Natick, Needham, and Wellesley Real Estate Trends...June 2009

Results Are In!..Local Real Estate Market… Wellesley, Needham, Natick

As I have reported earlier this year the market varies greatly by town.

Needham and Natick are demonstrating stability and equilibrium with sales and inventory in balance.

Wellesley on the other hand has seen both sales units and dollar volume plummet by 42.8% and 51.3% respectively.

Combine drastically lower sales in Wellesley with inventory that has skyrocketed 74.8% and you get a market significantly out of balance.

Perhaps sellers are trying to out wait cautious buyers? More likely, by waiting to reduce their asking prices, sellers will ultimately have to sell at an even lower price. The alternative is to not move.

NEEDHAM and NATICK are stabilizing and WELLESLEY needs a dose of reality to regain equilibrium.

Percentage Change for the First Half of 2009 vs. 2008

………………………NEEDHAM……… WELLESLEY ………..NATICK

SALES Units.………….. flat…………………...…..- 42.8%…………………….. – 11.0%

$ VOLUME ……………- 2.6%……………………. – 51.3% ……………………..- 14.1%

Median price………….. flat ………………………..- 3.7% ………………………+ 4.9%

Units in Inventory….. + 2.6% …….. ……………. + 74.8% …………………….- 12.5%

Two major factors are at play in the local real estate markets. The basic law of supply and demand, or in the case of Wellesley, oversupply, and the credit markets that remain heavily biased against jumbo loans needed to finance the vast majority of homes in Wellesley.

Despite some modest improvement from the first quarter, the numbers tell us that home prices in Wellesley still face downward pressure before the market will gain equilibrium.

Your thoughts?

John Prescott, Vice President

CENTURY 21 Commonwealth

508-523-9252

…JOHN gets results because he knows his business!