Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

The median price of a condominium in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood increased 10.2 percent in February to $360,500 compared to $327,000 in February 2013, according to data compiled by the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. 

Through the first two months of 2014, the median condo price increased to $376,000 from $345,000 in January 2013 and February 2013, a 9 percent increase. The median condo price in Jamaica Plain increased 9.8 percent in 2013 to $375,000 from $341,500 in 2012.

Massachusetts single-family home sales declined 5.9 percent in February compared to February 2013, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reported March 25, 2014, citing a lack of inventory as the cause of the slowdown in home sales.

On the other hand, the lack of inventory has put pressure on home prices. The median price for single-family homes sold in February was $294,950, an increase of 7.3 percent from $275,000 in February 2013. February marked the 17th straight monthly year-over-year increase in median price in the Bay State. On a month-to-month basis, February's median price declined 7.8 percent from $320,000 in January 2014.

Massachusetts median home prices increased 9.2 percent in 2013, much more in some sought-after city and towns, but it appears price growth may be slowing in 2014, as higher interest rates and home prices have lessened affordability. 

The price of homes in Boston were 9.1 percent higher in January 2014 compared to January 2013; however, Great Boston Area home prices declined 0.5 percent compared to December 2013, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a survey of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas. The January 2014 report was released March 25, 2014.

After increasing 17.1 percent in December 2013 and 8.7 percent for all of 2013, the median price of a single-family home in Lexington, Massachusetts declined 20.3 percent in January 2014, according data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR).

There were 13 homes sold in Lexington, MA in January 2014, with a median price of $767.000. In January 2013, there were 14 homes sold, with a median price of $962,500.

The median price of a single-family home in Salem, Massachusetts increased 19 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR). 

The median price of a single-family house in 2013 was $309,500, an increase from $260,000 in 2012. Home prices continued to rise in January 2014. In January, the median home price was $339,500 compared to $274,000 in January 2013, an increase of 23.9 percent. 

The median price of a single-family home in Haverhill, Massachusetts increased 1.7 percent in January 2014 and increased 13.8 percent in 2013, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR). 

The median price of a single-family home in January 2014 was $246,525 compared to $242,500 in January 2013. The median home price in Haverhill, MA was $261,000 in 2013 an increase from $229,450 in 2012. 

The number of single-family homes sold in Dedham, Massachusetts decreased by 40 percent in January after a 9.5 percent increase in home sales in 2013, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR).

There were nine single-family homes sold in Dedham, MA in January 2014, a 40 percent decline from the 15 homes sold in January 2013. There were 265 homes sold in 2013 compared to 242 homes sold in 2012, an increase of 9.5 percent. 

The number of single-family homes sold in Newburyport, Massachusetts declined 46.7 percent in January compared to January 2013, according to data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

There were only eight single-family homes sold in January compared to 15 home sales in January 2013.  

The price of homes in Boston were 9.6 percent higher in December 2013 compared to December 2012; however, home prices declined 0.1 compared to November 2013, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a survey of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas. The report was released February 25, 2014.

Massachusetts single-family home sales increased 5 percent in January 2014, reaching the highest number of sales recorded for any January since 2007, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported February 25, 2014.

The jump in single-family home sales came after two months of modest decreases in sales that had many in the real estate industry wondering whether the Bay State housing market would slow down in 2014.

After a dip in home prices from 2009 to 2010, the median price of a single-family home in Wakefield, Massachusetts increased every year through 2013, according to data provided by MLS Property Information Network, Inc. (MLS PIN). 

In 2009, the median price of a single family home in Wakefield, MA was $389,900; however, in 2010, the price dropped to $372,000, then increased at an average of 3.8 percent per year. The biggest spike in price occurred in 2013, when the median price of a single-family home increased by 6.3 percent. In 2013, the median price was $416,000, a cumulative 11.8 percent increase since the price drop in 2010. Median prices for each year were as follows:

It has been a bumpy ride, but median price of a single-family home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts has increased nearly 17 percent from 2009 through 2013, according to data compiled from MLS Property Information Network, Inc.

The median home price dropped from 2009 to 2010, increased in 2011, declined in 2012 and rose again in 2013.