Watertown, MA

In an effort to be knowledgebale of our current market, I weekly pull the market statistics in Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, Newton, Waltham, Brighton and Allston. Below are the market statistics in Watertown, Massachusetts for Single Families, Condominiums and Multi-Families. I will be posting Watertown, MA market statistics weekly on Mondays.

As you can see there has been slight depreciation year-to-date between last year and this year. Single families are at -6%, condominiums are at -1% and multi-families are at -2%. Considering how the media reports massive depreciation, -1% and -2% are not that steep of a decline.

Good news is that the inventory is down across the board, which means there is less competition and it is probable that a higher percentage of sellers are motivated to sell and are, therefore, hopefully pricing there properties properly.

In Multi-Families, the original list prices for homes have tended to be too high, which has created a large disparity in asking price and selling price. This disparity has also driven up the days on market for sold Multi-Family homes. However, there has been an increase in sold Multi-Family homes up 5 from last year at this time (49 compared to 42).

If you are interested in learning about more Market Statistics or would like to be emailed these statistics on a weekly basis for a particular town, please email me at mark.madden@commonmoves.com

Please click here to visit the Know Your Market Archives.

Due to many requests, I wanted to update my readers on the current market as it pertains to The Village Condominiums in Watertown, Massachusetts.

As you know from my previous post on The Village Condominiums, I have been tracking the sales history for the last 10 years in order to gain as much knowledge on the complex as possible. This year the numbers are down slightly in total number of sales and the units are averaging a lower sales prices.

• 2008 - Average Sales Price: $286,714 (7 units sold)
• The High Sales Price: $320,000
• The Low Sales Price: $269,500

As you can see, there have been seven units that have sold at The Village Condominiums this year, but that does not mean that they were the only properties on the market. Currently there are zero units Under Agreement, meaning that an offer has been accepted and it is pending a close.

Also, year-to-date there has been 1 unit that have gone on the market and have expired at The Village Condominiums. Expired listings happen for a variety of reasons and I have strong opinions on expired listings.

Currently there are six units at The Village that are for sale. If you are interested in potentially purchasing a unit in this complex please contact me at 617-448-9481 or email me at mark@smarthomesboston.com because due to my research on this complex I know a lot about these units and we at Century 21 Commonwealth ave sold 3 out of the last 5 units in this complex.

For more information on other Watertown Condominium Complexes please visit my Go Inside Archives.

Due to many requests, I wanted to update my readers on the current market as it pertains to The Chatham Condominiums in Watertown, Massachusetts.

As you know from my previous post on The Chatham Condominiums, I have been tracking the sales history for the last 10 years in order to gain as much knowledge on the complex as possible. This year the numbers are down slightly in number of sales and the units are averaging a lower sales price.

• 2008 - Average Sales Price: $190,000 (1 unit sold)

As you can see, there has only been one unit that has sold at The Chatham Condominiums this year, but that does not mean that it was the only property on the market. Currently there is 1 other unit that is Under Agreement, meaning that an offer has been accepted and it is pending a close.

Also, year-to-date there have been 4 Chatham Condominium units that have gone on the market and have expired. Expired listings happen for a variety of reasons and I have strong opinions on expired listings.

Currently there are no units at The Chatham Condominiums that are for sale. However, if you are interested in potentially purchasing a unit in this complex please contact me at 617-448-9481 or email me at mark@smarthomesboston.com because due to my research on this complex I know which units are interested in selling currently.

For more information on other Watertown Condominium Complexes please visit my Go Inside Archives.

The other night Watertown's Safe Routes to School program was mentioned on the nationally aired NBC's Nightly News. Just about halfway through the video, which mostly talks about Somerville, New Jersey's program, Watertown is mentioned as another community taking the initiative to get children outside and walking to school under adult supervision.

Watertown's program has its own page on the Watertown Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee and describes the purpose of the program as being:

"Safe Routes to School is a program designed to improve the safety and health of our school children by promoting walking to school. Because children develop lifelong habits at an early age, encouraging them to walk more in the elementary years can help to establish behaviors that will lead to more active lifestyles."

Please take the time to view this video and read about the program. It is important not only for our town's children but also for our environment as it could help to decrease the number of necessary busses.

The other night I stopped in at The Comfort Restaurant and Bar located at 5 Spring Street in Watertown. The restaurant is a special place tucked away from the main street, so it is little known to the passerby. It is located on the 2nd floor of the building above the restaurant Molana.

I decided to stop in, after meaning to do so for quite some time. I was impressed from my first glance at the restaurant. It is well laid out with an upper level of tables for restaurant eating and then a lower level with a bar and a few tables as well. The bar itself probably seats 10 or so patrons and their beer, wine and specialty drink menu leaves nothing to be desired.

I had read about the 3 Cheese Mac & Cheese online, but figured that I would check out the menu before deciding what to order. The owner, however, was sitting next to me at the bar eating the 3 Cheese Mac & Cheese which had me sold. Thank goodness I made that selection. It was absolutely delicious.

So the food was delicious and the drink choice was plenty. The best part of the restaurant though may be its staff. That night there was only 2 people working the front of house, the Owner Andrew and Bartender/Server Beth. Both Andrew and Beth were extremely personable and made an effort to make sure that everyone in the restaurant was enjoying the meals. I was extremely impressed with this "small hole in the wall" restaurant which should begin to grow as word spreads about its food and atmosphere.

The restaurant hosts live bands on most Friday and Saturday nights, which is an added plus. On their website, eatcomfortfood.com, they have a few upcoming events as well as their menus. I would highly recommend visiting this restaurant before it becomes a big hit. The prices aren't too expensive and the food, from what I ate, seems worth it.

I look forward to hearing how much everyone enjoyed their visit to The Comfort Restaurant and Bar.

Check out my other Your Realtor® Eats posts.