Nathan J. Fragala's Page

With the housing market in shambles following the sub-prime mortgage crisis, economists and real estate advisors are scrambling through their data to find signs of stabilization. According to a report posted today 08/12 by Reuters, “U.S. mortgage applications fell last week, reflecting a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates soared to their highest levels since June. [However], applications for loans to buy homes, an early indicator of sales, rose slightly.”

Higher mortgag… Continue

Between Jan-June 06/09 the median price for single family homes in Newburyport, MA has averaged $445,000; peaking at $490,000 in 2006 and bottoming out at $400,000 in 2009. While the median price data shows only slight variation over the past four years, the number of single family homes sold in the area has varied significantly.

In 2007, the number of single family homes sold in Newburyport, MA increased +10% from 91 to 100 units. The 2007 unit increase followed a median price decline o… Continue

From the periods between Jan-June 2006 and Jan-June 2007 the median price for single family homes in Shrewsbury, MA increased +9% from $383,250 to $419,000. After the initial 2007 increase, however, median prices declined steadily YOY down (-11%) in 2008 to $372,200 and then again in 2009 down (-12%)to $327,500.

Over the past three years the number of single family homes sold in Shrewsbury, MA has followed a seemingly juxtaposed trend against the median price. During the 2007 median pric… Continue

Jan-June single family home sales in Leominster, MA are up +15.6% from the same period last year and they spent an average of 164 days on the market, 14 days less than 2008 estimates. The median price remained relatively steady for the three year period between 2006 to 2008, however, it declined significantly in 2009 going down from $235,500 to $189,000. This represents a median price drop of nearly (-20%) and is likely a major motivator behind the 2009 sales increase. When taken t… Continue

When I was young man struggling with the growing pains of prepubescent adolescence my mother used to tell me, “God doesn’t close a door without opening a window.” What she meant was that when all hope is lost and things look their worst, try finding opportunity where others haven’t looked and you might just find a means to an even greater end. In today’s slumped economy the ideological dogma may have shifted focus from the all-seeing eye of God to the ever-present eye on the back of a dollar bil… Continue