Are Belmont properties overpriced?
You can look at the housing futures prices at http://www2.barchart.com/futexch.asp?exch=iom-hp&code=BSTK which seem to indicate an expectation that the overall Boston prices will remain relatively flat (with a slight decline) over the next five years. The current Boston area prices are a little bit more than 150 percent of 2000 levels. By 2012, the Boston area prices are expected to be a little less than 150 percent of 2000 levels. Of course, this would represent a significant decline in values in inflation-adjusted terms. Some words of caution when interpreting housing futures data: 1. Like weather reports, they indicate “expectations” — the reality could be different in either direction. 2. The amount of open interest is small (and actually zero on some contracts). Lower open interest generally corresponds to lower predictive value in a futures market. 3. Local submarkets (Belmont condos in your price range) do not always mirror larger markets (Boston as a whole). The local submarke
