This two-bedroom, single-story home at 808 Brattleboro Road in the Franklin County town of Bernardston is being offered for sale at $132,500.

Western Massachusetts counties experienced a big jump in single-family home sales last year, and at least three of those counties saw double-digit increases in home prices after four years of more moderate price increases.

The sharpest rise in single-family home sales and prices occurred in Franklin County, according to statistics gathered by The Warren Group, the parent company of Banker & Tradesman.

Realtors interviewed by Banker & Tradesman struggled to explain what exactly sparked the rise in sales activity and home prices. Some said that the region draws people who are attracted to the slower pace and higher quality of life that the area offers. Others said that buyers were encouraged by lower interest rates in a favorable lending environment.

Few, however, were able to pinpoint what exactly made 2001 different than the prior year.

It’s very complex when you talk about changes in housing sales and prices, said Richard Dils, a broker with Upton-Massamont Realtors in Shelburne Falls.

In Franklin County, the median price for a single-family home climbed more than 20 percent to $118,000 in 2001 from $98,000 in 2000. Sales in that county also jumped nearly 40 percent. A total of 680 single-family homes were sold last year in Franklin County compared to 487 in 2000.

In Berkshire County, where much of the market is driven by sales of vacation or second homes, the median price for a single-family home rose more than 11 percent last year to $117,000 from $105,000 in 2000.

According to The Warren Group, total sales of single-family homes were also much higher last year in Berkshire County compared to 2000. Sales activity shot up nearly 25 percent, compared to a 6 percent drop that the region experienced between 1999 and 2000.

Meanwhile in Hampden County, the median price for a single-family home spiked nearly 13 percent in the first 11 months of 2001 to $114,000 from $102,000 during the same months in 2000. Statistics for Hampden County were not available for the entire year. Sales activity, on the other hand, increased only about 3 percent in Hampden County during the same period.

Hampshire County saw a more moderate increase in single-family home prices, with the median price rising about 5 percent to $150,000, but sales of single-family homes rose more than 23 percent. A total of 1,338 single-family homes sold in 2001 compared to 1,084 the year before.

According to longtime Realtors in the region, the overall increase in single-family home sales largely was due to do low interest rates and easier access to home loans for buyers. Affordability was also a key factor. While home prices have increased in the region, the price increases have generally fallen below the overall statewide pace.

The area is considerably more affordable than some of the other areas of the commonwealth, said Corrine Fitzgerald of Key 100 Real Estate in Greenfield.

In Franklin County the median price for a single-family home in 2000, for example, was $98,000 – much lower than the statewide median of $198,000.

Statewide statistics are not available yet for 2001.

Realtors interviewed by Banker & Tradesman also describe how homebuyers who can’t find housing in the Hampshire County communities of Amherst and Northampton are heading north for Franklin County towns, many times ending up moving to places like Sunderland, Whately, Conway and Deerfield.

The bustling college towns of Amherst and Northampton don’t have the housing supply to meet demand, said Linda Walker, current president of the Franklin/Hampshire County Association of Realtors. Plus, some of the first-time homebuyers are priced out of Hampshire County and head north for less expensive alternatives.

The opportunities for lower-priced housing are greater in Franklin County, said Walker, sales manager of Jones Town & Country Realty Services in Amherst.

The median price for a single-family home in Deerfield last year was $152,250, according to The Warren Group, while the median price in Amherst ran about $40,000 higher at $194,750.

In Franklin’s largest community, Greenfield, the median price for a single-family home last year was even lower – $111,500.

Taking the Trophy
But according to Dils of Upton-Massamont Realtors, buyers from the five-college area in Hampshire County heading north and west into Franklin County are often searching for antique farmhouses and Colonials in rural settings that are priced just as high as homes in Amherst and Northampton.

There has been a steady appreciation of home values in Franklin County over the last several years, he said, but the area has long suffered from a low housing supply.

We seldom have, and never had, lots of inventory from which to draw upon, said Dils.

The area, as with other Bay State regions, is also facing a shortage of affordable housing, according to Dils, especially since the incomes of residents generally are much lower than is the case in the eastern part of the state.

The price hike in Western Massachusetts counties last year may be attributable to a sales market that included many homes falling into a higher price range, he said. While there has not been a tremendous amount of new construction in Franklin County, the new homes that have been built are much more expensive than already existing homes. At least 20 new trophy homes in the $300,000 to $600,000 range were sold in South Deerfield within the last year, and such activity could have lifted the overall median price, according to Dils.

But observers said that slow or virtually no new job growth or creation has been one of the downsides of Franklin County. Some blame the region’s slow job growth on the state’s unwillingness to expand Route 2 into four lanes and because of the lack of bandwidth for technological expansion.

Since Franklin and Hampshire counties boast five colleges and several preparatory schools, Dils said the area is filled with highly educated but underemployed residents.

However, Fitzgerald said that workers’ ability to telecommute has been a boon for the area. Fitzgerald said that people from New York and Boston who are seeking a slower pace – and higher quality – of life have discovered Franklin County. Many are spending one or two days a week at faraway city offices and working from home the rest of the week.

The Franklin and Hampshire County region is desirable, according to Realtors, because of its rich history, and because of the natural beauty and the eclectic artistic and educational opportunities of the area.

Greenfield, in particular, has been an attractive destination because it located at the junction of Route 2 and Interstate 91, Fitzgerald said.

You can be in the middle of town and in five minutes be in the country, she said.