Median Home Prices Back Over $300,000 As Number of Homes Put Under Agreement are Up Over the Same Time Last Year

WALTHAM, MA – July 28, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that median home prices for single-family homes are back above $300,000 for the first time since August 2008.  On a year-over-year basis, median prices were down 8.6 percent for single-family homes and down 6.6 percent for condos.  Despite those decreases, single-family home sales were down only 1.9 percent compared to June 2008 while condo sales were down 13.4 percent.  The number of pending sales (homes put under agreement in June) was up over five percent from the same time last year.

“Based on what we experienced in June, it is quite clear that the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is helping to move the market in the right direction,” said MAR President Gary Rogers, a broker at RE/MAX First Realty in Waltham.  “We still have a way to go, especially with continuing concerns about unemployment; but with the number of pending sales up over the same time last year we do have reason to feel optimistic.”

There were 4,146 detached single-family homes sold this June, a 1.9 percent decrease from the 4,226 homes sold the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis, home sales were up 39.4 percent from 2,975 homes sold this past May.  This is the second largest May-to-June increase since 1996.
The median selling price for single-family homes in June was $306,000, a decrease of 8.6 percent compared to $334,900 in June 2008.  This is the first time the median price of a single-family home has been over $300,000 since August 2008.  In addition, the June median price was up 21 percent from the 2009 low of $252,500 in February. On a month-to-month basis, the June median selling price was up 6.4 percent from $287,500 in May 2009.  This is the fourth straight month of month-to-month increases.  The June median selling price continues to be back at more affordable 2003 levels.
The condominium market experienced a decrease of 13.4 percent in the number of units sold this June compared to the same time last year (from 1,874 units sold in 2008 to 1,623 units sold in 2009).  On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were up 26.9 percent compared to the 1,279 units sold this past May.  This is the fifth straight month of month-to-month increases.  *Please see note at bottom of release regarding condo sales.
Condominium median selling prices in June were down 6.6 percent from $294,500 in 2008 to $275,000 in 2009.  The June median price was up 35 percent from the 2009 low of $204,000 January. On a month-to-month basis, the median selling price of a condominium was up 3.8 percent from a May median of $265,000.  The May median selling price for a condominium is back to 2007 levels.

Pending Sales:
The number of single-family homes put under agreement in June was up 5.0 percent compared to the same time last year (4,885 homes in 2008 to 5,153 homes in 2009).  On a month-to-month basis, single-family homes put under agreement were up 7.3 percent from 4,802 homes in May.  The number of condos put under agreement in June was down 2 percent compared to June 2008 (2,164 units in 2008 to 2,127 units in 2009).  On a month-to-month basis, condos put under agreement were up 5 percent from 2,025 units in May. Pending sales or sales “under agreement” are homes that have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded.

Inventory and Days on Market:
The inventory of residential properties on the market as of June 30, 2009 decreased 16 percent compared to the same time last year (from 50,705 listings in 2008 to 42,355 listings in 2009).  At the current sales pace, this represents approximately 7.4 months of supply, down from 8.3 months of supply in June 2008.  On a month-to-month basis, the average months of supply is down from 9.9 months in May.  It is considered a balanced market when there are between 7.5 and 8.5 months of supply.
The inventory of single-family homes also decreased 16.0 percent from June 2008 (35,516 listings in 2008 to 29,949 listings in 2009) which translates into 7.2 months of supply in June 2009.  This is down from 8.4 months of supply last year and down from 9.8 months of supply in May.  Supply is down to its lowest levels since mid-2007.  This is the 15th straight month that inventory has gone down compared to the year before.
The condominium market saw June inventory decrease by 18 percent from last year (15,189 listings in 2008 to 12,406 listings in 2009), which translates into 8.0 months of supply, which is the same as June 2008 and down from 10.2 months this past April.  This is the 15th straight month that inventory has gone down compared to the year before.
“With inventory going down for the past 15 months, it doesn’t take much of an uptick in sales – even if it is still lower than last year- to bring the months of supply down to it lowest levels in years,” said Rogers.
Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 135 days in June 2009 compared to an average of 129 days in June 2008, while condos stayed on the market an average of 135 days, down from an average of 140 days in June 2008.  On a month-to-month basis, days on market for single-family homes were down from 148 days and condos were down from 149 days in May.

Quarterly Information:
The number of single-family homes sold in the second quarter of 2009 was down 9.3 percent compared to the same time last year (10,519 homes sold in 2008 to 9,544 homes sold in 2009).  Median selling prices were down 9.9 percent from $325,000 in 2008 to $292,700 in 2009.
The condominium market experienced a drop of 19.7 percent in the number of units sold in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year with 4,802 units sold in 2008 to 3,858 units sold in 2009.  Median selling prices were down 8.4 percent from $285,000 in 2008 to $261,121 in 2009.

Quarterly Regional Sales Data:
Regionally, every part of the state saw a decrease in sales of single-family homes compared to the same quarter last year, except the Southeastern part of the state, which saw an increase of 2.3 percent (390 homes sold in 2008 compared to 399 homes sold in 2009).  Of the seven regions, Cape Cod experienced the largest drop in sales at 27.1 percent with 932 homes sold in Q2 2008 compared to 679 homes sold in Q2 2009.

The Southeastern region experienced the largest drop in median prices in Q2 with a decrease of 12.4 percent over the same time last year from $250,000 in 2009 to $219,000 in 2009.  Cape Cod had the smallest decrease in median prices at 7.1 percent from $350,000 in 2008 to $325,000 in 2009.

In the condo market, the Central region had the largest drop in sales, with a 28.2 percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year with 386 units sold in 2008 to 277 units sold in 2009.  The South Shore had the smallest decrease in condo sales at 7.8 percent, going from 425 units sold in 2008 to 392 units sold in 2009.
Greater Boston had the smallest decrease in median prices at 5.6 percent increase in median prices (from $360,000 in 2008 to $339,500 in 2008).  The Southeast region experienced the biggest drop in median prices, with a significant 42 percent drop compared to the same quarter last year (from $250,000 in 2008 to $145,000 in 2009).
 * Due to data uploading problems, the number of condominums for the months of March, April and May had been under-reported.  The data has been corrected in both monthly and quarterly reports and are available at www.marealtor.com/content/housing_data.htm.

About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade organization with more than 20,000 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.