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 July 2019 compared to July 2018. It also looks at other metrics in Massachusetts like Homes Listed for Sale, Homes Pending, and Price Adjustments made to active listings, as they are often the best indicators for predicting future trends in the market.
Massachusetts July Home Sales Down 4.2%
Massachusetts home sales decreased year over year in all three categories by 421 sales and prices increased by $20,631 overall.
Homes Listed for Sale:
July 2018 had more homes listed for sale as we saw a 5.4% decrease this year. There were 516 fewer homes placed on the market in the past month compared to last July.
Pending Home Sales:
There were 22 fewer homes placed under agreement in July 2019 compared to July 2018 depicting a 0.25% decrease in pendings. Though not a statistically significant amount, fewer homes placed under agreement essentially means not as many buyers as last year are biting on what’s listed. It may be time for sellers to reevaluate their list prices if they’ve been on the market for more than a few weeks.
Price Changes:
July 2019 had 136 fewer price adjustments than July 2018 – a 15.5% decrease. If sellers work with their agents to reevaluate their current list prices, we may see a boom in homes placed under agreement in the month or so to come.
Southern New Hampshire July Home Sales Down 8.8%
Like Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire exhibited a decrease in sales and an increase in prices. Sales are down by 142 transactions, and prices increased by $9,963 year over year, about 3.1%.
What’s Ahead?
Summer is the transitional time where the pendulum swings from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. We are seeing the signs of buyer selection as they are taking their time to consume the inventory which is why we see the number of pendings being down. Last month, we predicted that sales could be down for July and it came to fruition. Lower pendings this month may mean that we will see sales decline in August as well unless sellers find a way to clinch the right buyer.
If sellers want to attract serious buyers, price adjustments are the first thing they should consider. Show a buyer value, and they may end up having more than one interested party which could incite a bidding war. Interesting how lowering the list price may help a home sell for over asking!
Buyers have been taking advantage of the interest rate decline and because of that buyers should make sure their pre-approvals reflect the current rates- but may also be able to afford a higher list price.