MA Economic Boom to Benefit Shrewsbury Housing Market

The Massachusetts economy took a couple years to begin recovering from the depths of the recession. However, new studies show that the economy is beginning to boom. The turnaround suggests that the economy is going to be doing much better in the future, which is contributing to the state’s housing recovery. While the recovery is primarily centered in large cities such as Boston and Worcester, other Central Massachusetts markets such as Shrewsbury are also benefiting.

Economic Boom Comes Unexpectedly to Massachusetts

The New England Economic Partnership recently released a report showing that the Massachusetts economy is undergoing the strongest and most sudden economic boom in over 20 years. Nearly 100,000 jobs have been created in 2015 and that figure is expected to accelerate over the next five years. The   New England Economic Partnership predicts that unemployment will drop from 4.7% to 4.1% by 2018.

Randall Ellis, an economics professor at Boston University, attributes a large part of the economic boom to the growing technology sector. He said the state has experienced strong growth from the recession.

“Massachusetts is in a very good position to benefit from the increased use of high technology medical equipment and devices and treatment patterns,” Ellis stated. “It is also a hotbed of development for new drugs and we are also benefiting still from the ongoing military spending. I would add education spending is a very important backbone of the economy.”

The growth in technology has been fueling job growth in the Boston region, which has trickled into other parts of Central Massachusetts. A number of engineers and other technology professionals that work in Boston commute from Shrewsbury and other cities. Since Boston is suffering from a large housing shortage, the growing technology sector is likely to drive demand for housing in Shrewsbury over the coming years.

Leaders are Cautiously Optimistic

Although Massachusetts is undergoing one of the best economic recoveries in recent history, leaders are still worried that things could turn around. House Speaker Robert DeLeo and other state lawmakers are confident that the economy is on the verge of a continued recovery, but still want to be cautious.

DeLeo points out that he was very optimistic about the economy last year, which led him and other leaders to create an unrealistic budget proposal. Tax revenues failed to meet lofty projections, which forced lawmakers to impose strict spending cuts.

The Legislature is hopeful that the market will continue to recover, but wants to make sure that it will remain sustainable.

Housing market experts are also cautious, but believe the market will stay on a sustainable track to recovery. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors has confirmed that pending homes sales rose 35.9% in September even as experts expected the market to stall after the summer. This suggests that the market will continue to grow for months to come.