"The market is probably off 10 percent"

The person speaking is mortgage broker Alison Freed, and the market she is talking about is Newton's real estate inventory. Yes, in case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of homes out there that are taking months to sell, and sellers are being a lot more cautious. Daniel Black of The Newton Tab has the story ("Slump hits Garden City").

Borderline, incidentally, warned of housing silliness and realtor/media hype earlier in the year.

Borderline would advise keeping the decline in housing prices in perspective. A 10% drop will take $40,000 to $50,000 off the springtime high for a typical starter home in Newton, but even with the discount prices are still about the same level as in late 2003. "Cheaper" is not the word. "Less expensive" is more suitable.