Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

U.S. Existing Home Sales Up In June

Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June, the National Association of Realtors® reported July 23, 2009.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops – increased 3.6 percent compared to May, but were 0.2 percent lower than in June 2008.

Total housing inventory at the end of June fell 0.7 percent to 3.82 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.8-month supply in May. Raw inventory totals are 14.9 percent below a year ago.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $181,800 in June, which is 15.4 percent below June 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 31 percent of sales in June, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 2.5 percent compared to May, but were 4.7 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $249,400, down 5.9 percent from June 2008.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 0.9 percent in June, but were 1.8 percent lower than June 2008. The median price in the Midwest was $157,000, about 9.1 percent below a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 4 percent in June, but are 3.7 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $163,200, down 11.9 percent from June 2008.

Existing-home sales in the West improved by 6.4 percent in June, and sales were 11.5 percent higher than June 2008. The median price in the West was $214,800, down 24.9 percent from a year ago.

U.S. Mortgage Applications Decline

U.S. mortgage applications declined 6.3 percent compared to the previous week, CNN Money reported July 29, 2009.

It was the first time in four weeks that mortgage applications dropped. The data comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

Applications for purchase loans were flat, but refinance loan applications declined.

Read The CNN Money Article

Massachusetts Pending Sales Up, Inventory Plummets

The number of single-family homes put under agreement in June was up 5 percent compared to June 2008 (4,885 homes in 2008 to 5,153 homes in 2009), the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® reported July 28, 2009.

Pending sales or sales “under agreement” are homes that have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded.

On a month-to-month basis, single-family homes put under agreement jumped 7.3 percent from 4,802 homes in May.  The number of condos put under agreement in June was down 2 percent compared to June 2008 (2,164 units in 2008 to 2,127 units in 2009).  On a month-to-month basis, condos put under agreement increased 5 percent from 2,025 units in May.

The inventory of residential properties on the market as of June 30, 2009 decreased 16 percent compared to the same time last year (from 50,705 listings in 2008 to 42,355 listings in 2009).  At the current sales pace, this represents approximately 7.4 months of supply, down from 8.3 months of supply in June 2008.  On a month-to-month basis, the average months of supply is down from 9.9 months in May.  It is considered a balanced market when there are between 7.5 and 8.5 months of supply.

The inventory of single-family homes also decreased 16 percent from June 2008 (35,516 listings in 2008 to 29,949 listings in 2009) which translates into 7.2 months of supply in June 2009.  This is down from 8.4 months of supply last year and down from 9.8 months of supply in May.  Supply is down to its lowest levels since mid-2007.  This is the 15th straight month that inventory has gone down compared to the year before.

The condominium market saw June inventory decrease by 18 percent from last year (15,189 listings in 2008 to 12,406 listings in 2009), which translates into 8 months of supply, which is the same as June 2008 and down from 10.2 months this past April.  This is the 15th straight month that inventory has gone down compared to the year before.

Massachusetts June Home Prices, Sales Decline

Single-family home sales in Massachusetts dipped nearly 5 percent in June from a year ago, while the median home price declined 8 percent, The Warren Group, a publisher of real estate data, reported July 28, 2009.

“Even though sales and prices are still sliding, June delivered the smallest year-over-year drop that we’ve seen so far in 2009. This is good news. In fact, the declines in the number of sales and median price for single-family homes were in the single digits, a vast improvement over the declines we saw earlier in the year,” Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said.  “The median home price in June exceeded $300,000 for the first time since last August. It is good to see this trend toward moderation in June, historically the strongest month of the year for real estate closings.”

June single-family home sales slipped 4.9 percent to 4,436 from 4,664 in June 2008. Home sales from January through June totaled 16,541, a 10.7 percent drop from 18,521 during the same months in 2008. It was the slowest sales pace for the six-month period since The Warren Group began tracking the Bay State real estate market in 1987.

The median price for homes sold in June fell 8 percent to $302,500 from $329,000 in June 2008.

The median price for homes sold through June 2009 was $275,000, down 12.7 percent from $315,000 a year ago.

