Residential Market in MA a Mixed Bag; Home Sales in Boston Set New Record

BOSTON—Residential home sales in the month of November were never better in metro Boston, while statewide home sales were much more tempered, falling less than 1% as compared to a year earlier.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Greater Boston Association of Realtors have released their respective November sales reports, which showed just how important available inventory is to home buying volume.

In November, the greater Boston residential market saw higher home prices, an increased inventory of homes for sale and strong buyer demand that all contributed to a new record high for detached single-family home sales.

Statewide, the market is much different. For November, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reports there was a 4% hike in the median price for single-family homes and a 1% rise in condominium median prices as compared to November 2017. Last month saw the lowest number of single-family homes and condominiums listed for sale in the month of November since MAR began reporting the data in 2004.

MAR reports that sales in November 2018 totaled 4,966 as compared to 5,010 a year earlier, a 0.9% decline. The median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts last month registered at $395,000, up 4.1% from the $380,000 median posted in November 2017. Condominium sales statewide fell 11.7% in November 2018 (compared to 12 months earlier), while the median price rose 1.4% during that same period to $375,000.

“Being a home buyer in November was like going to the supermarket to prepare for your Thanksgiving meal, but when you got to the store, there was almost nothing to buy,” says 2018 MAR president Rita Coffey, general manager of CENTURY 21 Tullish & Clancy in Weymouth, MA. “No matter how we describe it, this is a trend that will most likely continue until more homes are available for sale.”

Single-family inventory for sale statewide fell 9.5% to 13,411 in November 2018 as compared to a year earlier and the months of supply slipped from 3.1 months to just 2.8 months. Inventory of condominiums slipped just slightly by 0.5% during that same period to 4,262 listings, constituting 2.3 months of supply.

The Greater Boston Association of Realtors reported that 1,214 single-family detached homes were sold in metropolitan Boston, which set a new record for sales for the month and was a 4.9% increase on the 1,157 homes sold in November 2017.

On a month-to-month basis, single-family home sales rose 11.8% from 1,087 in October 2018. In contrast, the condo market in metro Boston suffered a 13.6% decline on annual basis, dropping from 979 units sold in November 2017 to 846 last month, which reflected the fourth-highest sales total on record for the month. Despite the decline, the number of condos sold on a month-to-month basis rose 6.7% in November 2018 from the 793 units sold in October 2018.

“The market had become more balanced, and favorable to buyers since early fall, with a growing supply of homes for sale, moderation in home price appreciation, and a decline in mortgage rates. When you factor in a healthy local job market, strong consumer confidence, and sizable backlog of buyers looking to enter the housing market, it’s not surprising this was the busiest November for home sales on record,” states GBAR president Marie Presti, broker-owner of The Presti Group in Newton and Stoneham.

In November 2018, the median sales price for single-family home in Greater Boston reached a new record high at $588,540, which was a 4.0% increase on the median sales price of $566,000 from November 2017. It should be noted that the median single-family home price declined 2.6% from October’s median of $604,000.

Similarly, the condo market in Boston metro also reached a new record high median sales price for the month of November, rising 2.8% to $555,000, which was up from the November 2017 median sales price of $540,000. The November median was 2.4% higher than the October condo median of $542,000.

“Prices have now fallen on a month-to-month basis in four of the past five months in the detached home market, which suggests home values may have peaked this summer,” Presti adds. “As a result, for those looking to maximize the value on the price of their home, this winter may be a better time to do so than waiting until spring, as there will be less competition due to fewer homes listed for sale.”

For the third consecutive month, the number of active listings in the single-family and condo markets increased on a year-over-year basis. The single-family market inventory saw an increase of 0.4% from 2,420 homes on market in November 2017 to 2,429 last month. The condo market enjoyed a 17% rise in inventory, as its active listings grew to 2,070 units last month, from 1,769 in November 2017.

On the negative side of the ledger, new listings of single-family homes declined 43.8% on a month-to-month basis from 1,575 new listings in October 2018 to 885 last month, while on a year-over-year basis, inventory fell 4.7% from 929. In the condo market, new listings declined 37.1% on a month-to-month basis, from 1,326 in October 2018 to 834 last month, which was a very modest .6% decline from November 2017.