Sharpest one-month year-to-year drop in Massachusetts home prices since 1990.

This chart (detailed here), would probably be good news for home buyers, if only they could get new mortgages - or sell their current homes.

Outside of the Red Line corridor, the prices of Dorchester housing units - especially multi-family properties - are crashing, the Dorchester Reporter reports. The mortgage crisis may not be the only reason:

... A less examined reason for the sinking market could be a decrease in fraud brought about by increased media and governmental focus on the sub-prime lending crisis. Several properties previously detailed in the Reporter appear to have been sold under curious circumstances. ...

Apparently, you might want to bring a tape measure when you check out Brookline condos (scroll down the page a bit).

The Boston Condo Guy reports:

... We talk with a growing number of Europeans each week who are interested in buying Boston investment property, or a Boston vacation home in one of America’s most historic cities. Europeans recognize that downtown Boston real estate will always hold its value, and the best time to "get in" is when their currency allows them to do so at a discount.

Cosmo Catalano surveys the current offerings around Louisburg Square.

On myDedham, Brian compares the sale prices of the first 13 houses sold in town this year with the values listed in town assessing records. Even taking out the outliers, the average is 18% less than assessed values.

Southie state rep to Allston/Brighton: You suck.

Allston blogger to Southie state rep: Knock it off.

Aaron Weber adds real estate to the list of things he can't expect the Globe to cover well, after reading a piece in the Sunday real-estate section about foreclosures in the two cities, which is accompanied by a large map that shows the problem is far, far worse in another city:

... In Lawrence, the foreclosure rate is nearly double that of even the most hard-hit areas in the Route 2 West corridor. You want to write about a housing crisis, and you ignore Lawrence? Is that more of a Herald town or something? ...

He also uses the Globe's own stats to ponder why the story didn't examine the possibility that the relatively high foreclosure rates in northern Worcester were due to fraud rather than a financial crisis.