Real Estate Directory - Massachusetts

Population: 6,433,422 (2003)
Capital city/population: Boston 581,616 (2003)
Largest cities/population:

  • Boston - 581,616
  • Worcester - 175,706
  • Springfield - 152,157
  • Lowell - 104,351

(all 2003)

Massachusetts is the 44th largest state, with a total area of 10,555 square miles. Its location along the Atlantic seaboard provides a temperate climate, with colder and drier areas in the western region. As the most influential colony in the new world, Massachusetts achieved statehood on February 6, 1788. Harvard, the first college in North America, was founded in 1636, while Princeton, another important university, was incorporated in 1759. Norfolk County is the birthplace of four United States presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and George Herbert Walker Bush.

HOUSING

Boston – Average price of single-family homes is $349,000, a drop of 7% in the past few months. Reductions of 10% - 20% in asking prices are common in mid- to high-priced neighborhoods. Moderately priced homes are also undergoing price reductions, although not at the same rate as their higher-priced counterparts.

Worcester- In the last part of 2005, average list price for single-family was $301,967, with an average time on the market of 78 days and an average sold price of $264,600. Condominiums had an average sold price of $203,440, with an average of 63 days on the market.

Springfield – The community has over 5,900 housing units, with an average home price of $147,997. Of these units, 56% are owner occupies and 40% stand as rental units with a rental price of $247 and a 4% vacancy rate.

Lowell- Median home prices for the year have averaged $339,000; home buyers can expect prices for single-family homes ranging anywhere from $149,800 - $2,200,000. Most homes are in the middle of this range, with square footage anywhere from 1,000 – 10,000.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Principal industries include services, trade, and manufacturing, with principal manufactured goods being electric and electronic equipment, instruments, industrial machinery and equipment, and printing and publishing. The state’s chief crops include cranberries, greenhouse and nursery products, and vegetables. The total gross state product for 2003 was $297 billion, with a per capita income for the same year of $39,504.

SCHOOLS

The “Great Schools Campaign” is an effort to bring together business, community, and school leaders to urge the Commonwealth to move beyond the standards, tests, and stakes that shaped earlier school reform. The Education and Research Institute has received nearly $600,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to be used to design a turnaround school model and a strategy to improve the lowest performing schools in the country. A Math and Science Coalition, in partnership with institutions and businesses, will also support further education in the K-12 sector. Within this sector, the 1994 student-teacher ratio was 14:8, with an average teachers’ salary for 1995 of $43,756.

Higher education has always received a strong focus in the state. Harvard College opened in 1636; it was the first institution of higher learning in the nation. Other schools include the University of Massachusetts, with locations in Amherst and Boston, Northeastern University, Boston University, Boston College, Brandeis University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, American International College, Smith College, Wellesley College, and Clark University.

HISTORY

The area of Massachusetts was settled when the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower in 1620; a year later, William Bradford, the new governor, led the colony through early difficulties to prosperity. The “Bay Colony” received a patent from the crown, continuing to be governed as a private company for the next 50 years. These early people were primarily agricultural, with a merchant class forming later. Educational facilities were promoted, and the Boston Latin School was founded in 1635, with Harvard being established a year later.

After the Revolution, the colonies faced a depressed economy. It took time for trade routes to be reestablished, and soon Boston and other ports regained their earlier success. In 1820, Maine was separated from Massachusetts and admitted to the Union under the Missouri Compromise. That same year, the Massachusetts constitution was liberalized – Massachusetts is the only one of the original 13 states that is still governed under its original constitution of 1780, although this one was amended by the constitutional convention of 1917.

After the Civil War, the state experienced strong industrial expansion due to a great influx of European immigrants who worked for cheap labor rates in the state’s factories.

Post-World War II again saw a great increase in industrial products, with the decline of the textile industry being supplanted by the electronics industry. Small, high-tech companies have been a mainstay for many years.

RELIGION (2004)

  • Christian – 79%
    • Catholic – 47%
    • Protestant – 31%
      • Congregational/United Church of Christ – 4%
      • Baptist – 4%
      • Episcopal – 3%
      • Methodist – 2%
      • Pentecostal – 2%
      • Other Protestant or general Protestant – 16%
    • Other Christian – 1%
  • Jewish – 2%
  • Unitarian – 1%
  • Other Religions – 1%
  • Non-Religious – 17%

DEMOGRAPHICS (2004)

The racial makeup of Massachusetts:

  • White - 81.9%
  • Hispanic - 6.8%
  • Black - 5.4%
  • Asian - 3.8%
  • Native American - 0.2%
  • Mixed race - 2.3%