Gazette: “Assessed property values flatten out in Valley”

Today’s Gazette reports on the state of the regional housing market:

After years of double-digit increases, the assessed values of properties remained flat in several Hampshire County communities this year.

Industry experts say it’s a sign the local housing market has cooled…

‘The market is generally slow,’ said David Burgess, principal assessor in Amherst. ‘There’s very little construction at the moment, and people are not paying as much as they were before. It’s cyclical. There’s an awful lot of property on the market.’

…In Hampshire County, sales dropped 8.1 percent in the first 10 months this year over the same period last year, according to the Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley…

‘I’m seeing a lot of people reduce their prices,’ said Rotti [Linda Rotti, sales manager for Jones Town and Country in Amherst and past president of Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley]. ‘We’re telling our sellers they have to be very realistic about how they price their homes.’

See also:

Gazette: Over-55 Condo Project in Amherst Stalled for Lack of Demand, 11/17/07
“…right now is a difficult time to be selling condos, particularly before they’ve been built,” said Cohen…

[Says Steve Freedman, an Amherst Realtor,] “This is not a good time to be doing anything as a builder. You have to be very careful. We don’t know how long this is going on, and there are very few signs that things are getting better.”

The Republican: “Home sales decline in region”, 10/24/07

Boston Herald: “Bay state home sales in dramatic sept. slide”, 10/23/07
The Bay State housing market is choking like the Cleveland Indians…

The number of condos changing hands fell 19.6 percent, while median condo prices dropped 3 percent to $260,000 – the lowest level seen since March 2005…