massachusetts foreclosure activity may not even be newsworthy for much longer. 

In January, there were 292 foreclosure deeds filed in Massachusetts, a 63 percent decrease from 799 deeds recorded in January 2012, The Warren Group reported March 5, 2013. Foreclosure deeds represent completed foreclosures.

The number of Massachusetts foreclosure petitions declined almost 30 percent in January 2013, declining to 940 from 1,333 in January 2012. Foreclosure petitions, which mark the first step in the foreclosure process in the Bay State, have fallen for three consecutive months. Petitions rose nine out of twelve months in 2012. Not all foreclosure petitions result in a completed foreclosure. 

Massachusetts home buyers calculating the total cost of homeownership may need to remove the potential for tax breaks to repair or replace a septic system and/or for removal of lead paint. 

As part of a package of tax increases and the elimination of a variety of tax breaks, Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, hopes to raise $1.9 billion annually in revenue. Two of his proposals are to eliminate the lead paint tax credit and the septic system repair / replacement credit.