Single family sales drop 10% in MA

Real estate headlines seem to be everywhere these days, from today's lead story in USA Today, -- the second in two weeks, to Monday's "Condo a Go-Go" story and slide show in the New York Times, to Saturday's story in the Washington Post about a Playboy centerfold who is giving up her modeling to become a real estate investor. 

Despite those sexy news angles and industry spin that "everything is coming up roses," the most revealing finding for home buyers and sellers in Massachusetts is today's Boston Globe Business headline: 

State home sales sag 10% in April. 

According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, the number of single-family homes sold in April was down 10.4 percent from 2004, marking the first double-digit decline since April 2003.

After years of warnings, is Boston in for a Real Estate Reality Check? That was the title of today's talk show on The Connection, a nationally syndicated radio program, which will be rebroadcast in Boston at 9pm this evening on 90.9FM and archived online.

Wellesley economics professor Karl Case, cofounder of CSWv.com and partner of Robert Shiller, told the Globe, ''I think we are beginning to see the beginning of a soft period."  His comments could foreshadow the slide in housing prices, forecast last week by the New England Economic Partnership, that could last through 2007.

If you are a buyer or seller in Massachusetts has your thinking begun to change about whether this is a good time to buy or sell, and what are you doing to protect yourself?  Want to talk about it online, or at a monthly "Bubble Hour" where you can share insights and questions with other consumers?