Momentum Continues into the Summer as Single Family Home Pending Sales Go Up Again in June
Realtors® are on duty while everyone else is at the beach
WALTHAM, Mass. – July 18, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today pending home sales rose again over six percent from last year, while condominium pending sales slowed for the first time in 15 months. Prices also rose incrementally over last year. The strong market was reflected in a high Realtor® Market Confidence Index, while Price Confidence ticked down.
June Pending Sales:
| Single Family | June 2016 | June 2015 | % Change |
| Sales | 6,813 | 6,407 | 6.3% |
| Median Price | $380,000 | $372,000 | 2.2% |
- Pending sales have been up 39 of last 40 months
| Condominium | June 2016 | June 2015 | % Change |
| Sales | 2,507 | 2,517 | -0.4% |
| Median Price | $349,000 | $330,000 | 6.0% |
- Pending sales down for the first time in 15 months
“After a string of record months in pending sales, June pending sales showed us no signs of slowing down for the summer,” said 2016 MAR President Annie Blatz, branch executive at Kinlin Grover Real Estate on Cape Cod. “Median prices, on the other hand, have both risen and fallen incrementally over the past months. It will be interesting to see how prices are affected by our sparse inventory.”
REALTOR® Market and Price Confidence Indexes:
| Confidence Index | June 2016 | June 2015 | % Change |
| Market | 80.97 | 78.47 | 3.2% |
| Price | 73.87 | 74.48 | -0.8% |
- The Realtor® Market Confidence Index was up for the 16th straight month
- The Realtor® Price Confidence Index was down for the seventh time in 12 months
- Measured on a 100-point scale, a score of 50 is the midpoint between a “strong” (100 points) and a “weak” (0 points) market condition
“The Realtor® Market Confidence Index has remained above 80 for the past three months, which is reflected in the activity I know Realtors® are experiencing on the ground,” said Blatz. “The Price Confidence Index has trended down since January despite median prices remaining somewhat level.”
Monthly ‘Hot Topic’ Question:
The June “Hot Topic” question asked Realtors® about the level of connectivity they maintain to the office and their clients while on vacation. Of those Realtors® who responded, 36 percent reported that whether they’re at work or on vacation, their devices are with them and they respond to emails and to clients as normal. Thirty percent of Realtors® who responded said I check email two or three times a day, but still try to remember they’re on vacation. Nineteen percent reported I check email only once a day and only react to anything that can’t wait until I return. Nine percent responded with, “What’s vacation?” Only six percent of Realtors® completely take a break and rely on their team/office/colleagues to handle any situations that might come up during vacation.
“Work-life balance is important, but in this business, Realtors® are working as long as sellers are selling and buyers are buying,” said Blatz. “With the summer market off to a busy start, agents will likely be in their offices while others are at the beach.”
About the Data Sets:
The tracking of signed purchase and sales agreements (also called “pending sales”) provide reliable information about where the real estate market is heading in coming months.
A pending sale or a sale “under agreement” happens when the buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale of a home and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded as such. MAR is the only organization, which compiles this statewide information from Multiple Listing Services each month.
Monthly pending (or under agreement) data and closed sales data comes from the three Realtor®-affiliated Multiple Listing Services in Massachusetts. They are the Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service, Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors® Multiple Listing Service, Inc.; and MLS Property Information Network, Inc. The data is compiled by ShowingTime 10K and updated each month. As a result, previous data may change after the reports have been run.
The REALTOR® Index Methodology – The Massachusetts Realtor® Market Confidence Index (RMCI) and Price Confidence Index (RPCI) are based on monthly responses from a random sampling of Massachusetts Association of Realtors® members on the state of the housing market. More specifically, the survey asks members two basic questions pertaining to the real estate business in their market area in Massachusetts.
- How would you describe the current housing market?
- What are your expectations of home prices over the next year?
In addition to these standard questions, the survey each month includes one wildcard question that changes each month and is based on an industry hot topic.
The RMCI is calculated in the following way. Respondents indicate whether conditions are, or are expected to be “strong” (100 points), “moderate” (50 points), and “weak” (0 points). The results are the average score for each question. A score of 50 is the threshold between a “strong” and a “weak” condition. Similarly, the question about home prices over the next year (Realtor® Price Confidence Index) is calculated using five categories: “Rise 0-5%” (75 points), “Rise 5%+” (100 points), “Level” (50 points), “Fall 0-5%” (25 points), and “Fall >5%” (0 points).
About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® is a professional trade organization with more than 22,000+ members. The term Realtor® is registered as the exclusive designation of members of the National Association of Realtors® who subscribe to a strict code of ethics and enjoy continuing education programs.
Editors and reporters: Please note that the term Realtor is properly spelled with an initial capital “R”, per the Associated Press Stylebook.
by Eric Berman – eberman (at) marealtor (dot) com – 781-839-5507
