Here are the numbers just in from the MAR on the first quaterer of this year."
Seeing the inventory of homes for sale go up is a good sign and a necessary step if the market is to truly stabilize," said 2010 MAR President Kevin Sears, broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield. "With the opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit expiring in two days and those sales closing on or before June 30, we'll get a real sense of where the market is in the summer and early fall." There were 2,890 detached single-family homes sold this March, a 29.3 percent increase from the 2,235 homes sold the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis, home sales were up 53.5 percent from 1,883 homes sold this past February. This is the largest March year-over-year increase since MAR has been tracking monthly data. The median selling price for single-family homes in March was $280,000 an increase of 9.8 percent compared to $255,000 in March 2009. This is the fifth straight month of year-over-year gains. On a month-to-month basis, the March median selling price was up 3.0 percent from $271,900 in February 2010.
The March condominium market was up 40.6 percent compared to the same time last year (from 922 units sold in 2009 to 1,296 units sold in 2010). On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were up 63.6 percent compared to the 792 units sold this past February. This is also the largest March year-over-year increase for condominiums since MAR has been tracking the data.
Condominium median selling prices in March were up 14.0 percent from $224,500 in 2009 to $256,000 in March 2010. This is the fourth straight month of year-over-year gains. On a month-to-month basis, the median selling price of a condominium was up 6.4 percent from a February 2010 median of $240,500. Inventory and Days on Market:
The inventory of single-family homes as of March 31, 2010 increased 2.0 percent from March 2009 (26,700 listings in 2009 to 27,362 listings in 2010) which translates into 9.5 months of supply in March 2010. This is down from 12.0 months of supply last year and down from 13.0 months in February 2010. This is the first time since March 2008 that inventory of homes for sale has gone up compared to the same month the year before.
The inventory of condominiums on the market in March was the same as the year before (11,700 listings in 2009 to 11,709 listings in 2010), which translates into 9.0 months of supply, which is down from 13.3 months in March 2009 and down from 13.1 months this past February. This is the first month since March 2008 that inventory didn't go down compared to the same month the year before. Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 132 days in March 2010 compared to an average of 156 days in March 2009, while condos stayed on the market an average of 137 days, down from an average of 158 days in March 2009. On a month-to-month basis, days on market for single-family homes were down from 137 days and condos were down from 142 days in February. Quarterly Information:
The number of single-family homes sold in the first quarter of 2010 was up 18.5 percent compared to the same time last year (5,611 homes sold in 2009 to 6,650 homes sold in 2010). Median selling prices were up 10.9 percent from $256,000 in 2009 to $284,000 in 2010.
The condominium market experienced an increase of 31.5 percent in the number of units sold in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year with 2,233 units sold in 2009 to 2,937 units sold in 2010. Median selling prices were up 17.4 percent from $215,000 in 2009 to $252,500 in 2010. Quarterly Regional Sales Data:
Regionally, every part of the state saw an increase in sales of single-family homes compared to the same quarter last year. The greater Boston region experienced the largest increase in sales at 26.6 percent (1,118 homes sold in 2009 compared to 1,415 homes sold in 2010). Of the seven regions, Cape Cod experienced the smallest increase in sales at 11.4 percent with 501 homes sold in Q1 2009 compared to 558 homes sold in Q1 2010.
In the first quarter of 2010, all regions of the state experienced increases in median prices compared to the same quarter last year. Cape Cod had the biggest increase in median prices at 17.2 percent from $282,500 in Q1 2009 to $331,225 in Q1 2010. The Southeast was the only region to have no gain over the year before with a median price of $215,000.
In the condo market, Cape Cod had the largest increase in sales, with a 48.7 percent jump compared to the same quarter last year with 78 units sold in 2009 to 116 units sold in 2010. The Central region had the smallest increase in condo sales at 11.9 percent, going from 226 units sold in Q1 2009 to 253 units sold in Q1 2010.
Cape Cod also had the largest increase in median prices with a 29.4 percent increase over the same time last year (from $192,500 in Q1 2009 to $249,000 in Q1 2010). The Southeast region experienced no gain compared to the same quarter last year with a median price of $100,000. Multi-Family Sales:
The multi-family housing market experienced a 14.6 percent decrease in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same time last year with 1,610 multi-family homes sold in 2009 to 1,375 in 2010. Despite the decrease in sales, median prices were up 17.6 percent compared to the same time last year from $170,000 in 2009 to $200,000 in 20010. For multi-family regional data go to www.marealtor.com.
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.
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