Lowell Deeds

The Mass Association of Realtors released some statistics for February home sales yesterday, prompting a story in today’s Globe. “Real Estate market in state may be stabilizing” reports that home sales in February 2006 were only 1.7% lower than those in February 2005. This came as a great relief to those in the real estate field because the January 2006 sales were 21% lower than sales in January 2005 and a continuation of that level of decline would have been clear evidence of a collapse. On an optomistic note, the story states that “the market may be stabilizing as the busy spring real estate market begins.” Others, however, caution that an unseasonably warm January this year had much to do with the level of sales consumated in February and that the market is still unstable. People “are divided” over where prices are headed but agree that “years of strong appreciation are over.” I guess it’s a question of whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full. If you believe the market is in decline, then there are facts to support that, but if you feel it is just a slight correction with a strong market persisting, you can find facts to support that, too.