July sales down as home, condo prices remain high

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2016/08/23/july-sales-down-as-home-condo-prices-remain-high/

Home sales in Massachusetts fell 12.5 percent in July, a month that featured the second highest median sale price on record, The Warren Group reported Tuesday morning.

The median sale price of a single-family home in July was $369,900, a $9,000 increase from $360,000 last July but a drop from June’s record median sale price of $372,000. The median condo sale price in July of $350,000 was a record high.

Condo sales dropped by 15.7 percent in July, but have increased by 7.4 percent year to date. Home sales in Massachusetts are up 15.2 percent so far this year, with year-to-date prices up 1.5 percent.

“Sales are definitely going strong, especially in terms of prices,” Cassidy Murphy, editorial director of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “Last year’s market was an unusual one and a drop in the number of sales year-over-year isn’t unusual in this case. Low inventory, especially in the median price range, continues to be an issue in many areas of the state and prices are rising as a result.”

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors also reported a drop in sales, the first in 14 months. “Buyers finally took a break for the first time since May 2015,” association president Annie Blatz said. “So much of this year’s activity came early when the market typically is slow. We also know some buyers are getting priced out of the market, and the only way we can fix this is with more inventory.”

— Written by Michael Norton

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