Who is buying in the 600s/700s in Woburn? (Lexington: sales, houses)

[massgirl]

This is not meant to be snarky. I'm really trying to figure out who is buying in this price range in Woburn. If you look at the sales for the past 3 years, there have been quite a few in this price range. I'll be honest and say that I didn't even know that houses in this price range existed in Woburn.

Are they townies "movin' on up?" Downsizers who are moving from swanky towns with high taxes to an equally nice house with a lower price tag? Families? Educated professionals who are learning that $600K goes a long way in towns other than Arl/Belmont/Winchester/Lex/etc? Also, maybe it's people with young families who just need the elementary schools right now (which are supposedly very good in some areas) and will move out when they need the high school? Someone else?

[jad79]

According to Redfin, there have been only three houses sold for over $570k in Woburn in the last 6 months, so I don't think there are really many being sold in this price range. All three where large and relatively new, with price per square foot about $200. So people are getting much larger and newer houses for that $600k then they would in neighboring towns. My guess is they have younger kids, send their kids to private schools or are new to the area and perhaps not into the MCAS race yet.

[massgirl]

I counted a few more than that on redfin, but I could be mistaken. And, over the past few years there have been quite a few more. I'm just wondering what their decision tree looks like...

[jad79]

If you actually go through the sold homes after searching in Woburn on Redfin, you'll see that several of the more expensive ones are actually in Winchester, Lexington and Burlington. I'm not sure what the decision tree was for those that sold, but if it's only 10 or so a year, it's probably people new to the area with jobs in high tech in Woburn, Burlington, etc. and they see a good commute, nice home, and good access to amenities. If they don't care so much about schools for whatever reason, it's not a bad move.