Home prices across the northern suburbs posted sharp declines from January to April, with double-digit percentage drops recorded in several communities compared with the same period last year, according to statistics released last week by The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real estate data.
Cities, particularly urban centers hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis, had the biggest drops in the median price of a single-family home for the first four months of the year. Lynn, the largest city in Essex County, had a 10 percent decline, to $210,000, compared with $265,000 for the period from January to April 2007, the data shows. In Chelsea, which does not have a large inventory of single-family homes, prices fell 33 percent, to $220,000, from $330,000 in 2007. Everett's median price fell 23 percent, to $260,000, from $340,000 a year ago. Haverhill saw prices fall to $270,000 from $320,000 a year ago.
Small towns, where not as many houses hit the market, also posted eye-popping drops. In Boxford, the median price of a single-family home dropped 31 percent, to $594,500, from $857,500 for the first four months of last year. Georgetown's prices dropped 27.5 percent, to $352,500, from $398,500 last year. Merrimac's median price fell 33.8 percent, to $288,3000, from $436,125 last year, the data show.
The steep drops come as the median home price in Massachusetts declined 12 percent for the month of April, to $305,000, compared with $346,750 in April 2007. The decline was the steepest since The Warren Group started recording real estate prices in 1987, worse than the housing slump of the early '90s.
"But the early '90s price declines weren't as dramatic as the drops we're seeing now," Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of The Warren Group, said in a prepared statement. "Let's hope that these lower prices bring buyers back to the market, so this slump will have a shorter duration."
"We teach the body how to move properly," said David Picardy, owner of North Shore CrossFit, which has locations in Topsfield and Beverly. "Our bodies are the machines, not the other way around."
CrossFit, a strength and conditioning philosophy, stresses exercise to make the body move better. A workout of the day, tailored to each person's fitness level, is more likely to include overhead lifts than bench presses. That's because most people lift up bags of groceries and grandchildren from the ground, but not above their head, Picardy noted.
"A lot of gyms look at body-building," said Picardy, 32, a former soccer player at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody. "We're concerned with the science of the body, and how it works."
CrossFit started several years ago in California. The philosophy quickly caught on with professional athletes, police, firefighters, and military personnel. It later expanded with affiliated-training centers opening up across the country, including 12 in Massachusetts.
Picardy, a certified CrossFit coach, opened North Shore CrossFit three years ago in Topsfield. With business booming, Picardy soon had a waiting list. He faced a tough decision: convert to a private club and take no new members, or open a second spot. In March, he expanded to Beverly, opening in an empty 8,000-square-foot warehouse on Park Street. The two locations now have seven coaches, who lead both group and private workout sessions. Clients range from new mothers to senior citizens, firefighters, and martial artists.
"It's not about pushing yourself really hard," said Picardy, a former office furniture salesman. "It's about practicing and getting better."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.
