Mark Madden | The Madden Team

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

The Belmont, MA housing market has seemingly hit a bump in the road according to the most recent market statistics. Single family home prices have depreciated -$109,810 and multi-family home prices have depreciated -$124,500. However, there is promise in the Belmont market and that can be found in the condominiums.

The average sale price for condominium homes has risen $13,302 since last year at this time. There have been 4 sales in 2009, compared to 6 sales last year. There is still room for improvement, mostly in the shape of days on market. Both active condominium homes and sold condominium homes are averaging over 200 days on the market. The reason for this is overpricing. Condominiums are selling at an average of 89% of the original listing price.

Single family homes have seemingly slowed. Comparatively, there has been 10 sales in 2009 to the 25 sales we had at this point last year. We have greater inventory on the market this year, but the homes are sitting on the market for longer period of time due to high prices.

Want some perspective? I know I do! Check out the video to learn if YOU can sell your Belmont home and not lose money. I took the statistics below from an article printed in The Boston Magazine titled "How's the Market Been Treating Your Town?" I talk a bit more indepth about them in the video below. Take a peek.

CAN I SELL IN BELMONT, MA? BRING ON THE PERSPECTIVE!

For more information on my business please click the logo below or email me at mark@smarthomesboston.com. If there is anything you are interested in having me discuss or a certain town/city that you would like market statistics for, please email me or call me at 617.448.9481.

In an effort to be knowledgebale of our current market, I weekly pull the market statistics in Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, Newton, Waltham and Brighton. Below are the market statistics in Newton, MA. I will be posting the market Statistics for Newton, MA on Fridays.

Opportunity is the name of the game in Newton. Newton was featured in an article for Boston Magazine titled "Best Places to Live 2009: The Teflon Ten". In this article it calls Newton condos a cautious buying opportunity because the median sales price is down 5% from 2007.

The Newton Market Statistics definitely present great opportunity for buyers across the board. There is an increase in inventory, a decrease in average and median sales prices and interest rates are still relatively low.

With a rise in inventory that means that there are more options availabe. 203 single family homes in 2009 vs 157 single family homes on the market in 2008.

I know that this will post will worry sellers, but please do not fret. Depending on when you bought, you may still have equity in your home too.

For more information on my business please click the logo below or email me at mark@smarthomesboston.com. This is the first installment of the video series, so anything you are interested in having me discuss then please email me or call me at 617.448.9481.

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

Lets start with Single Family Homes! The average days on market for single family homes has dropped from 110 days at this time last year to 72 days on market for homes that have sold. That is a great sign that there is buyer activity out there and that the low inventory and low prices are driving quicker sales.

WHO CAN SELL IN A DOWN MARKET? It's Perspective Time:

Now, let's tackle the condominium market. We have buyer activity out there because there has been 18 condominium home sales this year and there are 14 more condominiums that are currently Under Agreement. Average sales prices are down, so those who were waiting for prices to drop may be coming off the fence and ready to take advantage of the low interest rates.

What if I bought in 2000? Would it be safe for me to sell now and not lose money? Lets get some perspective.

Oh the multi family homes market, it seems so bad when you look at the numbers. Average sales price are down -$213,955 since last year at this time. There have been 4 sales as compared to 7 last year. There is lower inventory of 14 active properties on the market compared to 26 last year.

Is there good news? Wait... how can the median sales price be $490,000 compared to last year's $445,000. I am confused.

For more information on my business please click the logo below or email me at mark@smarthomesboston.com. This is the first installment of the video series, so anything you are interested in having me discuss then please email me or call me at 617.448.9481.

The Century 21 Commonwealth Home Free Sweepstakes

Starting February 1, 2009 and running until April 30th, Century 21 Commonwealth is running a sweepstakes where the winner will receive 1 month's rent or mortgage paid for!

So what's the catch?

There isn't one really. Simply stop by a Century 21 Commonwealth Open House or a Century 21 Commonwealth Office and fill out an entry form for your chance to win this incredible prize. Century 21 Commonwealth will pay up to $2,100 to cover your mortgage or rent.

Sound like a great opportunity?

That's because IT IS! All the details of the sweepstakes can be found on the entry form. I would love if you stopped by my open house this Sunday, February 1st to fill out a form and meet me.

My open house will be held at 46 Partridge Street in Watertown, MA between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Our friends at The Warren Group posted their year end sales results for Massachusetts and since they are the "Trusted Real Estate & Financial Information" source everyone picked up on it, including The Boston Globe.

Here is the information as reported by The Warren Group:

"Sales and prices of single-family homes in Massachusetts fell by more than 11 percent in 2008"

"40,124 single-family homes were sold in 2008, an 11.5 percent decrease from the 45,339 transactions in 2007."

"The median price for a single-family home dropped to a five-year low, tumbling 11.6 percent to $305,000 from $345,000 in 2007."

"For the year, the condo sales plummeted 23.1 plummeted 23.1 percent to 20,132 from 26,162."

I am not arguing the validity of these statements, but rather I am raising the point that real estate can not be considered on such a large scale. Massachusetts, although the sixth smallest state in the U.S. does span 7,838 square miles of land.

Locally, the metrowest Boston area has seen numbers that defy the state of Massachusetts' year end sales statistics.

For instance:

Condominium sales in Watertown, MA have has an increase in median sales from $326,000 in 2007 to $345,000 in 2008.

In Arlington, the median sales price for single-family homes has increased $2,500 from $472,500 in 2007 to $475,000 in 2008. Also, the total number of condominium sales has increased from 202 in 2007 to 226 in 2008.

Belmont saw some slight appreciation, as well, in their single-family market. The median sales price has increased from $690,000 in 2007 to $693,725 in 2008.

Although we have not seen huge gains in our housing market, we have not seen the depreciation that is being reported on a statewide level. Real estate is more than state to state and city to city. One really has to dig into each neighborhood of a town to truly understand how that market is faring.