BEVERLY — The latest 10 percent dip in home prices statewide — the second-steepest drop since the Warren Group started tracking prices in 1987 — seems like old times to some experts.
"The Bay State's housing market is looking a lot like it did at the end of 1990 when December prices fell 11 percent compared to the same month the year before," said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of the Warren Group Inc., in a press release. Back then, the housing crisis was fueled by banking failures, Warren said, while this slump has to do with the spate of foreclosures amid the subprime mortgage market meltdown.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors also said yesterday that sales of single-family houses fell 32.3 percent in March from the same month one year ago.
Stephen Archer, a broker/owner of Keller Williams Realty in Beverly, said North Shore home sales have remained "fairly consistent over the years," unlike towns closer to Boston, where prices are much steeper.
Still, Archer said, even up here, "It's a buyer's market."
Single-family home sales slide
Here's how housing fared on the North Shore in March compared with the same month one year ago. Some figures were not available (NA).
Place Sale price 3/07 Sale price 3/08 % change Sales 3/07 Sales 3/08 % change
Beverly $380,000 $380,000 0 68 45 -33
Boxford $487,000 $550,000 +12.9 17 9 -47
Danvers $399,000 $395,000 -1 30 29 -3.3
Hamilton NA $537,500 NA NA 13 11 -15.4
Ipswich $519,000 $430,000 -17.1 18 15 -16.6
Manchester $788,500 $548,500 -30.4 8 8 0
Marblehead $599,625 $482,500 -19.5 40 31 -22.5
Middleton $681,400 $442,000 -35.1 10 9 -10
Peabody $334,000 $332,000 -0.5 55 54 -1.8
Salem $314,000 $290,000 -7.6 40 23 -42.5
Swampscott $380,000 $307,000 -19.2 25 12 -52
Topsfield $568,000 NA NA 9 4 56
Wenham $475,000 NA NA 11 6 45
Essex County $375,000 $330,000 -12 436 287 -34.17
Source: The Warren Group
