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July 12, 2006 05:18 am
Forbes: Essex County homes most overpriced
The magazine’s latest edition, which went on sale Tuesday, scored Essex County at No. 1, saying it has the highest cost of living, lowest salaries, least job growth and least affordable housing.
By Christina Torode
CNHI News Service
ESSEX COUNTY, Mass. — Andover homeowner Inga Fuerst was surprised by costs when she and her husband moved from Texas seven years ago.
“To move up here was an absolute shock,” Fuerst said.
“When you see a tiny little bungalow and it’s selling for $300,000, how can an average homeowner on an average income afford that?”
Some of Fuerst’s observations would seem to be supported by Forbes magazine, which has ranked Essex County as the most overpriced place to live in the country.
Many local real estate agents would like to take a closer look at the math that led Forbes to reach that conclusion.
The magazine’s latest edition, which went on sale Tuesday, scored Essex County at No. 1, saying it has the highest cost of living, lowest salaries, least job growth and least affordable housing.
These combined factors earned Essex County the “most overpriced place to live” title, despite its median home price of $373,750, according to the article. In comparison, No. 2-ranked San Francisco has a median home price of $720,400, San Jose at No. 3 has a median price of $746,800, and the median home price in Honolulu, at No. 4, is $625,000.
Tricia White, a real estate agent with Century 21 North Shore, which serves all of Essex County, said she does come across some mind-boggling prices — like the $10 million mansion for sale in Manchester-by-the-Sea or the house priced in the $3 million range in the Beverly Farms area.
But compared with other places in the country, she finds it hard to believe that Essex County has the dubious honor of being at the top of the heap when it comes to overpriced digs.
“We have someone in the office who came back from California with house listings where a two-bedroom bungalow was $900,000 because it had a water view,” White said. “You don’t see prices that high for something comparable around here.”
Jim Armstrong, owner of Armstrong Field Inc. Real Estate, an agency based in Salem, Mass., that shows houses all over the state and in New Hampshire, said prices for houses along the Route 128/MetroWest belt are on average 10 percent more expensive than the homes he sells in Essex County.
He also disagrees with the $373,750 price tag the article said was the median home price for this area.
“Prices right now are more in the low $330,000s or $340,000s on average,” Armstrong said. “Compared to other places, is it more expensive? Yes. My brother just bought a cape on a half-acre of land in Gardner for $149,000, but he owns his own business and can live way out there.
“Here it’s more expensive, but it’s reasonable considering all the amenities. I’m just baffled that we’re considered overpriced compared to San Francisco,” Armstrong said.
White and Armstrong agree many people from out-of-state suffer from what Armstrong calls “sticker shock” when they see how much a house costs in Essex County, and many former residents find they can’t return to their hometowns.
“I have people from the Midwest who lived here 20 years ago and want to come back but can’t afford to,” White said.
Helen Watkinson, a fifth-generation Andover resident, said she has always been able to get by but has seen friends forced out of town by the high cost of living.
Watkinson recently retired and will soon move to New Hampshire to live near family. She said there are tradeoffs to the high price tag of homes in Andover.
“Living in Andover, it’s worth it. It’s a beautiful town,” Watkinson said.
Kathy Borrelli, who has rented for 24 years in North Andover, said she is happy to deal with high living costs in exchange for living in a safe community.
“It’s a nice place to live,” said Borrelli, whose three children also rent homes in the town.
“People that move out of North Andover usually come back,” she said.
Home prices are coming down, however, because too many houses have been on the market for six months or longer, White said. In her real estate office, she saw one home sell for $100,000 less than the original asking price, she said.
“That was the only way they could move the house,” White said. “There’s too much inventory now with high prices, and sellers need to change their mindset from two years ago when prices were high and you had multiple bidders. It’s not like that anymore.”
Christina Torode writes for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass. Staff reporter Zach Church contributed to this report.
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