November 21, 2012 (Chris Moore)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums tumbled by more than thirty percent between August and September according to the latest data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) while home values for both single-family homes and condos also posted a decline between the two months..
An estimated total of 5,006 existing homes and condos were sold in the Bay State in September. That was 30.1 percent lower than the 7,163 homes sold in August but 4.9 percent higher than the 4,774 homes sold in September 2011.
Sales for the month were expected to be lower because September only had 19 business days compared to a normal month that typically has 21 or 22 business days. However, on a daily basis, homes sales were still 19.1 percent lower than the previous month.
Trisha McCarthy, President of MAR, stated, “September numbers show that buyers took advantage of market conditions to push home sales up again. Despite the decreasing inventory of homes for sales, prices continue to stabilize and compared to the peak years are a good value for those people looking to buy.”
Sales of detached single-family homes accounted for 3,580 of the total sales in September, down 29.5 percent from 5,077 sales in August but still 2.8 percent higher than the 3,482 detached homes sold in September of 2011.
It was the 15th consecutive month that sales of detached single-family homes outperformed the previous year’s sales total.
The median sales price for a detached single-family home in September was $294,900, which was 7.2 percent lower than the sales price of $317,750 posted in August and was 0.6 percent lower than the median sales price of $296,750 in September of last year.
The number of detached single-family homes for sale in September declined 21.0 percent compared to last year, falling from 33,789 listings to 26,677 listings, which left a 7.3 months supply of homes on the market, down from a 10.8 months supply a year ago. Detached single-family homes typically took an average of 104 days to sell in September, down from 111 days last year.
Condominium sales accounted for 1,426 of the total sales in September, down 31.6 percent from the 2,086 sales in August but were 10.4 percent higher than the 1,292 condos sold in September of 2011.
The median sales price for a condo in September was $280,000, down 4.1 percent from August’s median price of $292,000 but was still 2.9 percent higher than the sales price of $272,000 for a condo in September of last year.
Listings for condos declined 30.5 percent, falling from 11,316 in September of last year to 7,683 listings this year. That left a 5.6 months supply available for sale, down from a 9.3 months supply a year ago. Condos typically took an average of 99 days to sell in September compared to an average of 114 days in September of last year.
Tags: Massachusetts real estate, existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices
