Orange Real Estate

News from Four Columns Realty

Time to get blogging again. Much has happened.

You may be interested to know that Four Columns Realty ranked #1 in Orange for the first half of 2009, just as we did in calendar year 2008.

Thanks to our loyal friends and clients, Four Columns Realty sold more Orange MA real estate than any other real estate office, based on information provided to and compiled by the MLS Property Information Network, Inc., covering the period from January 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009.

Here's something else that might interest you. Four Columns Realty has launched a mobile real estate search app.

Our new app lets you to search for property from an iPhone, Blackberry or just about any other smartphone. If you want instant info about a home you're standing in front of, just bring up our app. Install it today!

We're working on new ways to meet your needs. The new Four Columns Realty Twitter feed on our home page gives you our latest updates, plus another way to communicate with us. Follow us on Twitter now.

Finally, we have some interesting market research on how real estate prices in Orange and the North Quabbin Region compare with prices in nearby areas. I'll be blogging about that soon.

Starrett Cuts Work Week

L.S. Starrett Company, which employs many Orange residents, "will reduce its work week for most of the 600 workers at its Athol factory and offices."

 

Ouch! While Starrett deserves credit for keeping everyone on board (although with less hours) instead of socking some of its workers with layoffs, the cutbacks are going to hurt.

Read more at Athol Real Estate.

Paul Riendeau Ranks #1 in Real Estate Sales

Paul Riendeau of Four Columns Realty in Orange ranked #1 in 2008 for real estate sales in the nine-town North Quabbin Region, topping a list of local agents released last week.

Among active real estate agents, Riendeau sold the most North Quabbin Region property and was involved in the most North Quabbin Region transactions during 2008, based on information provided to and compiled by the MLS Property Information Network, Inc., covering the period from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 for the Massachusetts towns of Orange, Athol, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, Wendell, New Salem and Erving.

Read the full announcement...

Mahar Regional Earns Silver Medal Ranking

Mahar Regional High School, which serves the Massachusetts towns of Orange, New Salem, Petersham, and Wendell, has earned Silver Medal status in a national rating of best high schools, according to this report in the December 24th Athol Daily News (subscription required):

Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School has been ranked among 2009's best high schools in America, according to the U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best High Schools" annual rating of more than 21,000 public American high schools.

Mahar was one of 27 high schools in the state to receive the prestigious "Silver Medal" ranking, and the only high school in the Franklin County. Only two Massachusetts high schools received a "Gold Medal" ranking.

The Orange MA Real Estate Blog congratulates the students, teachers and staff of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District for their good work. Keep it Up!

(The announcement from Dr. Reza Namin, Superintendent of the Mahar Regional School District, is available here. The U.S. News & World Report data for the school is available here.)

Why It's a Buyer's Market

(Cross-posted from Athol Real Estate)

As we approach the end of October, there are 340 single-family homes on the market in the North Quabbin Region, which includes Athol, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick and Wendell.

These 340 homes have been on the market for an average of 223 days.

The 340 homes for sale in Athol, Orange and the surrounding towns are close to a 21st century high for this date.

The average of 223 days on the market is a clear 21st century high in our region on this date.

That's the supply side. What about demand?

From January 1, 2008 through October 22, 2008, 173 single-family homes in the North Quabbin Region were sold through the MLS. (This number does not include private real estate sales, such as family transactions or for-sale-by owner homes.)

These 173 homes sold in Athol, Orange and the surrounding towns took an average of 191 days to sell.

On average, these 173 homes took twice as long to sell as the 439 homes sold in Athol, Orange and the same surrounding towns in 2004.

If the current rate of sales continues, 2008 will see less homes sold in the North Quabbin Region than in any other year of the 21st century.

Also, if the current rate of sales continues, buyers would take over a year and a half to go through the current inventory of Athol-Orange area homes for sale... even if not a single new listing were to come on the market.

That's slow demand. And with the economy faltering and lenders tightening up, demand is likely to stay slow.

A high supply of homes for sale + a slow demand for homes = a buyer's market. That's how the law of supply and demand applies to real estate.

We are not alone. The buyer's market in Athol MA real estate and Orange MA real estate resembles the real estate buyer's market across most of the USA.

Today, in Athol, in Orange and everywhere, it's important for home buyers and home sellers to be realistic. With unsold homes in high supply and demand reduced by economic stress, the buyer's market is likely to stay with us for a long while.

Note: Four Columns Realty calculated the North Quabbin Region statistics in this post based on information supplied to and compiled by the MLS Property Information Network, Inc., for the periods of time indicated.