Of the single-family home sales that occurred in the first two quarters of 2009, 6.5 percent (1,070 homes) were bank-owned properties, which are also known as real estate-owned properties. The median price of the real estate-owned home sales was $100,000. Last year during the same months, 5.2 percent of the single-family homes that were sold (965 homes) were owned by lending institutions, and the median price of those homes was $156,000.

The foreclosure prices reported support what I have been telling buyers for many months. There really are two separate housing markets. One market includes bank-owned properties that typically need tens of thousands of dollars of work. The other market includes homes first-time home buyers actually want to buy.

As with single-family homes, the year-over-year decline in condominium sales and prices moderated in June.  Condo sales tumbled 16.1 percent to 1,916 in June from 2,285 a year ago. Monthly condo sales have been falling by double-digit percentages year-over-year since last November.

A total of 7,464 condos sold in the first six months of 2009, down from 9,838 during the same period in 2008. It was the weakest first two quarters for condo sales since 1995.

The median price for condos sold in June was $278,624, 5.7 percent lower than $295,500 last June. The year-to-date median condo price retreated 11.5 percent to $245,000 from $277,000.

North Andover, MA April Sales, Home Prices Increase

Sales of single-family homes are up 30 percent this April compared with last year in North Andover, Massachusetts. This increase is the first following a sharp decline between April 2007 and April 2008; when comparing these two periods, there were 47.4 percent fewer homes sold in North Andover, MA in April 2008 than in April 2007.

Median sales prices saw a steady decline in the month of April starting in 2006 and continuing until 2008. The total decline in price during this period is 5.9 percent. In April 2009, there was a 17.3 percent increase over the median sales price in April 2008. The median price in April 2009 is 10 percent higher than it was in April 2006.

Listing times for properties remained relatively constant during April of each year. In April 2009, homes were listed for a period 6.1 percent shorter than that of 2008. This April, compared with April 2006, saw a selling period 1.6 percent shorter. 

The data comes from MLS Property Information Network, Inc.

North Andover, MA Real Estate Market Data

                    Median Price    Number of Sales            Days on the Market

April 2006:        $494,000                        19                                   125   
April 2007:        $480,000                        19                                   135   
April 2008:        $465,000                        10                                   131   
April 2009:        $543,500                        13                                   123

Haverhill, MA Home Prices Decline Slightly In April

Between April 2006 and April 2009, the median price for a single-family home in Haverhill, Massachusetts has decreased by 16.83 percent. In 2006, the median price for a single-family home was $315,000. By April 2009, the median price had dropped to $262,000. April 2007 and 2008 also experienced incremental decreases in median price, as compared with the same month of the preceding years. The median price drop from April 2008 to April 2009 was just 3.14 percent. 

While April 2007 saw 37 single-family homes sold during the month in Haverhill, MA, each of the other three years experienced lower sales, including 23 for this past April.

During April 2009, the average number of days on the market for single-family homes in Haverhill was 142 days compared to 191 days in 2008. While this statistic is still an increase from 2006 and 2007, it represents a 25.65 percent decrease from 2008. This means that homes spent an average of 49 fewer days on the market this April than they did in April 2008.          

The data comes from MLS Property Information Network, Inc.

Haverhill, MA Real Estate Market Data     

                       Median Price    Number of Sales    Days on the Market

April 2006:        $315,000                     22                                  100   
April 2007:        $304,500                     37                                  136
April 2008:        $270,500                     24                                  191   
April 2009:        $262,000                     23                                  142

U.S. Mortgage Applications Rise

U.S. mortgage applications rose 2.8 percent compared to the previous week, CNN Money reported July 22, 2009.

The data comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to purchase homes rose 1.3 percent.

"Home affordability has vastly improved with mortgage rates about 1-1/4 percentage less than a year ago and home prices, based on the S&P/Case-Shiller gauges, plunging an average 32% in the past three years."

Read The CNN Money Article

Quincy, MA Multi-family Home Sales, Price Drop Q1

First quarter sales of multi-family properties in Quincy, Massachusetts declined to 13, a 40.9 percent drop compared to Q1 2008.  Over the past three years, first quarter sales numbers averaged 21 and had remained relatively stable.

