Gloom and Doom or a boom???

Actually the answer is both.

If you follow the news then the gloom and doom is everywhere. See http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/27/home_prices_sales_plunge_in_bay_state/?page=full to find out how bad things may be. The flip side is if you are trying to buy a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, in a nice town with good schools you may get a surprise and find yourself with a lot of competition!!

Locally in Burlington, Bedford, Woburn, Stoneham, Melrose and Reading to name a few, homes that are in top shape and somewhere between $350,000 and $450,000 are attracting a lot of attention. Homes featuring a new granite kitchen with tiled bathrooms and shiny hardwood floors are finding themselves with multiple offers and in some cases are only on the market for a matter of days before going under agreement.

How do you rationalize this conflicting information? I do it in a couple of ways. First and foremost real estate is a very local event. So what the averages are for 20,000 home sales across the state in March has no direct bearing on what is happening to your house, or the one you want to buy in Burlington in May. If you look on my website I put together up to date information on specific towns. If you look at Burlington (http://www.greatlexingtonhomes.com/burlington_mon_SFmkt.html ) the spring activity has jumped dramatically and sellers of homes in good condition have reason to be optimistic. Secondly, young, dual income couples have been waiting for a couple of years now to buy a home and start families and they have been given a push by the government to do something now. So with lower prices, very low mortgage rates, and a tax incentive they are out in force and looking to buy. But not just anything, they want a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, in a nice town with good schools. So guess what, there is a lot of competition for those prime properties.

So if you want a bargain, you can certainly find them if you are willing to compromise and do some repairs and such. If you want the dream home, it will be a bit cheaper than 2005/6, but you may still have to fight your way past 4 other couples to be the new owner.

To help figure out where you fit in this market and for local help on, in my local markets please send me an e-mail or give me a call.