More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
World of Wellesley, along with over a dozen area organizations, invites everyone to a Zoom event that will examine housing policies through a lens of equity. The interfaith conversation will focus on how a larger and more inclusive community can be achieved.
The drivers of structural inequality that have led to racial, ethnic, and economic segregation in communities, and what community members can do about it, will be explored and discussed.
SPONSORED POST: Elaine Bannigan, co-owner of Pinnacle Residential Properties, writes about the real estate market during the coronavirus pandemic.
If you’ve been following the news about residential real estate, you are aware that the local market has been extremely busy. In comparing this year to 2019, a quarter over quarter analysis is revealing. The number of Wellesley single family homes that went under agreement (pending) during the first two quarters of 2020 dipped roughly 20% from the same period in 2019. This reflects the number of homeowners who postponed their plans to sell and the buyers who stayed sequestered despite being anxious to buy during this period of record low interest rates. However, during the third quarter of 2020, the market returned with a roar: there was a 49% increase in the number of pending sales over Q3 2019.
This phenomenon was certainly not limited to Wellesley. Nationally, pending contract signings on homes surged to a record high in August and are now 24% higher than a year ago, according to data collected by the National Association of Realtors. Recent studies report that 37% of Americans said the pandemic has caused them to consider moving. Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents said that for 2021, they prefer to live in a suburb over a city. These respondents said they are putting less emphasis on “proximity to work” and are instead desiring “more living space,” which tends to be more plentiful in the suburbs. Many said they are looking for more square footage, larger outdoor areas, and lower population density. Cities have been underperforming in their housing markets compared to suburban markets during these recent months. This is a direct contrast to recent years when urban areas outpaced suburbs in price appreciation.
As I write this, there are only 52 single family homes on the market in Wellesley. This time a year ago there were 70. In 2018 there were 90 available that first week of October. For those of us who already live in these beautiful suburbs, we are lucky indeed.
SPONSORED POST: Maureen McCaffrey is a real estate agent at Pinnacle Residential Properties. She writes about her experiences downsizing after her kids left the nest.
To age in place or downsize? That’s the tough question, even for a Pinnacle real estate agent like me who helps people through the moving process every day. When my husband and I finally made our decision to move six years ago, our kids were off to college and beyond. It was time to focus on ourselves. Simplify our life. Sounds easy enough, right? Not really.
Moving is always a huge decision. My husband and I had a few things to figure out first. The questions were endless, actually. What size home will work for our family? Where can we downsize without up-sizing in price? Is there any way we can stay in Wellesley or Weston, the towns we’d lived in and loved for the past 25 years? What are we going to do with all our stuff? And many more…
Although the task seemed daunting, we wanted to give the idea of downsizing a fair try. We were lucky to find a match pretty quickly. Then came the hard part—preparing our large, much-loved, cluttered home for sale. The purging process was tough. You know the items in the basement and closets that you haven’t seen in years? Me too. It was a cathartic experience to empty our home of those items, and to find and hold onto the important treasures.
Affordable Homeownership Opportunity
Fieldstone Way Condominiums
135 Great Plain Avenue, Wellesley, MA 02482
www.FieldstoneWayLottery.com
Households may request an application be sent by email or mail through September 15, 2020 through the following methods: Visit: www.FieldstoneWayLottery.com
To have a hard copy of the application sent to your mailing address, please call:
781-992-5313
MA Relay 711
Informational Meeting:
Due to an abundance of caution, we have decided to cancel the informational meeting. To replace the informational meetings, we have created a presentation that includes information about the property, the application process, preferences, the lottery, and what happens after the lottery.
For a copy of the presentation, please visit: www.FieldstoneWayLottery.com
Deadline for completed applications:
Postmarked no later than September 15, 2020
Maloney Properties, Inc.
Attention: Fieldstone Way Lottery
27 Mica Lane, Wellesley, MA 02481
Applicants may also email completed applications to [email protected]
Selection by lottery.
$75,000 Asset limit. Use & restrictions apply.
For more info or reasonable accommodations,
call Maloney Properties, Inc. 781-992-5313 – MA Relay 711 or
Email: [email protected]
The following Sponsored Post has been researched and written by Dede Long, a Realtor at Pinnacle Residential Properties.
Every house has a story to tell, whether through the styles and methods of building from 200 years ago or by showcasing the advancements of modern construction in the present day. Wellesley’s rich architectural diversity gives us a visual history lesson, preserving the heritage and personalities of each unique neighborhood while effortlessly blending the old with the new.
My affection for older homes is rooted in their ability to serve as time capsules and is one of the reasons I became a Realtor at Pinnacle. There is something magical about imagining the world as it was during the time the house was under construction. Who were the original homeowners and what was their occupation? From where did they come? Who designed the home, and what special labor was required to build it? What did the world look like as owners looked through the ‘wavy’ glass of the old windows? It is this collective history of the people and bygone days that gives older homes a soul as unique as a fingerprint, and in turn, endears them to their owners as they become a part of the story that a house is always writing.
That is certainly true for my friends, Kerry and Damian Miles, who remember a connection that was ‘hard to describe’ when they entered the Washington Street house on the Lower Newton Falls side of town. “There was just something about the way the house felt”, says Kerry. “Damian and I knew that we had found our home from the moment we walked in the door.”
SPONSORED POST:
Pinnacle Residential Properties is delighted to introduce Fieldstone Way in Wellesley, a new complex of 44 luxury townhomes ranging from one to three bedrooms, developed by Concord-based, Northland Residential, renowned for superior design and excellence in construction. Floor plans range in size from 900 to 3,600 square feet of luxurious living space. If you’re looking for a suburban escape, this is it.
“Pinnacle Residential was chosen to market these homes because of their extensive market knowledge, exceptional track record in marketing and sales, and the fact that the firm is locally owned and managed,” Northland Vice President Elaine Leonard said.
The homes will be completed and released to market in phases. The first phase consists of five homes. Pinnacle Residential owner Elaine Bannigan said, “We are very excited about this new neighborhood. There is a supply shortage is most towns and Wellesley is no exception. It is considered a ‘healthy’ market when a six-month supply is available. At this time, Wellesley has just a two-month supply. Adding these beautiful new homes will give buyers outstanding and critically needed additional options.”
SPONSORED POST: Teri Adler of Pinnacle writes about her experiences in real estate during this time:
As a local Wellesley resident, Pinnacle real estate agent, and mother and wife I am always seeing this great town of ours through so many lenses. Now, with the pandemic, the lens is a little more cloudy, but through the new guidelines that have shaped our lives, there is so much about Wellesley that has become clearer than ever.
I’ve really not stopped working once during the quarantine. When it became clear a shutdown was imminent in March, there were families, who for pressing personal reasons (not discretionary moves), still needed to buy or sell a home. Pinnacle quickly put every recommended precaution in place so that we could safely conduct those showings. I have watched tired doctors and other essential workers gather their families and drive into Wellesley to find a home where they could live comfortably and have access to outdoor space.
The buyers who are calling for showings are mostly young couples coming from Boston. I see in their eyes now more than ever how they are ready to breathe deeply in their own backyard and not have to share a staircase and elevator with neighbors. I smile knowing they are about to gain so much more by choosing to live in Wellesley and I am excited for them to discover it. I am actually grateful to have been there helping people find their ray of sunshine during a dark time in the form of “finding home.”
