Optimism on the Home Front

Western Massachusetts real estate agents see glimmers of hope on the horizon
by The Republican Newsroom
Wednesday April 29, 2009, 6:00 PM

By HOLLY ANGELO hangelo@repub.com Home sales and prices are still down from this time last year, but there are glimmers of hope in the local housing market. Both The Warren Group and Massachusetts Association of Realtors released reports on Wednesday. Single-family median home prices in the state fell 18.2 percent during the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008, while sales dropped nearly 11 percent, according to The Warren Group. Locally, the news is better. Home sales in the Pioneer Valley were up 4.3 percent from March 2008 to 2009, according to the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.
"There are some promising signs," said Kevin M. Sears... the president-elect of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. "When the prices come down it makes properties more affordable. You have more folks getting into the market and lower interest rates." Sears said unlike the larger banks, local banks are lending and there is credit out there. "The market is returning a little bit back to normal," he said...
In the state, the median price for homes in the first quarter of 2009 fell to $253,500 from $310,000 in the first quarter of 2008, according to The Warren Group. Sales of single-family homes dropped nearly 11 percent to 6,160 from 6,912 a year ago. In Hampden County, March home sales were actually up 9.31 percent from last March, from 204 sales to 223 sales, although prices in that time period decreased by 11.43 percent, from $175,000 to $155,000. In Hampshire County, March sales decreased by 30.36 percent over the past year and prices decreased by 10.16 percent. Franklin County sales decreased by 14.71 percent, but prices actually increased by 4.91 percent. Statewide, single-family median home prices fell below $300,000 for the seventh consecutive month, according to Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive officer of The Warren Group. The Warren Group is a Boston-based publisher of real estate and related data.
source: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/western_massachusetts_real_est.html?category=Business&category=Franklin%20County&category=Springfield accessed 5/6/09 7:43a.m.