Massachusetts median home sale price tops $900,000 MABA MassachusettsRealEstate FirstTimeHomeBuyers MaBuyerAgent

The median sale price of a home in Massachusetts topped $900,000 in July, breaking records, despite softening demand and rising mortgage rates. July’s median sale price for both single-family homes and condominiums rose eight  percent year over year, even as July saw the lowest level of activity for the month in nearly twelve years, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors (GBAR) July housing report.

The median sales price of a single-family home in July rose to an all-time monthly high last month to $910,000, up eight point three percent from July 2022’s $840,000, topping May 2023’s previous record high of $900.000. Sales prices also improved month over month, up two point two percent from June. The condominium median sale prices also set a new record in July of $735,000, up seven point eight percent from last year’s $682,000. Despite setting a new July record, prices were down one point three percent from their June 2023 record high of $745,000. “Prices have held up quite well in the face of declining sales activity mostly due to the fact competition in the market has become more heated as the number of listings has shrunk,” said GBAR President Alison Socha.

“With fewer properties available for sale, sellers are taking advantage by commanding top dollar. We’re also seeing more multiple offer situations and sales over asking price which is putting additional upward pressure on prices.” The latest report indicates prices have recovered nicely after several months of softening. Socha said there’s been a steady rebound in prices this spring and summer, allowing most sellers to regain any equity they may have lost as the market cooled late last year. “For those looking to move up or trade down, the current period of low inventory and high prices offers a real opportunity to capitalize on the market’s strength,” Socha said. A sluggish buying season

Year over year, sales of both single-family homes and condominiums declined in July. Socha said Greater Boston hasn’t “experienced a buying season this sluggish, with sales so hard to come by, since we were emerging from the Great Recession.” In July, single-family home sales fell twenty three point four percent year over year, with one thousand and sixty three homes sold, compared to one thousand three hundred and eighty seven homes sold in July 2022. Sales also slid month-over-month, falling twenty point three percent from June, making it the slowest July for single-family home sales since 2010. July also marked the fourteenth month in a row single-family home sales fell on an annual basis. Condominium sales saw a sixteen point seven percent decline from a year earlier, with nine hundred and twenty seven units sold, compared to one thousand one hundred and thirteen in July 2022. Month-over-month sales fell fifteen point one percent, marking the slowest July for condo sales since 2011. July was the twentyth month in a row condo sales declined on an annual basis.

“This year has been especially frustrating for prospective buyers because inventory levels have been so limited,” Socha said. “And to make matters worse, purchasing power has declined since the spring due to higher mortgage rates, which has further reduced the opportunities to buy and diminished the overall buyer pool, creating weaker demand in recent months.” Inventory still not meeting demand Inventory continues to not be able to keep up with demand and July was no exception. At the end of the month, there was only a one- to two-month supply of properties for sale, which the report noted was better than June, but not enough to meet current demand.

Active listings of single-family homes in July declined thirty percent from one thousand and seven hundred last year to one thousand one hundred and ninety three. Condo listings also declined, falling twenty percent from two thousand and sixty five last July to one thousand six hundred and fifty two last month. Month over month, new listings also declined as single-family home listings fell twenty five percent from June and condo listings fell eighteen percent. “The lack of inventory along with today’s higher mortgage rates has not only handcuffed home buyers, it’s created indecision on the part of prospective sellers too,” Socha said. “Many owners are opting to stay put rather than sell over concerns they’ll be unable to find a new place to live or have to pay a higher rate loan, and that’s keeping properties off the market.”
Competition increases

Sellers are in the driver’s seat with the shortage of listings as limited inventory continues to drive up competition. July’s sold-to-list-price ratio reached or exceeded one hundred percent for the fourth month in a row, according to the report. In July, the typical single-family home sold for one hundred and three point four percent of its asking price, while a typical condo sold for one hundred point four percent above the original price. “Even as the market has cooled, many sellers are getting their asking price and accepting an offer in just three weeks’ time,” Socha said. The report also found that time on market continues to decrease as it has since the end of last year. Single-family homes listed for a median of twenty days, compared to thirty four in December, and condominiums stayed on the market for twenty one days, compared to forty one days in December.

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