The Warren Group’s 2010 home sales report for the state of Massachusetts revealed positive and negative news for residents living in single-family homes and condominiums.
The report indicated that home and condominium sales decreased throughout the state in 2010, but the median selling price for both real estate properties increased from year-to-year.
Massachusetts had a year-to-year drop in single-family home sales by 0.73% in 2010, with 41,279 sales last year compared to 41,583 in 2009. December was the first time in five months that saw a monthly year-to-year increase in single-family home sales, rising from 3,350 to 3,581.
“December was a remarkable month for home sales in Massachusetts,” said Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. “It’s rare to have an increase in sales in December—this is the best December we’ve had since 2006.”
Even with higher sales in December, the state’s fourth-quarter home sales decreased by more than 19%. A total of 9,448 sales occurred in the fourth quarter last year, about 2,000 less sales than 2009.
Condominium sales also decreased from year-to-year, dropping 3.5% to 18,087 from 18,743. This is the state’s lowest number of condominium sales since 1996, when there were 17,453 transactions.
State condominium sales have been decreasing for six straight months, with December finishing the year down 1.2% to 1,590 sales. The overall fourth quarter was behind 2009 sales rates by almost 26%, with only 3,929 in 2010 compared to 5,289 during the same time period last year.
Despite fewer sales taking place, the median selling price for single-family homes and condominiums both increased from year-to-year.
Condominium median prices were valued to $265,000 last year, up 5.2% from $252,000 in 2009. The state’s housing data report indicated that median prices for a condominium rose every month in 2010.
Banks represented 5.6% of all condominium sales in 2010, a 0.1% increase from 2009, owning a total of 1,021 properties.
Single-family homes saw their median sale prices increase in 2010 by $10,000, up to $295,000. This is the first statewide year-to-year increase for median prices since 2005.
The state’s median home prices remained below $300,000 in every month except June, July and August last year. December was the only month that had a year-to-year decrease in the median sale price for single-family homes. The monthly median sale price was $277,676, down 5.9% from $295,000 in 2009.
Warren said the drop in median sale price was expected after five consecutive months of sales declines.
“A slow market has brought buyers to the table, and deals are being made at lower prices,” Warren said.
Banks owned a total of 2,677 single-family homes, which represents 6.5% of all the homes on the market. In 2009, banks owned 4.5% of the available homes in the state.