Median price for Quincy, MA multi-family homes during the first quarter was above $420,000 from 2006 to 2008; however, last quarter’s median price stood at $352,000. The median price fell 16.29 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

During the first quarter of this year, the average number of days on the market for a Quincy multi-family property was 82.  Although last quarter’s average is 34.42 percent greater than in Q1 2008, it is very similar to the average number of days on the market during the first quarters of 2006 and 2007.

The data comes from MLS Property Information Network, Inc.

Quincy, MA Multi Family Real Estate Market Data

                   Median Price    Number of Sales    Days on the Market

Q1 2006:        $484,000                     21                                 86  
Q1 2007:        $464,000                     20                                 83
Q1 2008:        $420,500                     22                                 61
Q1 2009:        $352,000                     13                                 82

Andover, MA April Home Sales Increase, Prices Decline

Andover, Massachusetts single-family home sales were slightly up in April 2009 compared with April 2008, climbing 13.3 percent. The number of closed properties was only 15 percent lower than that of April 2006 or April 2007.  

Home prices have varied quite a bit over the last four years in Andover, with the median price falling 8.2 percent in April 2009 compared with April 2008. April 2007 saw a larger-than-average number of homes sold in the $500,000 to $599,999 and $600,000 to $699,000 ranges, pushing the median price above normal expectations. The April 2009 median price is actually 7.5 percent higher than that of April 2006, but was 24.8 percent less than the April 2007 median price of $638,750.

Property listing periods decreased drastically in April 2009 compared with homes averaging 33.2 percent fewer days on the market this April. The number of days on the market in 2009 was lower than any of the other years during the same period. 

The data comes from MLS Property Information Network, Inc.

Andover, MA Real Estate Market Data

                    Median Price    Number of Sales    Days on the Market

April 2006:        $446,500                        20                                   181   
April 2007:        $638,750                        20                                   151   
April 2008:        $523,000                        15                                   184   
April 2009:        $480,000                        17                                   123

 

Home Buyer Tax Credit Loan For Down Payment

As part of the Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval Patrick today announced July 14, 2009 a first-time home buyer tax credit loan program through MassHousing that will allow first-time home buyers to borrow up to $8,000 in advance of their federal tax credit for homes purchased with a MassHousing loan before December 1, 2009.

The loan will allow Massachusetts home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit from the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 as a funding source at the time of closing to help purchase the home (i.e., for down payment and/or closing costs). Under HERA, the maximum available credit is $8,000 and is claimed when home buyers file their 2009 federal tax return.

Applicants must meet certain qualifications, including, (1) applicants must be first-time home buyers using a MassHousing mortgage through a MassHousing-approved lender; (2) home buyers must use the home as a principal residence for a minimum of three years (the tax credit loan cannot be used for investor properties); and (3) home buyers must purchase a one, two, three or four-family home from a seller unrelated to the buyer by November 30, 2009.

Home buyers who take advantage of the program will have the principal and interest payments on the tax credit loan deferred from the time of closing until the loan due date of June 1, 2010. If the loan is not repaid in full by June 1, 2010, the loan will be amortized for 10 years at the same interest rate as the borrower's first mortgage loan.

I only have one question. Why wasn't this program launched three or four months ago? There's only about three months left to find a home and still have enough time to close before December 1, 2009.

Read The Press Release About The Home Buyer Tax Credit Loan

Many Homes Assessed Too High

As many as 60 percent of U.S. homes may be assessed too high, according to the National Taxpayers Union, but most homeowners don't know how the process works or that they can appeal their tax assessment, The Boston Globe reported June 11, 2009.

Depending on your municipalities last assessment, your property's assessed value may be out of date. You are likely to have more success now appealing your tax assessment, because in most areas there is a large disparity between assessed values from the real estate boom years and the current depressed market values.

In Massachusetts, the appeal is called an abatement of real estate taxes. Abatement applications are available at all city and town assessors office, or online.

The Massachusetts state Web site has a Web page with tax abatement tips.

Read The Boston Globe Article