Further real estate successes were once again realized in Massachusetts in October
Most closed October single-family home sales since 2004:
The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS (MAR) reported today that the market is moving in a positive direction as both sales and prices of single-family homes and condominiums closed up in October compared to the same time last year.
The buyer activity, despite the relatively few homes for sale, really picked up in the spring and remained high into the fall, said 2013 MAR President Kimberly Allard-Moccia, broker-owner of Century 21 Professionals in Braintree. If sellers continue to sit this market out and inventory continues to shrink, were going to see fewer qualified buyers able to keep up with the increasing prices. Full recovery is close, but now it is up to the sellers to help make it happen.
There were 4,221 detached single-family homes sold this October, a 12.2% increase from the 3,761 homes sold the same time last year. This is the seventh straight month of year-over-year increases and the most closed sales of any October since 2004. On a month-to-month basis, home sales were down 2.9% from 4,221 homes sold this past September. This is the third straight month-to-month decrease.
The median selling price for single-family home in October was $320,000 which was up 12.3% from $285,000 in October 2012. This is the thirteenth straight monthly year-over-year increase. On a month-to-month basis, the October median selling price was down 1.5% from $325,000 in September, 2013.
There were 1,593 condominiums sold this past October, an increase of 8.8% from the 1,464 condos sold the same time last year. This is the twenty-first straight month of year-over-year increases. This October had the most closed condominium sales since October of 2005 when there were 1,892 units sold. On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were down 10.6% from 1,781 homes sold this past September.
The median selling price for condominium in October was $295,000 which was up 11.3% from the $265,000 median price in October, 2012. This is the fifth straight year-over-year increase. On a month-to-month basis, the October median selling price was down 3.3% from $305,000 in September of 2013. This was the second straight month-over-month decrease.
Inventory and Days on Market:
The inventory of single-family homes as of October 31, 2013 decreased 19.9% from October 2012 (20,716 listings in 2013 from 25,877 listings in 2012) which translates into 4.8 months of supply in October, 2013. This is down from 6.7 months of supply last year and down from 5.4 months in September of 2013. This was the twentieth straight month of inventory decreases.
The number of new listings added to the market of single-family homes in October increased 10.9% over the same time last year (5,975 new listings in 2013 from 5,387 in 2012).
The inventory of condominiums on the market in October was down 26.1% compared to the year before (5,582 listings in 2013 from 7,557 listings in 2012), which translates into 3.2 months of supply, which is down from 5.0 months in October of 2012 and down from 3.6 months in September.
The number of new listings added to the market of condominiums in October increased 17.7% from October, 2012 (2,153 new listings in 2013 from 1,829 listings in 2012).
Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 92 days in October, 2013 compared to an average of 114 days in October 2012. Condos stayed on the market an average of 78 days, down from an average of 114 days in October, 2012. On a month-to-month basis, days on market for single-family was up two days from September of 2013 while condos were down from 81 days.
Source: Greater Boston Association of Realtors / Massachusetts Association of Realtors
