You know the story - Chicken Little believes the world is coming to an end - and hysterically passes on her (his?) belief to her neighbors that "the sky is falling - the sky is falling and Disaster is Imminent "- Until (in one of the many versions of this fable) a lion halts them, and investigates the cause of the panic and manages to restore calm by applying investigation and reasoning to Chicken Little's claims.



We're about to live out this metaphor. Chicken Little is the Media who is about to have copious "data" at their fingertips that may look like it supports that the Sky is Falling - yet again - in Real Estate. Once 2010 October and November Sales close and the data is available for a comparison with 2009, we are about to be bombarded by statistics that will darken the skies with doom and gloom.



Realtors know that Sales were uncharacteristically high in Oct and November of 2009 as buyers managed to squeeze into what they thought was the last opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit. Did we actually see more sales in 2009 over 2010 year over year? That's the question to ask. Since most realtors would bet that an Oct 2009 to Oct 2010 comparison would show 2009 in the lead, we also know that many of those sales would have happened over a period of months but were forced in a shorter window (Oct/Nov ) because of the tax credt. So comparing Oct 2009 to Oct 2010 simply doesn't tell the entire story.



Realtors - There is a call to action here. Take a look today at how your area is doing year over year. I just came out of a meeting in my office where we did just that. In 5 of our primary towns, we're already exceeding the sales that happened in 2009 just with 2010 YTD figures. That is more telling than just comparing a month in 2009 to a month in 2010.



Be the LION - Be Ready - Prepare your data - because Chicken Little is about to claim the Sky is Falling Yet again. You may want to talk to your buyers and explain how it's critical to look at local data and a larger window than a month to month comparison. Be ready with reasoning and data to allay any fears your buyers may have about the market yet again about to fall. It is not. This is a very very slow recovery, but if you look at the local detail data, you do see recovery. Share that information with your buyers. They're not likely to hear it from the media.

Medway has had a few challenging years in Education. The new High School is a beautiful facility but it took a few years to settle some of the apparent flaws in the construction. With the economic downturn that was national, our own town's financial trials in 2006 seemed to double the impact. We all remember when the Library lost accredidation because of our lack of funds, but that has been resolved. And I'm hear to observe in 2010, all is right with Medway and its financial stability.

All is right because, I believe, we continue to exercise fiscal constraint. In some cases that fiscal constraint can be difficult for a school system to manage when seeking to give an exemplarary education to its students. So any volunteer assistance Medway can get, Medway uses.

Enter the Medway Foundation for Education!

The MFE is a non profit organization in town that works diligently each year to raise capital to fund innovative, educational projects throughout the Medway Schools. They do things like a Trivia Bee - a Lego Build a Thon to raise funds and next week is their annual PHONE-A-THON looking for individual donations to their amazing organization. Please take their call next week and give whatever you can give, whether you have kids in school or not. Our school system and all its successes (We were on Newsweeks List of Great Schools this year!) adds to the value of our homes and town as a whole.

Last year this one event raised almost $13,000 for the schools. In the past the MFE has sponsored many successful programs within our schools like the Teacher Sponsored Learning Projects, or the Summer Writing Camp. They've donated monies to utilizing Technology to enhance Education.

Yes, we are a fiscally conservative town and Yes we are in a good financial position and YES our residents support Education in this town and do everything they can do to assist the schools and their students to be successful -

PICK UP THAT PHONE WHEN IT RINGS NEXT WEEK - and donate what you can and KNOW that it's going directly to the students of our town to ensure their success in education!

Market Trends in Medway, MA Misleading?

We are all busy but we all crave information and data is everywhere. I was out with a set of clients (Yes I say "set" because it was actually 3 groups of clients - all friends considering moving to a new development together) when the subject of a recently foreclosed home came up. Information was flowing quickly about when it sold and how much it sold for. I did not offer any information because I wasn't exactly sure. But before we left I heard numbers ranging from 350's to 400's. That was an easy misconception to clear up. When I got back to my office I simply pulled up the listing and sent it to everyone. The home close in the low 400's.

As I said, data is everywhere. Sometimes we get "data" from friends, sometimes we get it on the net. Here's an interesting graph taken from Trulia today documenting at what price point homes are listed in Medway, Ma. What would your initial reaction be seeing this graph?

Medway Homes For Sale

In actuality it's only tracking the mix of listings that happen to be on the market at a particular point in time. I have a home for sale in Medway at $189,900 and I know a home recently went under agreement at $1.2Mil. So we'd all agree listing prices vary considerably. Tracking this information and portraying it in this format MAY cause buyers and sellers alike to determine that the future (based on the recent past) is dire. Not true. Take a look at the MLS stats I've posted on recent blogs. We are NOT in a downward spiral as this graph seems to portray.
So be careful where you get your data and be sure you understood what's being portrayed. If you want specific data on the Medway Market just go to my site or just give me a call. I'd be glad to discuss with you what's really happening in Medway!