CAROLE MILOTT
‘Serious’ buyers
A recent survey of the country’s top 10 wealthiest counties included Middlesex County in Massachusetts – a region where more than 850 million-dollar-plus homes were sold last year alone.
Middlesex County – which includes affluent communities like Weston, Lexington and Newton – had 69,871 millionaire households, according to an annual survey conducted by TNS Financial Services. The high concentration of households with more than $1 million in net worth in Middlesex County may be one reason why the county’s luxury home market is one of the strongest in the Bay State.
Some 856 single-family homes with a price tag of $1 million or more were sold in Middlesex County last year, up from 779 in 2004. The county’s million-dollar home sales top all other regions in the state, according to The Warren Group, parent company of Banker & Tradesman. Norfolk County posted 557 sales in that price category last year, followed by Barnstable County with 318 sales.
As the residential real estate market has softened, however, sellers of upscale properties are certainly feeling the pinch – and homeowners in Middlesex County are no exception. Real estate brokers are reporting that there is a much larger supply of million-dollar homes available for sale and luxury properties, which traditionally take more time to sell than lower-priced residences anyway, are sometimes taking months longer to trade.
“Most homes are having a longer shelf life, and sellers need to be prepared for that,” said Holly Wyner, a Realtor with Hammond GMAC Residential Real Estate who sells homes in Newton and Brookline.
A total of 60 single-family homes priced $1 million or higher were sold in Middlesex County during the first two months of the year, down from 93 during the same months last year, according to The Warren Group.
In Newton – which registered the most sales of single-family homes priced $1 million or higher last year in Middlesex County with 195 such sales, compared to 159 the year before – nine million-dollar-plus home sales took place during January and February of this year. That’s a drop from 24 such sales that occurred during the same two months a year ago, according to The Warren Group.
Three homes priced over $2 million were sold in Newton within the last three months, taking an average of three months to sell, according to Wyner. Another seven homes priced $2 million and above are under agreement in Newton and they’ve been on the market an average of about four-and-a-half months.
A home priced between $1 million and $2 million in Newton may have sold within a week to two months in previous markets, estimated Wyner, but now such homes might be on the market for up to three months. Homes with an even steeper asking price may be taking twice as long to sell as they had been, she said.
The exception are properties “priced sensitively” that are in a good location and don’t need a lot of work, said Wyner, who is currently marketing three homes in Newton.
“There are definitely buyers out there this spring. The buyers were hiding this past fall. They were looking but they were not stepping up to the plate unless they felt like they were getting a steal as opposed to a deal,” Wyner said. “Now, they’re willing to make a deal in the spring market but they’re taking their time about it. They’re not jumping at necessarily the first thing they see.”
‘Still Slow’
As of last week, there were 110 single-family homes priced $1 million and higher that were available – 37 of which are listed at $2 million or more. With such a large inventory of high-end homes from which to choose, buyers need to perceive value in what they’re purchasing, according to Wyner.
She added that she has seen a noticeable difference between a seller’s initial asking price and the actual selling price. The average asking price for the three homes priced over $2 million that have sold so far this year was $2.9 million, for example, but the average selling price for those properties was $2.6 million.
“They [buyers] won’t overpay,” said Wyner. “There’s much more negotiation this spring than in previous spring markets. There’s more back-and-forth before a deal is consummated.”
Roslyn Wennett, broker-owner of Prudential Edna Kranz Realty in Newton, said the market for homes over $2 million is “still slow.”
But she said she has not seen any “big drop in prices” because home sellers have been reluctant to reduce asking prices.
“I think the market is picking up a little. I’m noticing more calls and I hope with the calls there will be more offers,” said Wennett, whose office has 23 properties listed for sale in Newton ranging in price from $479,000 to nearly $2.5 million.
Weston Realtor Carole Milott said some pricey homes have attracted offers in the last few weeks.
Weston, a Boston suburb where the median price for a single-family home has exceeded $1 million for the last three years, is another Middlesex County community where million-dollar home sales are no rarity.
Some 119 single-family properties priced $1 million or higher were sold last year, down slightly from 122 in 2004. In the first two months of the year, three homes in that price category have been sold, down from 18 during the same period the prior year.
Out of the 110 single-family homes listed for sale as of last week in Weston, only 18 were priced under $1 million.
Homes that sold in March took an average of 172 days – almost six months – to sell, compared to about 100 days, or about three months, last year, said Milott, citing information from the multiple listing service.
While the number of high-end home sales has slipped, Weston brokers are seeing some signs that the market may be springing up. At least five properties priced over $2 million have gone under agreement recently, including a newly built house priced at nearly $6 million on Love Lane and a 4-year-old home on Winter Street with a price tag of almost $3 million.
About a month ago, Milott sold a home that was under construction for about $4.2 million to a couple that was relocating to Weston.
“I see a lot of relocation activity, which we haven’t seen in a couple of years,” said Milott, whose office has 61 homes listed for sale in Weston.
She added, “I think there are more buyers out there [who] are serious about buying this year than in the last two years.”
But even if there are eager homebuyers out there hunting, one challenge in the market today may be home sellers who resist accepting offers that they think are too low.
“We’ve had a lot of offers and the sellers are holding their ground,” said Milott. “There’s not a feeling of panic. [Sellers aren’t] being motivated or flexible.”
