Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

Conventional wisdom among many real estate professionals is that Massachusetts home sales have declined for the past few months because of the lack of inventory, but some home buyers may just be fed up with the bidding wars in some communities. 

More home buyers are just refusing to make offers at or significantly over list price when too many list prices already appear overpriced. Home buyers are seeking alternatives, such as buying condominiums over single-family homes and considering cities and towns that have not been swept up in the bidding war hysteria. Home buyers may just be tired of hearing, "All offers due Tuesday by noon."

On the other hand, homes closed in April reflect offers made in February and March when Massachusetts was still in the grips of an unusually tough winter, so the sales numbers in May and June may reveal an increase in home sales. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reported May 13, 2014 pending home sales for single-family homes had its biggest April since MAR began tracking pending home sales in January 2004. The number of single-family homes put under agreement, or pending, in April increased 3.6 percent compared to the same time last year (5,753 homes in 2014 from 5,555 homes in 2013). On a month-to-month basis, single-family homes put under agreement in April 2014 increased 11 percent compared to 5,185 homes put under agreement in March 2014.  

Single-family home sales decreased 2.3 percent in April compared to April 2013, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported May 28, 2014. There were 3,427 single-family homes sold compared to 3,508 homes sold in April 2013. 

Through April, Massachusetts single-family home sales are down 2.4 percent, with a total of 10,984 homes sold, compared to the same four-month period last year.

The median price for single-family homes sold in April rose a modest 0.6 percent to $315,000 from $313,000 a year ago. April marked the 19th consecutive month that the median sales price increased statewide. The median selling price for the first four months of the year was $309,350, a 5.2 percent increase from the $294,000 median price recorded during the January through April period in 2013.

Condominium sales increased in April by 7 percent to 1,596 from 1,493 in April 2013. A total of 5,018 condo units sold in the first four months of the year, a 10.5 percent jump from the 4,542 sales during the same period in 2013. April marked the 10th consecutive month of condominium sales increases.

The median price of a Massachusetts condo increased 10.7 percent in April to $310,000 compared with $280,000 in April 2013. From January through April, the median condo price also posted a big increase, jumping 15 percent to $298,750 from $260,000 during the first four months of 2013.

The number of Massachusetts homes for sale continued to decline in April, according to data released May 28, 2014 by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The number of single-family homes for sale as of April 30, 2014 decreased 12 percent compared to April 2013 (19,240 listings in 2014 from 21,858 listings in 2013). The number of homes available translated into 4.6 months of supply in April, down from 5.5 months of supply in April 2013; however, a slight increase from 4.3 months of supply in March 2014. Months of supply in many cities and towns inside Route 128 in less than two months. While April was the 26th straight month of inventory decreases, it was the smallest gap in the downward trend since June 2012. The number of new listings added to the single-family real estate market in April decreased 2.5 percent compared to April 2013 (8,986 new listings in 2014 from 9,214 in 2013).

The inventory of condominiums on the market in April declined 23.7 percent compared to the previous April (5,156 listings in 2014 from 6,757 listings in 2013).  The number of condos on the real estate market translated into 3.0 months of supply, down from 4.2 months in April 2013 and flat from March 2014. The number of new listings added to the condominium market in April decreased 4.7 percent from April 2013 (3,102 new listings in 2014 from 3,255 listings in 2013).