Home Prices Drop It Low, But Not in Boston
Cohasset, Hamilton, and Bellingham were favorable buyers’ markets in September.
What do ritzy seaside Cohasset, picturesque and horse-farm-studded Hamilton, and lunch-bucket Bellingham have in common?
All have seen big price declines this fall, opening up new opportunities for buyers looking for a deal in a real estate market where high costs can be a killer.
Cohasset, Hamilton, and Bellingham, as well as Falmouth, Norwell, Tisbury and North Attleborough, all saw high single-digit to double-digit declines this September compared to September 2013, Massachusetts Association of Realtor stats show.
But it was more than just an off month for these towns – all have struggled with flat or declining prices all throughout 2014.
An eclectic group, their main tie appears to be their distance from the red-hot Boston and Cambridge markets, as well from the tony western suburbs like Newton, Wellesley, and Weston, where prices never seem to go down.
“The further you get outside of Boston the more you see prices dropping off,’’ said Re Gibson, manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s office in Franklin, which is next door to Bellingham.
“It’s zip code chauvinism,’’ she said.
For first-time buyers looking to break into the market, Bellingham offers the best bet, with a median price of $253,700 after an 8.6 percent drop in September. Prices for the year are down 1.7 percent, according to MAR stats.
North Attleborough, another lunch bucket suburb on the Rhode Island border, also looks to be a rather welcoming place for first timers. The town’s median price plunged 23 percent in September, down to $318,500, with prices off by 1.5 percent through the first nine months of 2014.
More of a middle-income suburb on the South Shore, Norwell’s median price fell 26 percent in September, to $472,500, and is down 6.8 percent for the year, MAR numbers show.
For buyers looking for some bargain high-end homes, Cohasset on the South Shore and Hamilton on the North Shore have lots of luxury homes to pick from.
A year ago, the median price of a house in Cohasset was pushing towards the $1 million mark. But prices in town fell by roughly a quarter in September and are off by more than 20 percent for 2014, lowering the median to a more terrestrial $735,000,.
Months of supply –the amount of time it would take to sell all the homes on the market – is up to more than 10 months in Cohasset, significantly higher than the 6 to 8 month spread that signals a balanced market.
Hamilton’s median price dropped a hefty 18 percent in September, falling to $478,500, with prices down slightly for the year as well, MAR reports.
“The lower-priced houses are all selling in Hamilton,’’ said Deborah Hamilton of RE/MAX on the River in West Newbury. “What you have left are the most expensive homes.’’
And buyers looking for a break on a vacation home might consider Falmouth on Cape Cod and Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard.
Falmouth’s median price fell 28 percent in September, to $386,000.
But prices on Tisbury have been hit even harder, falling 37 percent since January to $725,000 in September, compared to well over $1.1 million the year before, according to MAR.
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