Home Buying

Greater Boston suburbs seeing home prices cool off, sometimes by a lot

Home prices in Concord fell by the largest percentage of any Greater Boston town in early 2016. Courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons

By Scott Van Voorhis

May 9, 2016

2 minutes to read

Home prices in the suburbs of Greater Boston are cooling, even as they surge in the region’s urban core.

The median price of a home in Middlesex County, which includes a broad stretch of the city’s western and northern suburbs, flattened out during the first three months of the year, edging down .01 percent to $429,950, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

This is a significant shift given that tony towns like Wellesley, Needham and Concord have seen home values rise steadily for years now, having long surpassed highs last set in the mid-2000s.

Essex County, which includes many of the suburbs north of Boston, also saw its median price fall .14 percent, to $355,000, while Plymouth County, which covers the South Shore, fell back .17 percent, to $290,000.

The one exception was Norfolk County, which includes many of the southern suburbs along the Boston-to-Providence I-95 corridor, as well some of the wealthier western suburbs, which saw a nearly 4 percent jump, to $410,000, The Warren Group stats show.

By contrast, Suffolk County, which is dominated by Boston and its many neighborhoods, saw home prices jump 7 percent, to $410,000.

Michael Carucci, executive vice president of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty’s office in Boston, contends the rising urban prices reflect an increasing desire on the part of buyers, including a growing number of younger families, for city living.

“I cannot tell you the number of deals I have done in the last few months that five or 10 years ago they would have been buying in the suburbs,” Carucci said.

Home prices in upscale suburbs like Concord, Cohasset, Needham and Wellesley took a hit in the first three months of 2016.

Cohasset’s median price dropped 9 percent to $695,000, while Wellesley fell 6 percent to $1.2 million.

But both paled in comparison to Concord, Needham and Sherborn, which saw double-digit price declines.

Concord’s median price dived 23 percent to $712,500, Needham ($795,000) fell 19 percent, while Sherborn ($640,000) dropped 14 percent, The Warren Group reports.

By contrast, Cambridge’s median price rose 26 percent, to $1.6 million, while Somerville saw an 11 percent jump, to $652,000.

In the city, South Boston saw one of the biggest home price increases, up 34 percent to $750,000, while Jamaica Plain saw an 11 percent increase in its median home price, to $460,000, and a 66 percent surge in sales.