As I have pointed out in this space recently, the western suburbs — the “blue chip” towns with a winning mix of quality schools, proximity to Boston and Cambridge, and municipal services — have been relatively buffered from the woes seen in national real estate trends. This has certainly been the case in my neck of the woods, Lexington, where bidding wars were common — yes, common — this spring for houses priced under one million dollars.
This fall, however, we have seen slightly more skittishness from buyers. Houses are still selling typically within 95-plus percent of their asking price and are generally on the market for less than two or three months.