A home in Massachusetts seriously damaged by fire has been listed on the market with an asking price of $399,000. The home in Melrose, a suburb of Boston, is evidence of how hot the housing market is right now. In August, industry groups listed the median sale price of single family homes in the state to be between $535,000 and $552,000. The online listing for the burned 3-bedroom, 1,857-square foot home admits that the house is in need of a complete renovation or potential tear down and rebuild and is being sold “as-is.” The house suffered an intense fire in August that blew out the front windows, which are now boarded up. Firefighters had to tear out parts of the walls and ceiling of the home to extinguish the blaze. Indeed, the listing is priced well under what the house was estimated to be worth earlier this summer — before it caught on fire. In June, the home was valued at $640,700. Low inventory and strong demand have caused prices to skyrocket this year and have pushed desperate homebuyers to compete over even the most undesirable houses.
