Lauren and Jan have many years of experience helping their clients buy and sell homes in historic Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are part of the Hammond GMAC team, and their office is located in the middle of Harvard Square. Please check out our team and individual profiles - and let us know if we can be of service!
Friday, July 3, 2009 at 07:26AM Hi Everyone,
We're taking a break from posting open houses for the holiday weekend. Open houses will be back up on the Cambridge Insider for the weekend of July 11 and 12.
Have a fun and safe Fourth of July!
Lauren
Friday, June 26, 2009 at 08:08PM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Friday, February 20, 2009 at 11:25AM The revised first time homebuyer tax credit, good for real estate purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, is much more simple and easy to understand than its predecessor. I've posted a PDF that explains the credit and the income limitations - you can access it here.
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 02:49PM The data I'm considering here are for properties sold through MLS - bear in mind this doesn't include private sales, foreclosure auctions, or other non-marketed properties.
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 02:07PM Freddie Mac reports a drop in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.04 percent during the week ended Nov. 20. The 30-year loan rates were 6.14 percent the prior week.
During the same period, interest on 15-year fixed loans slipped to 5.73 percent from 5.81 percent.
Five-year and one-year ARMs declined as well, down to 5.87 percent from 5.98 percent and to 5.29 percent from 5.33 percent, respectively.
Source: Los Angeles Times (11/21/08)
Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 06:37AM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 09:44AM This week's Boston Business Journal has an interesting blurb on mortgage data:
"...Mortgage volume was off by about 30 percent year over year, suggesting that sales data may be especially weak for September.
The Business Journal analyzed the number of mortgages reported with the Registry of Deeds during the first 15 business days of September and compared the figure for the same period the previous year. The number of mortgages — which includes residential and commercial properties — in Suffolk County fell 33 percent to 608, according to information from the Registry of Deeds Web site. The northern section of Middlesex County saw a 32 percent decline in mortgages to 369 during the same period.
Banking experts say September’s drop in mortgage activity, coming on the heels of an already moribund stretch in home sales over the previous 18 months, is likely due to skittishness among potential buyers — not tightened lending standards among local lenders."
Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 07:40AM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 03:52PM Okay - this isn't about real estate, but I'm really on a roll - three posts in one day! If that's not evidence of a slow market, I don't know what is...
This fall there are going to be three great speakers at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Harvard Square and I wanted to give "Cambridge Insiders" a heads up - they should all be thoughtful and insightful discussions with people who are leading their respective fields.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 01:02PM Click here to check out this article from the New York Times Real Estate section. Basic and interesting advice about the climate for mortgages right now.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 12:59PM Attention all iPhone users and real estate mavens - get yourselves to the App Store and download the free app from Trulia! It is very elegant and simple and incredibly useful - even from a broker's perspective. Once there's complete ubquity perhaps I can even stop uploading the open houses PDF every Saturday!
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 03:52PM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Friday, September 12, 2008 at 10:22AM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 01:04PM When I posted last week's chart showing the decline in sales by unit volume, a number of you asked how median prices were being affected. The chart below shows the answer - not much. The median price for a single family home in Cambridge has inched up by about 2% and condos and multi-family homes have inched down by 3.7% and 2%, respectively. It is interesting that we're in an environment where the volume is off 20-30% and the median prices are relatively unscathed.
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 06:47AM The list of OPEN HOUSES for this weekend has been posted here. Happy house hunting!
Friday, September 5, 2008 at 03:46PM Big changes around here! We're updating the Cambridge Insider to provide a new design with cleaner interface, better navigation and more information. Please bear with us as we update the site - if you experience any glitches please let me know and I'll endeavor to work out the kinks. I'd love to hear your feedback on the new site!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 08:51AM Some data from the end of August - a bit bleak but we're improving the pace - August 08 was only 3 units off of August 07 (in condos) and August 08 was 3 units ahead in single families.
