North End condo sales price and average price per sq ft on the rise!
North End condo sales 1/1/09 – 3/28/09
Number of sales – 10
Avg. sales price – $484,000
Median sales price – $377,500
Price per sq ft. – $543.00
North End condo sales 1/1/08 – 3/28/08
Number of sales – 21
Avg. sales price – $374,448.00
Median sales price – $317,500.00
Price [...]

The market had a strong (ish) week while existing home sales news brought a glimmer of hope for housing. Here’s what else was going on in real estate:
Candy Spelling, the widow of television producer Aaron Spelling, lists her Los Angeles mansion for $150 million, apparently making it the most expensive home for sale in the [...]

Jay Fitzgerald’s article from today’s Boston Herald:
A University of Massachusetts report out yesterday warned that the state’s jobless rate could hit 9.1 percent in a few months – and possibly head into double-digit territory soon afterward – at the current rate of economic decline.
Breaching the 9.1 percent mark would push the state’s jobless rate higher [...]

The subject won’t be the drama inside the central bank or its role in the current financial crisis. Rather, Fed officials plan to launch advertisements in movie theaters to warn homeowners about foreclosure scams.
Read the full story: Wall Street Journal

A group of financial wizards looked into their crystal ball Tuesday and saw some good news.
The recession will ease by the end of this year and companies will begin adding workers, signaling the end of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Read more

The following is from Universalhub.com
The state Attorney General’s office has gotten a temporary restraining order against a New York firm that allegedly used ads in the Metro to drum up business among homeowners facing foreclosure by promising legal services it couldn’t deliver. Among other things, the company demanded $1,500 up front from prospective clients, which [...]

In the last 3 months 478 Boston condos sold according to MLS. So, who’s buying what?
Below is a price break-down of Boston condo sales.
Number of Boston condos sold from $99,999.00 or Less
86
Number of Boston condos sold from $100,000.00 to $199,999.00
72
Number of Boston condos sold from $200,000.00 to $299,999.00
85
Number of Boston condos sold from $300,000.00 to [...]

The sale of real estate-owned property, or REOs, is definitely a drag on MA home sale prices. The Warren Group found that if the bank-owned property sales were taken out to the equation, the median price for homes sold in January and February would have been $272,000 instead of $251,000.
In fact the median price [...]

From the Wall Street Journal:
Sales of new homes rose in February for the first time in seven months, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, another sign that the housing market is thawing.
Read the full story.

Some big banks have cut back on doing business with mortgage brokers -and if the trend continues, many mortgage brokers could close down.
JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) announced in January that it would end its so-called wholesale operations. It will no longer fund loans arranged through brokers, instead it will make loans mostly through [...]