Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1015970
wbjournal.com | August 20, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 9 least $600,000 increased by 29 percent over the last three years. In Worcester County, that price range typically lands you a 3,000-plus-square- foot colonial, at least a two-car garage, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and maybe even a pool. At higher price ranges, the increase is even more. In the 12 months ending in August, 35 Worcester County homes sold for at least $1 million. For the same time period three years prior, the total was 21, according to Zillow. e new trend in high-end real estate is a sign of the economy and relatively low interest rates, Eidinger-Taylor said. Wealthier buyers According to Data USA, a website pulling U.S. government data from several databases including U.S. Census information, Massachusetts residents are becoming more wealthy. e percent of Massachusetts house- holds earning an income of more than $100,000 rose from 32.6 percent in 2013 to 37.6 percent in 2016. e largest of those brackets, the $200,000-plus club, made up 10.8 percent of Massachusetts households in 2016, the last year for which data was available. In that same year, that bracket was the second largest, trailing only the $75,000 to $100,000 households. Compared to 2013, the $200,000-plus bracket made up an 8.3-percent share of the state's households. In Worcester County, median house- hold income of a household was just shy of $70,000 in 2016, up from $62,483 three years prior. Unemployment in Worcester County has stayed below 5 percent since March 2016, and the state's unemployment rate has remained at 3.5 percent since Continued on next page $600,000-$699,999 .................................................................103 .................102 $700,000-$799,999 ...................................................................46 ...................54 $800,000-$899,999 ...................................................................25 ...................35 $900,000-$999,999 ...................................................................14 ...................17 $1,000,000-$1,499,999 .............................................................15 ...................17 $1,500,000-$1,999,999 ...............................................................0 .....................2 $2,000,000-$2,499,999 ...............................................................0 .....................2 Total .........................................................................................203 .................247 Luxury home sales Worcester County home sales of more than $600,000 for first six months of 2018 vs first six months of 2017. Source: MLS.com Home value 2017 2018 "As people are forced out of the Boston market, they start to move west where the higher-level home is still less than they would need to pay in the Boston market." Lee Joseph, Coldwell Banker This $1.4-million Paxton home could be the third home sold this year by Worcester real estate agent Lee Joseph for more than $1 million.