Brighton Feels Like 2004

Looking at the Brighton real estate market numbers I feel like I’m time traveling back to 2004.  Not enough inventory!  Instead of anecdotal stories I will give you actual multiple listing service statistics.

In researching the difference in our local Brighton, Brookline and Newton trends versus the National real estate trends, I came across these year-over-year figures for Brighton, and I simply had to share them.

The average time on market for Brighton properties went from 89 days to 45 days comparing March 2011 to March 2012.  Market time has cut in half! Prices are pretty much flat with median home prices going down from $248,000 to $250,000 in the same time frame.  But the number that I find most interesting is the number of active listings on market.  On March 31, 2011 there were 118 homes on market.  On March 31, 2012 there were only 68.  A 42% drop in inventory.

I can go on and on about statistical insignificance of all sorts of numbers the National Association of Realtors provide, and the numbers we real estate agent give to prove a point.  But the drop in Brighton real estate inventory is sufficiently large that it can’t be ignored.

Is everyone sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to happen before they can sell?  It’s happening, folks.  The market is tight; A six week average market time and a lack of inventory sends me back to my early days of real estate, when every new listing was attacked by a mob of first time home buyers.

These days the mobs are smaller, more educated, and less prone to overbidding, but significant changes are underway from the slow, sleepy, depressing market.

Even if you are not buying or selling in Brighton, this information is important to you.  A couple weeks back I wrote about how the Brighton real estate market is a leading indicator of change.  This market is dominated by first time home buyers, who set off a chain of real estate events.

I’m not saying everything is fabulous, only that change is in the air.

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