June 2013 – Page 2

Fun post by Scott from Boston.com Real Estate

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis

Ever wonder where your neighbors are headed on vacation? If you live in Greater Boston, it’s a good bet they aren’t headed very far.

Trulia today is releasing its list of the top vacation home destinations for each major metro market, as well as nationally, based on a tally of searches on the real estate portal.

Of the top ten most popular vacation home destinations for buyers from Greater Boston, nine are on Cape Cod.

In fact, the only break from the pattern is Wells, Maine. Sorry New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island, you are out of luck.

Let’s not get big heads here, though. Sure, we love the Cape, though I’d argue traffic and overdevelopment is close to wrecking the place. Just get off Route 6 in Hyannis and take a scenic drive down Route 28.

But the rest of America is not so enamored with our favorite vacation playground.

Only one Massachusetts zip code managed to make it onto Trulia’s list of the top 20 vacation home destinations across the country.

And that happens to be Nantucket, which ranks at a distant No. 20 in popularity.

The most popular vacation home destination in America, at least according to Trulia, is not Chatham or Provincetown, but rather Cape May in New Jersey, and specifically, Oceanwood, where the median price is $525,000.

Here’s Trulia list:

Where Bostonians Search for Vacation Homes

# ZIP Code Town    State         Median Asking Price
1 02649 Mashpee MA             $419,900
2 02639 Dennisport MA            $224,900
3 02540 Falmouth MA              $549,950
4 02554 Nantucket MA             $1,799,999
5 02536 Teaticket   MA $379,000
6 02633 South Chatham MA     $815,000
7 02657 Provincetown MA         $596,500
8 02631 Brewster MA               $439,000
9 02642 Eastham MA               $445,750
10 04090 Wells ME                  $256,670

Home values rise in the Boston area

Region’s prices less than 15% below peak; national numbers also show increase

Home values in the Boston area increased by 6.7 percent in March compared with the same time last year, according to data released Tuesday by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, another indicator of a rejuvenated housing market.

Nationwide, home prices increased 10.9 percent compared with March 2012, according to Case-Shiller, and values increased in all 20 metro areas measured by the firm. Because Case-Shiller measures repeat homes sales, it is considered one of the best markers of the nation’s housing health.

“Other housing market data reported in recent weeks confirm these strong trends: Housing starts and permits, sales of new homes and existing homes continue to trend higher,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The increase in the Boston area was less dramatic than in other regions that were harder hit by the housing downfall. Between 2005 and 2009, home prices in the Boston region dropped about 20 percent, but the market has generally been more stable than the nation as a whole. Since 2009, area home values have fluctuated and now are less than 15 percent below their September 2005 peak.

Barry Bluestone, director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, expects steady but moderate price increases for single-family homes in the Boston area over the next few years, as more people put their homes on the market. Bluestone said he expects prices for multifamily homes and condominiums to rise even faster. “Older baby boomers are going to look to downsize and younger professionals will be less interested in moving into the suburbs and having to put up with long, tedious commutes,” he said.

Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter@jbmckim.

Home values rise in the Boston area

Region’s prices less than 15% below peak; national numbers also show increase

By Jenifer B. McKimGLOBE STAFF