December brought an extra portion of holiday cheer for real estate agents, with statewide single-family home sales stopping a five month slide to rebound more than 24 percent over the prior month and almost 7 percent over 2009.
But it wasn’t the usual cast of fat cat communities getting extra sugarplums in their stockings, according to data obtained from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
The farther you got from the Hub last month, it seems, the better the sales – Bristol and Dukes counties showed improvement of more than double the state average. In the western part of the state, Franklin and Berkshire counties were up 40 percent and 47 percent, respectively, The Warren Group data shows.
In contrast, Route 128 belt communities and Boston itself came in well below their more rural counterparts, with Middlesex County posting a below-average 4.7 percent growth in year-over-year sales. Norfolk and Suffolk counties were two of the three counties where single-family sales actually declined, with Norfolk falling 2.9 percent year-over-year in December and Suffolk slumping 8.2 percent.
Turning A Corner?
While it’s tough to pinpoint a single cause for a month’s data, industry observers pointed to a few potential trends.
“It sounds to me like areas that had been more affordable in recent years are proving more resilient [in the downturn],” said Paul Matthews, executive director of the 495/Metrowest Partnership, a regional economic development and advocacy group based in Westborough. He suggested that as homebuyers place a renewed emphasis on affordability, they may be willing to look a little further afield to find a good deal.
“I think that homes in this area were more affordable, and you have access to good quality schools and transport, and those are permanent benefits.”
While Middlesex County’s growth was below average and Essex County’s 11.8 percent increase considerably above par, a closer look suggests that it’s not the inner-ring suburbs that powered the increase. The Westford-based Northeast Association of Realtors (NEAR) covers a jurisdiction of 15 cities and towns stretching from Boxford to Littleton and including Lowell and Lawrence – a territory straddling Middlesex and Essex counties. A recent report from the organization, citing MLS data, showed a nearly 30 percent increase in December in year-over-year sales in its corner of the Merrimack and Nashoba Valleys.
“I think we’ve turned a corner,” said Mary O’Donoghue, NEAR’s president-elect and a Realtor with Prudential Howe & Doherty Realtors in Andover. She said agents in her area were seeing increased activity and improved buyer sentiment.
Carlynn Mills, president of the Berkshire Country Board of Realtors, agreed.
“I think we’re seeing somewhat of a resurgence,” she said. “Everybody sees a resurgence in sales in high-end homes” in the southern part of the county as wealthier homebuyers regain the confidence necessary to seek out second homes. But there are other bright signs, as well – Mills pointed to a new contracts recently awarded to General Electric which local agents believe may bring several hundred jobs to the area in the coming year, which in turn could help further boost the housing market.
