The doom and gloom detailed yesterday in a report on home sales in Massachusetts isn't reflected in the overall performance of the North Shore's real estate market.
Single-family home sales statewide dropped by 15.4 percent in November compared to last year, according to The Warren Group, an organization that keeps tabs on New England's real estate market. It's the third month in a row sales fell by a double-digit percentage. The median price of a home in Massachusetts also dropped by 5.8 percent.
On the North Shore, home sales fell by 7.6 percent this November compared to last. But through the first 11 months of 2007, the number of homes sold throughout the region slightly increased. In 2006, a combined 1,829 homes sold in 13 local communities. This year, 1,841 homes have been sold through November.
"Houses are still moving," said Kim Sandler, president of the North Shore Association of Realtors. "We're encouraged by the volume."
More homes are selling on the North Shore than they are statewide. Sales are down by 7.6 percent in the state through November.
But prices have dropped across the region. The median price of the 13 homes sold in Salem this November was $239,600, compared to $332,500 for the 12 homes sold in 2006. The median price of the 36 homes sold in Peabody this November was $344,375, down from $368,500 for the 24 homes sold last year.
Lower prices, however, are not universal throughout the North Shore. Prices have increased in some spots.
It's proof that statistics that use a "broad brush" to characterize the health of the market can be misleading, said Katharine Pickering, vice president and manager of Coldwell Banker's Beverly branch.
"There are certain towns that are doing better this year than last," she said. "You have to sit down and parse it out."
In Ipswich, the median price of the homes sold in November was $567,500, a leap up from the $418,150 price tag of last year. Four more homes have been sold in Danvers through 11 months this year - 188 - and at a higher median price, $380,500, compared to $376,500 in 2006.
Pickering said her branch has the same number of properties under agreement, from Oct. 1 to mid-December, this year as it did last year.
"I was flabbergasted," she said of the data. Pickering had expected to see a decline based on all the gloomy media reports on the housing market.
The region's condominium market hasn't fared quite as well. Sales were down by 14.9 percent this November compared to last. For the year so far, 979 condos have been sold on the North Shore, while 1,104 were sold during the same stretch last year.
The outlook is not rosy for the state as a whole.
"Massachusetts' housing market remained in the doldrums during November, and it's not likely that December will bring much holiday cheer to home sellers," Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a press release. "The last three months have dragged down the year-to-date sales, and if December's market is as lackluster as November's, sales in 2007 could be nearly 10 percent below 2006's."
Sellers have to understand that the market has changed since it reached its peak a few years ago, Sandler said. "People have to be realistic in their pricing, that's the key," she said.
A property has to be positioned well, which means it has to be properly priced and benefit from broad exposure on the Internet, Pickering said. That's the way to create excitement and motivate buyers, she said.
With prices down and interest rates low, buyers are sitting pretty, Sandler said.
"It's a fabulous time to be a buyer," she said.
