Massachusetts Home Sales Decline In December

No matter what methodology you use to calculate home sales in December, Massachusetts home sales were down significantly.

According to data released by The Warren Group, which bases its numbers on information from the state's registries of deeds, single-family home sales declined 23.3 percent in December compared to December 2006.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR), which bases it's numbers on the various state multiple listing services (MLS), reported a 20 percent decrease in December sales.

For the year, The Warren Group reported an 8.4 percent decline in single-family homes, compared with 2006. The sale total was 50,435, the lowest since 1992. The median price dropped 4.6 percent for the year.

The MAR had single-family sales declining 4.3 percent in 2007 and median prices off 1.3 percent. Condo sales declined 4.4 percent, but median prices increased 2.5 percent, according to the MAR.

For data on any particular Massachusetts or New Hampshire community, please do not hesitate to contact me. To receive the latest home listings visit Buyers Brokers Only, LLC. For foreclosure listings by email, visit MassForeclosed.com.

Read The Boston Globe Article

Read The Boston Herald Article

Read The MAR Press Release

Comments

[RealEstateCafe]

"For the year, The Warren Group reported an 8.4 percent decline in single-family homes, compared with 2006. The sale total was 50,435, the lowest since 1992. The median price dropped 4.6 percent for the year."

Rich,

Thanks for the concise summary above. As a fellow buyer agent, don't you agree that focusing on median prices tends to understate the magnitude of price changes and savings opportunities in different communities across Greater Boston?

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The Real Estate Cafe
Serving a menu of money-saving real estate services "a la carte" since 1995

[Rich Rosa]

Hi Bill,

Thank you for the comment. I absolutely agree using statewide median price numbers certainly "tends to understate the magnitude of price changes and savings opportunities" in many cities and towns, but in a number of communities it overstates the price decline.

Take Lawrence, Lynn, Worcester, Brockton and a few other communities out of the statewide equation and I suspect the numbers would change a bit.

Some interesting things I have found while doing research for clients:

1. Several communities that saw a significant price drop in 2006 saw sales rise in 2007 and prices remain flat (up or down 2 percent or less).

2. The communities that have had little median price declines have seen bigger drops in over sales. For example, I did some research over the summer for a couple buying in Westford, MA. Over the course of the first six months of 2007, median prices for single-family homes actually rose 1.8 percent, but sales had declined more than 30 percent.

3. Besides the numerous other factors that go into negotiating on behalf of buyers, I have found the type of house matters. For example, digging a little deeper into the numbers sometimes reveals that although single-family home prices may have dropped by say 6 percent in a community, the decline may be much greater for ranch-style and split-entry homes and significantly less for colonial-style homes.

The bottom line is that consumers cannot totally rely on Web sites such as Zillow and Trulia, but must find professionals they can trust who will crunch the data and go to bat on their behalf.

One other thing, I find it very useful to not just compare 2006 and 2007 data, but also to include 2005 data for more perspective.

Thank you for the links too. I wish I was able to make the WebInnovatorsGroup tonight. It's sounds great. That GlassBooth.com Web site is really cool.