Mike Batty

Burlington's single family home sales market showed some seasonal strength but has weakened in the past month or two. With August sales numbers in, volume is slightly low, and prices stumbled in August. The graph below shows a line for the median price and bars for the numbers of homes sold.

In the Single Family market, there are only 59 properties listed for sale. This represents an 18% lower inventory than the same time last year. The median sales price dropped in August breaking the summer's upswing. The sales volume improved with 13 homes sold, but this was still down 38% from last year. The average time on market for properties to sell bumped up to160 days, but was skewed by one home taking more than 2 years. Currently we have less than a 5 month supply of property which indicates that the Burlington market remains in favor of sellers.

Bedford's single family home sales market is having a strong summer, but may be running out of homes to sell. With August sales numbers in, the summer has been strong, volume is slightly low, but prices have been rising since the May low. The graph below shows a line for the median price and bars for the numbers of homes sold.

In the Single Family market, there were only 30 properties listed September 1. This represents a 32% decrease in inventory from the same time last year. August sales volume continued the summer surge with 14 home sales. Along with the increased volume the sales prices increased slightly. The average time on market dropped to only 57 days. The summer's spike in volume has reduced the supply of property to only 2 months, keeping the Bedford market in favor of those selling property. At this time the market is supply limited and needs new inventory to maintain volume levels. Counter to the national trends the market is in need of sellers.

Lexington's single family home sales market continues to defy the national trends and is having a strong year. With August sales numbers in, the summer has been strong, volume is slightly low, but prices have been rising. The graph below shows a line for the median price and bars for the numbers of homes sold.

In the Single Family market, there were 118 houses listed for sale September 1. This is down 4% from the same time last year. The monthly median sales price data has continued to show strength all summer, and in August was 15% higher than last year. For the second month in a row the average sales price was greater than $1,000,000. Average time on market eased down to only 94 days. There were 43 homes sold in August, this is 6 more than August 2007. Currently the supply of homes for sale is still less than 3 months. This indicates that the Lexington market remains strongly in favor of those selling property. 2008 continues to look like a strong year for Lexington Real Estate.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Colorado. They made the comment of it being difficult to get used to the "green tunnels" and that they found it disorienting. I asked what they meant by ‘green tunnels' and they explained that the tree lined streets all looked the same to them and that you couldn't get a clear look at the sky. Out west I guess things are different, but here in Lexington I see our ‘tunnels' as an asset and a wonderful selling point. Streets lined with mature trees help to keep things cool in the summertime and offer protection to the hundreds of squirrels and bird species. There is even a hawk nesting across the street in my neighbor's yard. The Lexington planning board has done a great job of setting up and preserving green areas for the town. Many are interconnected like the one I take my morning walks along.

I live near the Old Res, a pond that is stocked with trout and bass in the springtime and set-up with a guarded swimming area for the kids all summer. They just closed the swimming area for the season last weekend since the High School and College age lifeguards are all going back to school now.

Around the Res is a footpath that many like me walk, typically with a dog or two, each morning. Just off that is a paved path that cuts another green tunnel through a wooded section to connect from Cary Ave. and Marrett road over to Bridge Elementary School. The path continues past Bridge, across Middleby and through some more woods with a link up to Baskin Road and then on down past the Lincoln soccer/lacrosse field complex.

It cuts through another small conservation area that features a side route on a boardwalk loop through a swampy area. Last year I saw a fox on the boardwalk. You then exit the woods out onto Worthen road. Once you hit Worthen you can go left up to the Hayden Rec. Ice Rink or cross over to the High School fields, track and the town pool / tennis court complex. Or go right and down to the High School campus itself. If you go straight and across past the baseball fields, football stadium and playground then you have only a short walk to be in downtown Lexington. It is a great walking path, a main traffic route to Bridge School and the High School, and many times I see families riding their bikes along the paved pathways. These pathways and conservation areas are scatter green tunnels all around Lexington and make it a wonderful place to walk in the summertime.

A friend of mine, Mary Mady, has been very successful in forming a new organization for adult education in the area. The Bedford Learning Connection. Here is a brief on the programs and a web link to go see if you find anything that you would like to learn about.

The Bedford Learning Connection, Inc.
P. O. Box 765, Bedford, MA 01730
www.bedfordlearningconnection.org

The BLC is a nonprofit community organization that offers a unique curriculum of community education classes and workshops presented by individuals and town organizations and businesses. Courses include arts and crafts, home and garden workshops, outdoor courses and events, lectures, discussions, languages, storytelling, green home remodeling, and organic gardening. Courses are held in various locations in Bedford and BLC also belongs to an online course network with over 300 instructor-led 6 week professional and personal interest courses.