Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

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.

Single-family home prices increased 10.2 percent across the United States on a year-over-year basis in February; however, New Hampshire home prices increased only 2.6 percent in February compared to February 2012, according to data from real estate information company CoreLogic, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported April 14, 2013. 

Picturesque Carlisle, Massachusetts offers rural New England living just 20 miles from Boston. The town, which was first settled in 1650, is a tight-knit community of around 5,000 residents. It prides itself in being nearly exclusively residential.

Only a handful of small businesses operate in the Town of Carlisle, and there are no apartment complexes, business parks, chain establishments, or shopping centers. Additionally about one-third of the town’s land is under strict conservation regulations that help preserve its pristine scenery, which includes fields, woods, wetlands, and even a cranberry bog.

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.