Home buyers with $500k to spend often must choose between a roomy residence and a convenient commute
What kind of house can $500,000 buy in the suburbs northwest of Boston and in southern New Hampshire?
It depends on where you buy it.
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n Lexington, $479,000 can buy you a two-bedroom, 816-square-foot ranch house on an eighth of an acre. In Acton, $500,000 can buy you a three-bedroom 2,200-square-foot house on 1.8 acres. And in Windham, N.H., $499,900 can buy a four-bedroom Colonial and three-car garage with a combined area of 4,073 square feet on 1.18 acres.
The price variation comes down to convenience -- that quick access to Boston.
For some, a smaller home and lot are reasonable tradeoffs to be close to the city. For others, a larger home and a more expansive yard are worth the added miles and minutes of the commute.
And increasingly it's in the communities farther from Boston where homebuyers are seeking the most bang for the buck.
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''Houses are flying off the market," Pucillo said.
But Lexington remains a popular spot, as evidenced by its high housing prices. Houses in that town, which also boasts a powerhouse school system, can sell for more than $2 million, but there are some that sell for less than $500,000.
''They do exist," said Judy Moore, a broker with Re/Max Premier Properties in Lexington, ''but they tend to be smaller houses on small lots on a main road."
Finding more affordable housing in the area might require shopping in a more urban community such as Lawrence, where $500,000 could buy two homes -- a four-bedroom for $249,000 and a new three-bedroom for $239,900.
The high housing prices in Massachusetts suburbs have some buyers fleeing to southern New Hampshire, where they can get a lot more house for their money, but their growing affection for the region is driving up housing prices there, too.
''The prices have definitely skyrocketed" over the last few years, said Lori Gagnon, an associate broker with Re/Max Action Realty in Pelham, N.H.
The median sale price of $397,500 for a single-family home in the suburbs northwest of Boston was 32 percent higher for the first three months of this year when compared with that same period three years ago, according to a Globe review of Massachusetts sales data compiled by The Warren Group. Statewide, the median sale price climbed by 11.9 percent to $346,800 during that period, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
In southern New Hampshire, the average selling price of $323,831 for a residential unit was 30 percent higher during the first three months of this year when compared with that same period three years ago, according to a Globe review of sales data compiled by the Northern New England Real Estate Network. Statewide, the average selling price increased by 35 percent, to $259,547, during that period.
While housing prices continue to soar, an economic forecast released by the New England Economic Partnership last week predicted a modest slump in housing prices will hit Massachusetts later this year and will continue through 2007, the Globe reported last week.
But for now the market remains hot, keeping realtors and home buyers busy, while also driving up prices.
''I'm just amazed it's still going up," said Paul Yarmo, a broker with Re/Max Excellence in Hudson, N.H.
James Vaznis can be reached at
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© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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