Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

Although home prices fluctuate from town to town in Massachusetts, statewide home buyers finally got a break from rising home prices. The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts decreased 1.5 percent in September 2014, marking the first year-over-year price decline since September 2012, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported October 28, 2014. 

Massachusetts single-family home sales declined 6.6 percent in August compared to August 2013, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported September 23, 2014. August was the sixth month in 2014 that single-family home sales decreased on a year-over-year basis. 

A total of 5,417 single-family homes sold in Massachusetts in August, down from 5,797 sales in August 2013. August was the third month in 2014 with more than 5,000 in sales. Through August, sales were down 3.1 percent at 32,382, compared with 33,399 during the same eight-month period last year.

Are you preparing for an upcoming move to a new home? Do you have concerns about how the transition will go for your child with autism? How will you prepare your autistic child for such a transition?

Home buying can be a stressful process for some families, even under the best circumstances. It is natural for people to struggle with change. For many children with autism, these issues are tenfold. Children don't have a lot of experience dealing with change, and children with autism often have great difficulty dealing with unanticipated changes or transitions, even small daily occurrences.

Several first-time home buyer programs require borrowers obtain a home-buying certificate in order to qualify for the loan program. MassHousing mortgages, as well as the Massachusetts Housing Partnership ONE Mortgage, require home buyers to participate in a qualified Massachusetts first-time home buyer class. 

BLUE, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, is offering a two-day class, Home Buying 101, at the Eastern Middlesex Association of Realtors in Reading, Massachusetts on September 20th and 21st. Participants who attend both days will receive a home buyer certificate required for MassHousing Mortgage loans.

Have you been on the fence about starting the home-buying process? You may want to take advantage of what may be a limited window of opportunity. 

ZIllow reported on its blog September 2, 2014, that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage interest rates declined "12 basis points this week," with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgages at 3.96 percent. The interest rate is down from 4.08 percent at the same time the previous week. These rates are averages across the United States, and may include points or other fees that increase the overall cost of borrowing, but overall rates are down.

Massachusetts foreclosure petitions jumped 72.5 percent in July compared to July 2013, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported September 2, 2014. 

At an open house recently in Boston for a Back Bay condo, a potential home buyer could be easily overheard providing the agent representing the seller with all kinds of personal information, none of which would have helped her get a good deal, but all of which may have helped a seller during negotiations. 

The U.S. foreclosure inventory declined 34.4 percent in July compared to July 2013, according to a report by Black Knight Financial Services, a data services company for the mortgage and loan services industry, Banker & Tradesman reported August 26, 2014.   

July marked the lowest level of foreclosure inventory since March 2008. 

There were 90,700 foreclosure starts in July, up 2.7 percent compared with June, but down 19.6 percent compared to July 2013.

As Massachusetts home prices continue to rise, homeowners are waking up to the opportunity of selling their homes for a good price.

Through the first half of 2014, single-family home sales and median home prices increased in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

There were 64 single-family homes sold from January to June, an increase of 18.5 percent compared to the 54 closed sales during the same period in 2013. Single-family home sales in Lynnfield, MA spiked in June 160 percent. There were 26 homes sold in June, an increase from 10 in June 2013. Pending sales were up 9.5 percent in June to 23, a slight increase from 21 pending sales in June 2013. 

In June of 2013 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced the creation of a homeownership compact, with the goal of bringing lenders together to provide 10,000 mortgage loans to first-time home buyers over five years. The compact included a commitment among participating lenders to originate a specific number of loans through MassHousing and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) home loan programs. 

As part of the effort to provide Massachusetts first-time home buyers with lower and moderate incomes an opportunity to own a home, the state launched a new Web site to provide potential home buyers information about MassHousing mortgages and the MHP One Mortgage. 

Despite the recent rise in median home prices, a report released by Zillow August 21, 2014 found that buying a home in the Greater Boston Area was still more affordable in July than renting. 

Home prices have risen over the past two years, but that was after a significant decline in the Boston real estate market. Meanwhile, rents never really declined during the recession. Rents have just kept climbing.