Longmeadow Home Sales Slow in January

The latest results for home sales in Longmeadow for January 2008 (7) are now available and the results show much lower numbers vs. January 2007 (15) and January 2006 (20). Below is a chart with the monthly results for Longmeadow home sales for the past two years.

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Median home prices in January continued to show improvement and recovery toward mid-2006 levels.

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Given the lower sales results for January, it is likely that there will likely be some near term pressure on home prices in Longmeadow as new properties are listed for the upcoming spring-summer selling season. There are currently 91 MLS properties being offered for sale. Typical mid-selling season numbers are 110 - 120 MLS listings + ~ 10-15 FSBO listings.

Now that the Federal Reserve has reduced interest rates by another 0.50% this past week, lower mortgage rates are likely in the near future.

With home prices likely to be flat or down slightly and homes for sale in most price ranges, the upcoming spring selling season promises to be a great time to buy a home in Longmeadow.

Real Estate Market Not So Bleak

Today's Springfield Republican has a front page story entitled "Real Estate Market Not So Bleak in WMass" with the basically the same theme as our post earlier this week.

Statewide Single Family Home sales- 43,379 in 2006 to 41,510 in 2007, a 4.3% decrease
Pioneer Valley Home sales- a 10.7% decrease

Longmeadow home sales- 189 in 2006 to 198 in 2007, a 4.8% increase.

Statewide Median prices- decreased from $350,000 in 2006 to $345,500 in 2007, a 1.3% decrease.

Pioneer Valley median prices- a 1.5% increase to $210,000
vs. Longmeadow median prices- from $339,000 in 2006 to $348,000 in 2007, a 2.7% increase.

The key message... with mortgage interest rates moving significantly lower... now may be a great time to buy a home (in Longmeadow) if you are planning to live there for 4-10 years. Sitting on the fence waiting for a "better buying" opportunity may prove to be a poor bet- only time will tell.