I don’t usually admit it, but I’m old enough to remember living in a world before Al Gore invented the internet – GASP! WHAT? NO INTERNET!? It’s true, and though I certainly wouldn’t go back to those days, there are definitely parts that I miss and lately it’s been seeming like I’m not alone.

The obvious beauty of the www is the constant access to an unlimited global connection of information, video, pictures, businesses, opinions, people, culture, you name it. I do love to take a spin around the Eiffel Tower on Google Earth every once in awhile but I’ve always felt that one of the problems with this way of life is a disconnect from our actual surroundings and the people and places that make our day to day lives. If we’ve always got our heads in the “cloud”, do we miss what’s right in front of us?

Take my Grandfather, for example, he owned and operated a TV repair shop in Brookline most of his life and I don’t think there was a person from Cleveland Circle to Coolidge Corner who brought their TV anywhere else. He hit the same coffee shop every morning to chat with the owner and grab a cup, the streetcar drivers greeted him by name, and on and on and so was his life. Of course, that was before Walmart and Best Buy and not for nothing, do people even repair televisions anymore? But I digress. I value that local connection and we’re always looking for new ways to bring the hyperlocal we know and love out to the masses.

Enter…

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While compiling data for the July Market Reports for the towns Northwest of Boston that Clayton Realty Group specializes in, we noticed a couple of things. There was a marked decrease in the number of single family homes and condos sold between June and July 2010. At the same time, prices increased ever so slightly. This got us to wondering, how did this compare to Massachusetts real estate as a whole? So we took a closer look…

Home Sales

Our Northwest towns

• July saw a total of 197 single-family homes sold compared to 285 in June, a decrease of 30.9%.
• Condo sales for the same period went from 106 to 43, for a whopping 59.4% drop.
• A comparison between July 2009 and July 2010 saw single-family home sales stay pretty steady declining only 7.1% from 212 to 197.
• Condo sales for this period were down a huge 62.3% from 114 to 43.

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We are honored beyond belief to introduce our new affiliation with Massachusetts real estate Attorneys Richard Vetstein and Marc Canner, founding partners of TitleHub Closing Services LLC.  Some of you may know them already from their nationally recognized Massachusetts Real Estate Law Blog or either one of their established and highly successful private law practices. All that fancy lawyer stuff aside, I know them as forward thinking pioneers whose innovative creativity and business savvy makes me kind of verklempt.

In a world increasingly driven by phones that are smart, thoughts that go tweet and things we don’t like until we click a little blue button, it has always boggled my mind how out of date and out of touch the real estate industry is. I love finding the few and far between that keep progressing and pushing towards the next level and these guys are the real deal. « keep reading »

In order to stay on top of the Massachusetts real estate market we are happy to provide monthly market statistics for homes sold in the Northwest Boston towns we feature. The July 2010 housing statistics for Acton break down as follows:

Acton MA Single Family Home Sales – July 2010

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In order to stay on top of the Massachusetts real estate market we are happy to provide monthly market statistics for homes sold in the Northwest Boston towns we feature. The July 2010 housing statistics for Arlington break down as follows:

Arlington MA Single Family Home Sales – July 2010

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