By Kathleen Howley SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE – NORWOOD
You won’t find a listing for June and Ward Cleaver in the town telephone book, but one broker called Norwood a “Leave It Beaver” kind of town.
“I chose to bring my children up here. The kids all know each other, and they meet in the bowling alley or in the ice cream parlor in the center of town. You can walk the streets at night, without worrying about crime. It’s a very family-orientated town, where they roll the streets up at night kind of like ‘Leave It to Beaver,'” said Victoria McKeon, of McKeon and Co. realty firm in Norwood.
McKeon is not the only person in town to feel that way. Last year the town dedicated an 18-foot-high bronze statue honoring families and veterans set on the most prominent corner of the town common. The statue depicts a larger-than-life family – a young husband, wife, and child -being protected by four soldiers, and bears a plaque that states, “Protectors of the American Way.”
“A lot of young families want to live here. We don’t have an over-abundance of homes in their range, but they’re there, if you look,” said McKeon.
Most of the affordably priced homes are in what locals call “the town side of town” – the older part of Norwood, near the center.
“The section of town that’s on the other side of Route 1, we call that the ‘New Norwood.’ It’s mostly sub-developments built in the last 20 years, and tends to be a little more expensive,” McKeon said.
McKeon and Co. lists two homes priced within range of young families: a four-bedroom Colonial with two baths, on a half-acre lot for $144,900, and a three-bedroom ranch, set on one acre, for $145,900. Both are in the “town side of town.”
Norwood median home prices, the price at which half the homes sold are higher and half lower, declined last year from a high of $165,000 in the first quarter to $145,000 in the fourth quarter, according to Banker and Tradesman, a Boston-based real estate and banking; journal.
The year-end median price of $158,000 puts Norwood real estate slightly below the 1986 median of $159,000. Total sales of single-family homes reached 361 a year in 1986, the highest of the past six years, but only 215 in 1991.
Median prices for single-family homes peaked in 1989, at $180,000. The town’s real estate market may have had its ups and downs, but broker Richard Kief, owner of Realty World R.K. Assoc. in Norwood, said the services and tax rates have remained stable. “The way the town is run has been pretty consistent over the years.
It’s a very efficient and well-maintained community. There have been no override requests, like you see in other towns, and no service cutbacks,” said Kief. Much of its fiscal stability can be attributed to a diverse tax base, he said. “We have a good mix of residential, manufacturing and commercial. It’s always been something that provided balance and assisted the town in keeping the tax rates low,” he said.
Norwood has large commercial areas along Route 1 and in the center of town. In addition, a Polaroid manufacturing plant and a Nortronics engineering and manufacturing facility are located within its borders.
The residential tax rates stayed at $9 per thousand during 1988 and 1989, went to $9.29 in 1990, to $9.30 in 1991, and was raised to $9.53 for 1992.
Realty World R.K Assoc. lists a three-bedroom renovated antique Colonial, with a modern eat-in kitchen, and a detached two-car garage, for $139,000. The home is set on a quarter-acre lot.
Another antique Colonial, with four-bedrooms and a one-car garage, is priced at $164,000. Also listed with Realty World R.K. Assoc.: a three-bedroom split-level, on a quarter-acre lot for $189,000; a five-bedroom Colonial, with a two-car garage, priced at $199,000; a four-bedroom Colonial, also with garage, listed for $264,900; and a four-bedroom split-level, on a half-acre lot, for $224,900.
If you’re looking for a million-dollar estate, Norwood is not the town. The highest priced listing Kief has is a three-bedroom contemporary ranch, with an in-ground swimming pool, full tennis court, a large barn, and an acre of land, for $253,900.
