RE/MAX issues New England real estate outlook

Don't look for local home prices to rise any time soon.

According to a new report from RE/MAX of New England, "home foreclosures will continue to significantly impact the New England real estate market in 2009, creating opportunities for first-time buyers and real estate investors, but keeping home prices at or near 2008 levels."

Average sales prices in Massachusetts dropped by 9 percent, from $398,724 in 2007 to $363,102 in 2008, said a report titled "The 2009 New England Housing Market Outlook."

But low mortgage rates and lower home prices could usher in some hopeful signs by the second half of 2009, the report added.

One bright spot for the Bay State: Massachusetts fared better in the housing slump during 2008 than the five other New England states, the report said.

On a volume basis, Massachusetts home sales dropped by 13 percent, from 64,395 in 2007 to 56,001 in 2008, said the report, which added that the next closest state in terms of home sales was Rhode Island, where sales fell some 15 percent in 2008 when compared with 2007.

In Massachusetts, communities like "Arlington, Woburn, Medford, Wakefield, Reading, Abington, Waltham, and Kingston have shown strength in the downturn, due to their proximity to Boston or their location on commuter rail corridors," the report said.

RE/MAX of New England is a regional network of independently owned and operated real estate firms and an affiliate of RE/MAX International.

To read the RE/MAX press release, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. File photo: AP.)