As noted here, I would second the notion that there are some communities "long past bottom", some poised to go up, some for whom the future is uncertain, and still a few that are looking for a bottom. It turns out that the "Boston Real Estate Market" while a useful news phrase, is pretty useless to the average buyer. Most buyers look in 2-3 towns, some as many as 5 or 6, but the Boston Market is well over 100 towns. By the time prices turn up, over 50% of those towns will have had significant price increases, cancelling out any downward movement in the other markets. I know for my own markets, DOM time has fallen a lot in the last 18 months, and is generally under or near the 180 days considered a "neutral" price market. (From a high of about 240). More importantly, the "mean" of the DOMs is much lower, as every town has about 20% inventory that has been out there for a year or more, and that is skewing the averages more than is typical. Further, inventory is very, very low - probably 30-35% under where a decent market should be - so any return to 'typical' buying pressures will likely see a push on prices. Assuming that there aren't any more economic disasters headed our way of course.

Natick: 132 Days on Market (DOM)
Framingham: 168
Southborogh: 194
Westborough: 191
Northborough: 204
Shrewsbury: 170

Matt

Yes, I believe it has.........check out http://www.housesavvy.com and their timely market info section. It basically reports :
Greater Boston area real estate market appears "bottomed out"; sales
activity and prices could be poised for take off says Real Estate Analyst
Walter Hall
Local real estate analyst Walter Hall,
Chairman of HouseSavvy (housesavvy.com), has released his latest
analysis on real estate market trends throughout the Greater Boston area,
data that indicates the market could be "bottoming out" and is now poised
to expand in sales activity and increase in average sale price.
"Given no further substantial deterioration of consumer confidence, the
Greater Boston market should benefit from increased sales and prices. On the
other hand, if consumer confidence improves, that expansion should
accelerate," said Hall.
While the number of sales in the Greater Boston market area (the six
counties surrounding Boston and their 167 cities and towns) is presently
down 7.9% year-to-year, February 2009 sales figures show that for the first
time in nine months, month-to-month sales increased, rising 15.5% over
January of 2009 from 1,617 to 1,868.
Moreover, the decline in the average sale price for closed sales has slowed
down to 4.6% in the last three months, and most significantly, for the first
time in months, the month-to-month average sale price in February showed an
increase over the preceding month - from $351,205 in January to $355,271 in
February - another significant indication that better times could be on the
way in the Greater Boston housing market.
"These are very healthy signs," said Hall, noting that the wellbeing of a
specific real estate market can be measured by documenting and analyzing
three primary indicators: number of sales, average sale price and the supply
of unsold listings.
In keeping with the positive trend indicated by the most recent number of
sales and average sale prices, figures also indicate that year-to-year the
supply of unsold listings has dropped 13.75% from an eight-month supply to a
6.9 month supply. "A six month supply of unsold homes is considered to
reflect a Balanced Market Hall said, "with the number of sellers and buyers
about equal and home values holding steady."
"The current trend is even more positive, showing an acceleration of
improvement in the market over the last three months," said Hall, noting
that the supply of unsold listings dropped 8% over that time period, from
7.5 months in December of 2008 to 6.9 months this February.
About HouseSavvy
HouseSavvy is the premier online resource for all things real estate. Home
sellers are provided free MLS/Internet Listings; home buyers get mortgage
closing cost rebates and access to all listings everywhere; and everyone
interested in real estate has access to a wealth of real estate knowledge
and market activity, plus an online help desk. HouseSavvy believes that the
long-established "one-size-fits-all" real estate business model has failed
to respond to the needs of today's sellers and buyers who want a fair and
reasonably priced service that gives them flexibility - plus involvement and
control over the process on their terms. Interested parties can learn more
information about HouseSavvy by visiting housesavvy.com
HouseSavvy maintains corporate offices at 683 Main Street, Norwell, MA.

Dear The_Bayou,

As a wise man once said "all politics is local", well so it goes for real estate. Cities and towns rise and fal at different speeds and for different reasons. The best collection of this information is from this months Boston Magazine http://www.bostonmagazine.com/files/images/march_08gatefold.layout lok there and you'll find real data, and perhaps a reason to stop looking and start buying.

Best Regards,

Robert

From what I am seeing, the market in the Boston area is nowhere as bad as in other parts of the country. Some brokers that I know in the Boston area have been saying that they are very busy. In Massachusetts, things typically will start in Boston then move North/South/West. I'm seeing that the more desireable areas (easy commutes/good schools/etc) are seeing an increase in the number of Single Family sales. Once units come back, prices will stabilize then turn the other direction. Condos and multis (around here at least) are a different story due to financing issues.

As for Irena's response, Leominster is fairing rather well. Leominster had a 12.6% Increase in the number of single family sales year over year (and only a 5.8% decrease in the average sales price year over year). She may be confusing it with Fitchburg (an adjacent city). Leominster has nowhere near the amount of foreclosures as Fitchburg, for the record.

In my opinion the bottom looks different for different localities. For instance in Dorchester, Roxbury, Lowell, Revere, Everett, Chelsea , Leominster etc. the bottom will be coming for a while, given the number of foreclosures that are dragging the prices down, and keeping the properties investor friendly. More “desirable” and pricier neighborhoods like yours, never got to the bottom since there was no bottom to go to, and the prices remained relatively unchanged. I suppose everyone is using the data as they see fit and she is definitely getting her 15 minutes of fame.
I just do not like it when people generalize the market since we all know that real estate is local.

The-Bayou,
We are not one bit surprised to hear this. Just last week we held a seminar in Chicago and for the first time in many years I stated that we are close to the bottom. Where is the bottom. know one can say. However, I do believe that we are close enough that if you have any plans I'd be really to take action in the next 6 months. Best of luck and please let us know if you are interested in investment, second or vacation properties. We are the leader in this field.
The Schaffer Realty Group
877-866-8388 http://www.marianschafferrealty.com
marian@marianschaffer.com