Note: This is the first in a series of profiles of Massachusetts towns on the real estate market.
Want to know how the Watertown, Massachusetts real estate market is doing? Today we’re going to talk about home sales in Watertown in 2014 versus 2013, along with how the towns along its borders did, as well as what’s currently on the market in Watertown right now.
2013 vs. 2014 in Watertown:
Overall, the housing market remained relatively strong in Watertown in 2014, with a total of 487 homes sold at an average sale price of $497,416. (These numbers include single-family homes, condominiums, and multi-family homes.) That meant a nice bump in the overall average home price, with homes selling for 7.17% more on average than in 2013 — impressive when you consider that 23 fewer homes sold in 2014 than in 2013, and continuing to show that Watertown remains a desirable place to live.
Breaking down those numbers:
- Single-Family Homes: 104 sold in 2014 versus 127 in 2013, for an average price of $547,758 which is an increase from the previous year’s average of $490,212.
- Condominiums: 284 condos sold in 2014 versus 274 in 2013 at an average price of $396,340, a bump from the 2013’s average of $361,180. This makes condos the only property type that had an increase in sales.
- Multi-Family: 99 homes sold in 2014, as opposed to 109 in 2013. The average sale price in 2014 was $575,150, a healthy increase from the previous year’s average sale price of $541,013.
Next, looking at the towns that Watertown shares a border with, we see that the town remains affordable compared to Newton, Belmont, and Cambridge, where a single-family home can cost up to $653,840 more when you look at average sale prices (see graphic above for a breakdown by town). Waltham and Brighton come underneath Watertown’s average prices by a few percentage points, for the most part, but remain in the same general ballpark.
Watertown, Right Now
As of today, February 12, 2015, there are 4 single-family homes on the market in Watertown, with an average listed price of $754,725. 9 condominiums join them, with their average asking price of $542,033, and the listings are rounded out by 3 multi-family homes, whose owners are looking for $891,000 on average. That is a total of 16 homes on the market, as compared with 27 on the market one year ago today.
Overall, these numbers show that Watertown retains its reputation as a desirable location to purchase a home in, with a diversity of housing options available to suit many homebuyer budgets. With interest rates in the 3.5% range right now, and very few houses on the market in Watertown, there are positives for both buyers and sellers — buyers can take advantage of the lower interest rates, and sellers benefit from there being a lower supply, which has resulted in higher prices in many cases.
Town Profile
Watertown is a residential community of 31,915 people located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Founded in 1630, Watertown was one of the earliest Massachusetts Bay settlements, and originally comprised the land which is now part of Weston, Waltham, Lincoln, Cambridge, and Belmont. The town’s proximity to Boston, along with many excellent features such as abundant public transportation options, fields and open spaces, and in-town shopping, combined with well-rated schools, make it a highly desirable place to live and own a home. Current and future improvement projects including the Pleasant Street Corridor reconstruction, the possible redevelopment of the current “The Arsenal Project” mall site, and the construction of a large Marriott hotel in a commercial area of town make the future value of owning a Watertown home potentially even higher.
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