Separate, barely, and not equal

Ann and Jim MacDonald put their house in Foxborough on the market in May 2006 for $450,000. After switching agents and lowering the price to around $400,000, they eventually sold the three-bedroom home for $389,000 last month -- about 310 days after first listing the property.

"My husband and I had a running joke," Ann MacDonald said, "Our house was always the bridesmaid, but not the bride. It was always the second choice for the buyer."

In nearby Franklin, Tim Maio and his wife also ginned up interest in their four-bedroom Colonial by cutting the price, from an original listing range of $475,000 to $500,000, to $474,900. The house just sold for $460,000.

The Maios' total time on market? About a month.

"We thought it would be 45 to 90 days," said Maio. "We knew it was a soft market and interest rates were going up. It was a pleasant surprise to us."

The real estate slump is not hitting all Massachusetts communities -- and home sellers -- equally, as the experience of these two houses less than 20 miles apart shows. And even among a clutch of neighboring communities, the time it takes to sell a home can vary greatly.

In Franklin, for example, single-family homes took on average 102 days to sell this spring, according to the Multiple Listings Service Property Information Network Inc., which provided data on home sales between March 1 and June 30. In Foxborough, the average was 156 days. And in two other neighboring communities, Medway and Norfolk, the average days- on-market for single-family homes were 164 days and 158 days, respectively.

Even homes in the same price range took longer to sell in one town than in another. In Medway, homes priced in the low $400,000 range were on the market an average of 206 days, while in Foxborough houses in that price range sold on average in 75 days, and 70 days in Franklin.

The same held true for Arlington, Belmont, and Lexington in suburban Boston. In Arlington, single-family homes took an average of 86 days to sell, according to MLS, but 112 days in both Belmont and in Lexington.

The average time on market of all single-family homes in the greater Boston area, according to MLS, is 127 days.

Real estate agents and market watchers said many factors influence this trend, including a community's aesthetics, tax rate, schools, and the services it offers, such as commuter connections to Boston and shopping centers. But in a market that remains tilted toward the buyer, it doesn't hurt for a seller to be in a place where homes are known to move fast -- and to have one for sale at the right price.

Franklin is a good example. Andrew Bissanti Jr., co-owner of Bissanti Realty in Franklin, said the local market has been bustling for homes listed between $300,000 and $590,000. He attributed the activity to condominium buyers who have seen their properties gain in value over the last few years and are looking to take the next step.

"That gives them a little bit of a profit margin to go house shopping in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range," he said.

And in Norfolk, more homes are selling this year compared to 2006, but the price on average is $100,000 less, said Ellen Rao , a broker-owner of Prudential Page Realty in Medfield.

Meanwhile, high-end homes are slow to sell no matter where. Homes in the $400,000 range throughout greater Boston, for example, take about 110 days or so to sell, while houses priced in the $1 million to $1.5 million take 148 days, according to MLS. In Foxborough, for example, only two homes listed at $1 million or more sold from March to the end of June, and no homes in that price range sold in Franklin, Medway, or Norfolk, according to the MLS.

Greg Spier , a builder who owns his company, Maystar Realty Corp. , said he hadn't sold a high-end home for a year before a buyer last month paid $1.3 million for a 4,800-square-foot house on the outskirts of Foxborough. Now, Spier said, he has commitments to build three more expensive residences.

"We've gone from two months ago with nothing to being busy to 2008," Spier said. "I don't know what it is, whether I'm just lucky or building a good home."

Real estate agents said buyers are more discerning and more patient in their house searches. Rao said her customers typically look at 30 to 35 properties before making a choice.

That level of scrutiny helps explain the longer time homes in many communities now spend on the market compared to last year.

Also, brokers said sellers often continue to list their homes at too high a price and get interest only when they reduce the price.

"If anything is flawed at all, by location or condition, or if you don't price it right, it seems the market is ignoring it," said Gil Campos , a realtor who heads a team of agents at the RE/MAX office in Foxborough.

Campos added that buyers are attuned to a home's sales history. "People see that homes have been on the market for a while, that the sales price has been dropped, and they make lower offers," he said.

Carolyn Chodat , an owner and broker with Classic Properties Realtors in Medway, said buyers are looking at clusters of communities rather than zeroing in on one town, which makes it even more important for sellers to resist being greedy.

"The proof in the pudding is that those who have come down in price . . . are those [whose] homes sell most quickly. Those that don't come down are languishing," she said.