Real Estate News - What's New About It?

The Boston Globe reported more gloomy information about the real estate market in today and yesterday's newspaper. The article talked about January sales. Isn't "news" supposed to be what's going on today? Isn't that why they call it "news"?

While informaton about closed sales in January might be interesting, especially if the news is bad, what does it tell anyone on February 25? The real estate market is what your money can buy today - the houses sold in January aren't there anymore, so really who cares? You can't buy stock today at yesterday's prices... Further, the actual buying decisions were make at least a month or two prior, before the bailouts, etc.

In Sudbury MA, year-to-date, sales are up and both the median and average sales price are up from last year as well, not by much but they've certainly not fallen by 20%. And inventory is up only slighty - some price ranges have more inventory, but most have fewer homes for sale than last year at this time.

In Maynard MA there are only 29 single family homes for sale compared with 55 one year ago. Year-to-date sales are up. The townhouse market is also moving again - I put two under agreement in February, one of which has already closed. The number of townhouses available today is also substanitally less last year - only 22 compared with 37. Sellers are still not getting the prices they want but buyers are also having to pay more than they want.

The point is that supply and demand are what determines the market. What sold, or didn't sell, in January is not news! All real estate is local and in the towns west of Boston, it's not even the town, but the price-point within the town.The public needs to know what's going on today and should be careful about making assumptions based on outdated information. It's our job as professionals to make sure they know today's news!

Marilyn Messenger,CRS, ABR, GRI of RE/MAX Landmark is a market conditions reporter for Realty Times, Active Rain, and various other blogs and sites. The latest market information for Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, Maynard, and Stow MA can be found at www.marilynmessenger.com.