Westborough, MA Housing Market Statistics Overview

 

This is the most interesting report in a while - but it's not good for sellers (Hint: that means it's good for buyers). Westborough has been a "hot town" in Metrowest for years - but it has cooled off. With an HSI of just 75, sellers in Westborough are probably asking "what happened?" Markets ebb and flow, so the "cool down" isn't anywhere near as interesting to me as the next stat: $/sq foot, which dropped a jaw dropping $15 in just a couple of months. That's a very unusual move, and had me thinking about a conversation I was having with one of my buyers. They really like Westborough, but have crossed it off their list - due to the tax rate. Yes, the tax rate in Westborough has jumped a lot in the past couple of years, probably due to the the same commercial property tax issues that are plaguing Framingham residents, and residents have noticed. With commercial values down, residential rates go up - a real negative when the economy softens.

 

Obviously, I'm inferring a chain of events, but here's the logic:

A) Tax rates get posted and updated on new listings around Jan timeframe, and start to outpace their peers.

B) The more expensive homes start to carry bigger tax numbers, and sales slow, as this cost gets rolled into prices

C) With younger, more expensive homes seeing sales slow, $/sq foot drops as the ratio of expensive/inexpensive homes shifts quickly.

 

Interesting theory. Does it have merit? I took a quick look at the number of homes that sold in the last six months younger than 1990. There were 9. The preceding 6 months? 32. A small sample set, but interesting.

 

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I don't think Westborough has much to worry about though. It's not like the commercial tax based evaporated, it's just under performing.  An improving economy should improve the commercial tax revenues and the town will likely revert to the tax friendly community it has been for much of the last 20 years (relative to neighboring communities). In the meantime, this could be a great time for buyers to grab relative bargains. Yes, the taxes are an issue in the medium-term, but by the time they improve, I would expect prices to bounce back.

 

Note also that the foreclosures and short-sales have all but disappeared from the market. We've dropped from 11 to just 2 bank impacted properties in just two reports. A positive sign going forward for sure.

 

Westborough Housing Market Statistics - Raw MLS Data

 

  • There are 67 homes listed (vs. 54 in the last Westborough Home Sales Report) as For Sale.
  • There have been 67 houses sold (vs. 88) in the last 6 months, and 35 homes sold (vs. 35 in the last 3 months.
  • There was an Average Market Time of 142 days (vs. 91) for just SOLD homes.
  • There is an Average Market Time of 175 days (vs. 231) of the homes For Sale.
  • The Dollars paid per Square Foot in Westborough, MA is $170 (vs. $185) )
  • There was an Average Sold Price of $362,693 for sold homes.
  • Westborough, MA has 1 properties (vs 1) advertised as lender owned/foreclosure (typically foreclosure) .
  • Westborough has 1 properties (vs. 5) advertised as short sales required by lender .
  • Westborough “Hot Seller Index” (HSI): 75 Last Report: 95

 

 

*All statistics are for Single Family Houses and based on data in MLS.

 

 

This author thinks higher Tax Rates

are putting a damper on Westborough Home Sales

Read my Explanation for Massachusetts Home Data Reports.

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About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

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*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.