First, he was thought to be looking at a Boston downtown luxury condo. Now Shaq is reportedly eying Sudbury as his permanent home while playing with the Celts over the next two years. Excerpts from the Herald:
Word on the luxe real estate front is that the newest Boston Celtic – and possibly the newly engaged [...]

The sales of Massachusetts single-family homes fell 26 percent in July, reversing a trend of 12 straight months of increases, the Warren Group reported this morning.

Home values in Massachusetts defied a nationwide trend, increasing 3.4 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, a new report found.
In the Boston area, the average home value of properties listed on Zillow is $331,568, up 3.2 percent from the first quarter. In the Cape Code area, home values fell 2.8 percent year-over-year to $318,026.

Expect an already slow economic recovery to slow down even more, the president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank seems to be saying in both the Globe and Herald. Some tidbits from the Fed’s Eric Rosegren:
– The government needs to keep stimulating the economy, which is still quite weak, Rosengren suggests.
– There’s a worry that [...]

The national media has discovered that foreclosures can happen even on Nantucket. But the article, to its credit, digs deeper and discovers it’s not the Wall Street boys who are suffering.
The article also mentions local Nantucket real-estate blogger Brian Sullivan, who today summarized what’s happening on the island:
Basically there are 2 real estate markets on [...]

Newton, MA is the second best place to live in the U.S. if you are rich and single — or presumably, looking for someone who is.
CNNMoney’s Best Places to Live says 31.3% of the population is single in Newton, where the median family income, as they happen to measure it, is $138,070. That’s the second [...]

Scott thinks it could be a long and lonely summer for home sellers.
Oh well. That just frees up more time to enjoy the beach. … Okay, maybe not.
File under: Chumming for buyers

Jason Varitek has had a surprisingly good season on and now off the field this year. No word on what he’s getting for the Newton mansion.
Next up: Josh Beckett, who’s trying to unload his Ritz condo for a $1 million profit. He’s definitely swinging for the fences. He should stick to pitching.

Affordable housing must be hitting a crisis point on Martha’s Vineyard.
The town of West Tisbury on the Vineyard is exploring a novel idea that would allow your home to be converted into affordable housing after you die in exchange for tax breaks while you’re living.
Residents struggling to pay ever higher property taxes just might like [...]

The taxmen on the Cape have reduced the value of the main house in the famous Kennedy Compound by 16 percent to $11.5 million, reflecting the housing market decline since the last assessment.
Not that the Kennedys are planning to sell any time soon.