The Lamacchia Housing Report presents overall home sale statistics and highlights the average sale prices for single families, condominiums, and multi-family homes in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire for January 2018 compared to January 2017. It also looks at other metrics in Massachusetts like Homes Listed and Pending, as they are often the best indicators for predicting future trends in the market.
Massachusetts January Home Sales Down 0.69%
Massachusetts home sales decreased 0.69%, from 5,683 in January 2017 to 5,644 in January 2018. This proves that home sales are down at the beginning of this year not only nationally, but in Massachusetts as well, as last year began with a 7% increase comparatively.
Multi-families were the only category showing an increase in sales, up 1.01% from the year before. 593 were sold in January 2017, compared to 599 this year. Condos and single families decreased by 1.70% and 0.55% respectively, with condos at 1,469 in January 2017 to 1,444 in 2018. Single families went from 3,621 in January 2017 to 3,601 in 2018.
As with current national trends, the first month of 2018 kicked off with a short supply of homes and an increase in average sale prices. Overall, prices increased by 4.33% in January 2018, from $410,239 in January 2017 to $428,002 last month. Prices increased in multi-families by a little over 4.15%, from $414,899 to $432,116. Single-family prices increased 7.79%, going from $450,591 to $485,698 and condos fell behind, decreasing 2.39% with prices moving from $343,463 to $335,241.
Homes Listed for Sale:
In January 2017, 6,292 homes were listed for sale in Massachusetts compared to 5,461 in 2018, showing a 13.21% decrease which is no surprise, given that we are seeing the lowest inventory ever recorded, and that the national percentages are down as well, the typical trends in diminishing inventory during the winter months tend to make this happen as well. Click here to read a blog on inventory trends.
Pending Home Sales:
There were 5,902 homes that went pending in January 2017 and 5,562 in January 2018 showing a 5.76% decrease. With both listed and pending sales numbers down this month, it’s likely to see further diminishing sales numbers in the next month or so until the market picks back up for buyers in the spring.
Southern New Hampshire Home Sales Up 4.51%
The number of properties sold in Southern New Hampshire rose 4.51% from 754 to 788, showing a positive change, unlike national numbers for January. Multi-families saw the largest increase of 43.75% going from 32 sales in January 2017 to 46 last month. Single families increased 0.78%, now up to 517 from 513, and condos increased by 7.66%, with 225 over 209 last year.
The average price for homes in New Hampshire increased by 6.04%, a stronger change compared to December 2017 which increased only by half a percent. While single-family prices increased only by 0.99% (from $297,358 to $300,299), and condos decreased in average prices by 2.50% (from $234,760 to $228,887), multi-family prices more than doubled with a huge increase of 62.4% (from $256,823 to $417,083). Value for multi-families is increasing as home buyers are seeing an increased value in rental properties.
What’s Ahead?
This year is beginning as predicted, with low inventory, diminished home sales (in MA) and a strong increase in prices for homes. Demand is high, and that competition drives up prices- generally through bidding wars. Sellers are in the optimal position to put their homes on the market, so they can take advantage of winter’s competitive market. As mentioned earlier, it’s a national trend that home sales are down, attributed to the lack of single-family homes listed on the market, and sellers being nervous to list their home, sell and then have no home to purchase due to the lack of inventory. This cycle at this point has become the norm and we can only hope that spring brings a rise in homes for sale. Until then, buyers need to be ready to strike and win a bidding war with the first step being to meet with an experienced agent who has the knowledge to be ultra-competitive in this bidding war prone market.
Data provided by Warren Group & MLS PIN and compared to prior year.