BOSTON – Sales of Massachusetts single-family homes and condominiums each plummeted in the third quarter by 23 percent from year-ago figures – the biggest quarterly percentage drop in condo sales in 15 years, and the biggest drop in at least 20 years for sales of single-family homes, The Warren Group of Boston said in a report issued today on BusinessWire.
In the three months ending Sept. 30, Massachusetts single-family home sales dropped 23.4 percent, with 15,059 units sold, and their median sale price fell 7.7 percent, to $330,000. It exceeds the sales drop of 18.7 percent in the second quarter of 1995, which until now had been the biggest since The Warren Group began compiling figures in 1987.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Condo sales fell 23.3 percent in the third quarter, with 8,121 units sold, and the median sale price slipped 4.2 percent, to $275,000. The 23.3 percent drop was the biggest since the first quarter of 1991.
The Warren Group’s full report on Massachusetts third-quarter home sales appears in today’s issue of Banker & Tradesman (www.bankersandtradesman.com).
“The market correction is taking hold, and we expect it to continue into 2007,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, in a statement today. “Buyers are driving harder bargains, and owners who have to sell are being forced to lower their prices. The softness may continue for a while, but the market should reach a state of equilibrium next year as buyers and sellers sort out the current situation.”
Sales and median prices were down in virtually every Bay State county in the third quarter.
Nantucket County, with only 35 single-family home sales, suffered the biggest percentage decline, of 56.3 percent, and Suffolk’s decline of 34.4 percent was second worst; Hampshire’s 12.6 percent decline was the mildest. Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester counties all suffered 20- to 30-percent sales declines.
Median single-family sale prices rose in three counties: Nantucket (22.8 percent, to $1,925,000), Berkshire (3.2 percent to $180,000) and Franklin (2.4 percent to $189,950). Worcester and Bristol counties’ 9-percent price declines were the steepest in the Bay State.
Two counties saw condo sales rise in the third quarter: Franklin, with just 29 sales, hada 26.1-percent increase, while Hampshire’s sales were up 8.2 percent.
Four counties saw median condo sale prices rise: Hampshire (12.1 percent to $195,000), Nantucket (9.5 percent to $590,000), Berkshire (6.2 percent to $249,000) and Bristol (0.9 percent to $220,000).
The data provided by The Warren Group includes all sales logged by registries of deeds in Massachusetts. Additional statistics are available by contacting Mike O’Connell at PAN Communications, at (978) 474-1900, or at thewarrengroup@pancomm.com.
The Warren Group, based in Boston, is the region’s premier provider of real estate data. It is the publisher of Banker & Tradesman, The Commercial Record and a series of association publications. Additional information is available at www.thewarrengroup.com or by calling (617) 428-5100.
