Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

Last year's epic string of winter storms slowed the start of the traditional Spring home-buying season, but Massachusetts homebuyers made up for lost time once the snow melted.

Massachusetts single-family home sales grew 10.5 percent to 54,523 sales in 2015 compared with 49,327 houses sold in 2014, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported January 27, 2016; however, only 15,238 sales occurred through May 2015, a 1.7 percent decrease from the first five months of 2014.

Once homebuyers came out of hibernation, they started buying homes at an exceptional rate. Starting in June 2015, the real estate market took off, posting seven straight months of double-digit home sales growth. From June through December, there were 39,274 sales, a 17.2 percent increase over the same time frame in 2014.

The median price for a single-family home in 2015 was $340,000 statewide, a 3 percent increase from 2014 when the median price was $330,000.

There were 4,913 single-family home sales in December, the highest sales total for the month since 2004. The 4,913 sales represented a 16.6 percent increase compared to December 2014.

The median home price in December was $335,000, a 4.7 percent increase from December 2014 when the median price was $320,000. 

Massachusetts condo sales also were strong in December and throughout 2015. There were 1,948 condo units sold in December, a 22.7 percent increase from 1,588 sales in December 2014. There were 22,098 condo sales in 2015, a 7.3 percent increase from 2014.

The median condo price was $314,110 in December, a 1.5 percent increase from December 2014’s $309,500 median price. The median price for a condo in 2015 was $316,810, a 2.2 percent increase from $310,000 in 2014.