The Massachusetts housing slump
During the state's real estate boom earlier this decade, prices for single-family homes increased 80 percent. Now new home sales and prices have dropped significantly, and a mortgage crisis is burgeoning. What does it mean for you?
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The Latest Home prices post 18.1% annual drop
While the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities tumbled by 18.1 percent, it marked the third straight month the decline was not a record. And yearly losses in 13 metros improved compared to March. |
Recent news
Home sales fall
The median selling price for Massachusetts single-family homes fell 13 percent in May to $280,000 from $322,000 in May 2008, the Warren Group said.
- US plan to modify mortgages making slow progress
- Mortgage firm, state reach deal
- 'Vanilla' home loans could benefit borrowers
- Foreclosures in Mass. plummet in May
- Loan rates fall from 7 month high
- May housing construction jumps
- As home values fall, so should your property tax bill
- Mortgage rates highest in 7 months
- Late mortgage payments hit highest level since '72
- Short-term loans for $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit
- Beware of those who offer to help with mortgage
- US home sales rise, prices fall
- Massachusetts home sales, prices fall in April
- Mass. home sales 'disappointing'
- First-quarter US home prices fall
- Developers see opportunity in dealer lots
Features
A renter's market?
Justin McGuffee (left) relocated to a one-bedroom apartment in the South End, where he pays $300 less per month than his previous apartment.
- Survey Has your rent gone down?
Mortgage industry news
- State foreclosures drop
- Once-safe mortgages endangered
- Mass., Goldman reach $60m deal
- Mortgage rates rise slightly
- More banks tighten home loan rules
- Plan to let judges alter loans is killed
- Six lenders get funds to modify mortgages
- Obama urges refinancing
- Loan changes may not help
- Government targets mortgage scams
- Mortgage applications continue rise
- Mortgage rates sink to new low
- Bargain mortgage rates aren't for everybody
- Mortgage rates drop to lowest since '71
- Lenders hold steady on mortgage rates
- US mortgage fraud reports up 26%
- Lenders may adjust loan
- FHA mortgage defaults soaring
- Mortgage rates fall; borrowers wait
- Homeowners anxious for details
- pdf Housing fact sheet
- Many in Mass. may get mortgage help
- Court mortgage reviews OK'd
- Jumbo mortgage rates hinder refis
Foreclosure news
- March foreclosure deeds down
- Bayside Expo Center facing foreclosure
- Feb. foreclosures dropped 4%
- Foreclosure relief for renters
- Homeowner foreclosure-prevention program help
- Hancock Tower owner reworks Ill. debt
- Funds for foreclosed home buyers
- Hancock tower faces foreclosure
- 12,430 homes foreclosed on in '08
- State foreclosure database unveiled
- Foreclosures bring rising tide of homelessness
- Opportunity in foreclosures
- Aid for homeowners emphasized
- Fannie shields renters
- Pets, too, lose homes to foreclosure
- Foreclosures rise north of Boston
- Dorchester residents hear strategies to stave off foreclosure
Home prices
- Today's realty reality
- Double-digit drops in Mass. home sales, prices
- Home prices post 18.6% annual drop
- Report: US housing market is slightly undervalued
- US home price drops set records in Jan.
- Mass. home prices fall
- Existing home sales unexpectedly rise
- Detroit sees rock-bottom prices
- Gloucester, Georgetown lead plunge in house prices
- Home prices fall 20%
- Northeast home sales drop 22%
- US prices fall 12%
- Sellers find sweetener needed
- It's all a matter of ZIP code
- Data Sortable stats by town
- Graphic Biggest losers, gainers
- Number of sales falls 18.4%
- Mass. house sale prices fall 15.6%
- S&P: Boston prices edge up monthly
- Bay State home prices still sliding
- Boston house prices show some spring
- Home prices apt to fall much more
- Local home prices slide in March
Home sales
- Pending home resales up again
- Home buyer fairs are set for early May
- New Englanders drive up home sales in Fort Myers, Fla.
- Incentives for buyers worried about jobs
- Hancock sold for $660m
- Sales of second homes fall 22%
- Some see thaw as listings rise
- Stimulus offers tax breaks
- Home sales fall 20% in region
- Consumers not ready to buy
- MAR report shows US sales fall in July
- Home sales decrease 2% in March
Condo market news
- Boston's luxury condo market reflects economy
- Developer offering office condos at a steep discount
- Graphic Boston's condo crunch
- Pace of city condo sales cools down
- Midrange squeeze in Back Bay
- Downtown condo sales slide 15%
- Condo sales in Boston drop off
- Downtown condos to be auctioned
- Revere Beach condos on auction block
Looking for better info about towns around here
Yesterday, the Boston Globe brought up an off-beat use of the internet for home-town searching. Find out who is trash-talking the town on line. That...
Real Estate chats
- Sept. 12, 2008Buying chat transcriptBuyer's agent and real estate blogger Rona Fischman talked about buying in the current market.
- Sept. 11, 2008Mortgage chat transcriptHolden Lewis, senior mortgage reporter for Bankrate.com, talked about the mortgage market in the aftermath of the Fannie-Freddie takeover.
- Sept. 10, 2008Fixer-upper chat transcriptEd Zotti, editor of 'The Straight Dope' and author of 'The Barn House', talked about fixer-uppers.
- Sept. 9, 2008Home inspection chat transcriptHome inspection education provider Jim Mushinsky took your inspection questions.
- Sept. 8, 2008Fannie-Freddie takeover chat transcriptGlobe real estate reporter Kimberly Blanton took your questions on the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- June 6, 2008Suzanne Whang chat transcriptThe host of HGTV's 'House Hunters' took your questions on happy home-buying.
- April 15, 2008Home-selling chat transcriptLinda O'Connor, a Realtor since 1983 and theowner of REALPRO Associates in Beverly, answered your questions on selling in today's market.
- April 14, 2007Mortgage chat transcriptJohn O'Hara, who manages operations in the residential lending market at Sherwood Mortgage Group, chatted about navigating the mortgage maze.
- April 11, 2008Home-buying chat transcriptWilliam Mullen III, general counsel for the Greater Boston Association of Realtors, took questions on the home-buying process.
- Jan. 24, 2008Holden Lewis chat transcriptBankrate.com's Holden Lewis chatted about the current mortgage market, and whether now is a good time to refinance.
- March 17, 2008Buying on the Cape chat transcriptEdward McKenna and Maria Lamb, agents with Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod-Berard Associates in Barnstable, chatted about finding the best deals on Cape Cod.
- Sept. 19, 2007Real estate chat transcriptKimberly Blanton, residential real estate reporter for The Boston Globe, took questions on the Massachusetts real estate market.
- Sept. 17. 2007Mortgage chat transcriptPeter Milewski, director of mortgage insurance for MassHousing, was took your mortgage questions.