The Roots of the Crisis

How did we get into this jam? The Roots of the Crisis offers an answer:

...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were going through a crisis. In 2003 and 2004, an accounting scandal was revealed. The two public-private partnerships were cooking the books to show phantom profits. The Bush administration and its allies on the Hill pushed a strong bill to reform how these institutions operated. The measure came very close to passing, but Fannie and Freddie cut a deal. They would refocus on expanding mortgages for low-income borrowers if the feds kept out of their operations. The bargain worked. Virtually all the Democrats and a few Republicans backed the two companies and the reform effort failed.

Fannie and Freddie then went on a subprime bender. They made it clear that they wanted to buy all the subprime or Alt-A mortgages that they could find, eventually acquiring around $1 trillion of the paper. The market responded. In 2003 subprime mortgages made up less than 8 percent of all mortgages. By 2006, they were over 20 percent....

Unfortunately, after several years of a housing boom, the available pool of households who could responsibly use the more exotic financing products had dried up. In short, there were no more people who traditionally qualified for even a subprime mortgage. However, Fannie and Freddie were still signaling that they wanted to buy these products. At the same time, activist groups were agitating for more lending to low-income families. Banks realized they could make even more exotic loan products (e.g., interest-only loans), get the activists off their backs, and immediately diffuse their risk by selling the mortgages into MBSes. After all, Fannie and Freddie would buy anything.

In short, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "cooking the books". When they got caught, their friends in government allowed them to keep on cooking the books so long as they doubled down with more mortgages for people less likely to repay them.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at governmental urging, "went on a subprime bender". Because "Fannie and Freddie would buy anything", banks invented more and more "exotic loan products". The scheme eventually unraveled, causing the government to step in and bail out Fannie and Freddie and everyone in bed with them. 

Do you find it unsettling that the same politicians and their banking friends who dug us into this hole are now telling us that, for $7,000,000,000, they'll try to dig us out? They assure us that the bailout will help regular people, too, in regular towns like Athol MA and Orange MA, but do you wonder why "I"m from the government and I'm here to help you" carries such a huge price tag?

If you do, read the Roots of the Crisis.

Mark This Day

A few thoughts on the current crisis.

The Best Free Real Estate Magazine for the North Quabbin Region

As I've said before, Homes & Land is the best free real estate magazine distributed in the North Quabbin Region.

On page 16 of this month's issue, Four Columns Realty presents 10 North Quabbin Region homes. Here they are, with street addresses. Drive by and check these homes out:

• Wooded Getaway... 914 Orange Road, Warwick... $194,900
• Wide open spaces... 377 Spring Street, Athol... $279,000
• Sturdy 2-Family... 75 Mechanic Street, Orange... $189,000
• What a Beauty... 66 Oak Drive, Orange... $277,000
• Spacious Victorian.... 72 Mechanic Street, Orange... $181,500
• Think Vacation... 30 Boyden Road, Orange... $225,000
• Country Sanctuary... 171 North Fitzwilliam Road, Royalston... $479,000
• Extra Building Lot... 37 Dexter Street, Orange... $179,900
• In-Town Gem... (now under contract)
• Peace and Quiet... 220 Pleasant Street, Orange... $169,000

This month's Homes & Land is available at Four Columns Realty (map), Hannaford and other locations around Orange and Athol.

Latest Homes & Land Available in Orange

The latest Homes & Land is out. It's the best free real estate publication distributed in the North Quabbin Region.

You can find the new Homes & Land at Hannaford and other locations around Orange and Athol.

Here are links for more info on the properties that Four Columns Realty features on page 40... with addresses so you can drive by and check them out before you call us:

• Country Living... 1055 Orange Road, Warwick... $219,900
• In-Town Gem... 113 West River Street, Orange... $239,900
• Detailed and Spacious... 164 Beacon Street, Athol... $209,900
• Quiet Wooded Area... 220 Pleasant Street, Orange... $169,000
• Frontage on Two Roads... Rt 2A & Rt 78, Orange... $695,000
• Country Sanctuary... 171 North Fitzwilliam Road, Royalston... $479,000
• Spacious Layout... 377 Spring Street, Athol... $279,000
• Extra Building Lot... 37 Dexter Street, Orange... $179,900
• Renovated Duplex... 542-544 Crescent Street, Athol... $219,900
• Fireplaced Gambrel... (now under contract)

Homes & Land also has an excellent web site, although its real estate search does not filter out listings under contract as promptly as the search on our site does.