Gerry 'RealtyMan' Bourgeois

Memorial Day truly signals the start of summer in Massachusetts. Beaches open up, all of the summer places should be open by now, and it is nearly time that it will be reliably warm, if not hot. The kiddies, if you have them, will be out of school within a few weeks, but for right now the weekdays are quiet.

There are many things going on in Leominster MA, over the entire weekend. Check out the Sentinel-Enterprise article here.

In Shirley MA the town pool opens on May 29, and the parade is on Monday. More information is here.

Statewide, you can find parade and Memorial Day Celebration information here.

originally published in our localism blog 365 Things to do in MA

reposted from the Towne and Country, Realtors blog

For sellers whose homes are lingering on the marketplace, this may not seem realistic. Inventory of homes is shrinking, however, and buyers hoping to find that one perfect home may find themselves set up for a long wait.

In our area, we have been seeing multiple offer situations and I have spoken with two buyers this week who bemoaned the lack of new inventory.

Leominster MA For Sale, Sold, Pending and New Listings (Single Family Homes):

What will happen in the wake of the Homebuyer’s Tax Credit is anyone’s guess, but at least for the moment we are headed toward more of a status quo in the real estate market.
If you are considering selling and planning on making a home purchase after the sale, now may be a good idea to start the process. There is still inventory to purchase after the sale of your home, yet not so much that your home will be overlooked.
If your home is on the market for some time and has not sold, it may be time for reevaluation. Are you priced properly, reflecting current trends in the market? Is your home one of the two or three best buys in its size and price range? Is there anything you can do to make it more marketable?

Check Karen's blog here.

Congratulations to Towne & Country, Realtors' newest homeowners!!
Karen Shattuck's clients, Jeremy & Erin Vicente, are proud owners of this beautiful home in Framingham. What a great day for a closing, and what great smiles! This is what real estate is all about.

Karen Shattuck has been a full-time Realtor® since 1997, and has been recognized as a Top Producer by North Central Massachusetts Association of Realtors® annually since 1998. She is an Accredited Buyer Representative and a Certified Residential Specialist. You can find Karen on our site, or read her blog here.

Originally published in Towne & Country, Realtors blog:

from the National Association of Home Builders:

April 16, 2010 - Nationwide housing starts rose for a third consecutive month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units from an upwardly revised February number, according to figures released today by the U.S. Commerce Department. The rate of permit issuance for new housing construction also rose by a solid 7.5 percent in the month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units.

“After an uncertain couple of months, home builders are gradually getting back to what they do best as the spring home buying season commences and consumers return to the market,” said Bob Jones, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “While we still have a long way to go, today’s numbers are an indication that builders are looking down the road with a bit more optimism.”

“Today’s report is very encouraging, because it signifies that home builders are confident enough to begin work on homes that will very likely be completed after the expiration of the home buyer tax credits,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The solid gain in permit issuance last month is particularly welcome news, since those numbers are generally a reliable indicator of future building activity. That said, considerable headwinds continue to impede housing’s recovery, including the critical shortage of credit for housing production that is stifling new development in reviving markets.”

I wanted to quote the entire passage, because it is significant. Builders are assuming that the resurgence in the market will survive the end of the homebuyers' tax credit. Nationally, housing starts rose to their highest level since November 2008.

Locally, we are seeing a spike in home sales activity. It appears that this will continue beyond the April 30th first cutoff for the tax credit. This probably has a lot to do with the employment situation, which is improving in the New England region:

Perhaps most encouraging: The massive layoffs of last year now seem to be a thing of the past.

“Most New England employers are no longer shedding workers, and many are restoring recession-induced cuts in wages and benefits,” the Fed regional report said.

Anecdotally - and we are conservative in jumping on the "economic trend" bandwagon- we are seeing signs that things are improving locally in the Central MA area. Real estate residential resale, and now new construction sales, are making gains. That's good for everyone.