September home sales in Massachusetts dropped 12.9 percent from the prior year, according to the latest report by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. Year-over-year sales showed a decrease for the third straight month in September.
A total of 3,285 single-family homes sold in the Bay State in September, down from 3,771 sales in September 2009. This is the fewest amount of sales recorded in September since 1991, when 3,262 homes sold in Massachusetts.
Sales in the third quarter also plunged more than 20 percent year-over-year. There were 10,526 sales, down from 13,230 sales in the same period last year. This is the fewest sales in the third quarter since 1990, when there were 10,169 sales. The number of sales was also down from the second quarter, when there were 14,007 homes sold.
Single-family home sales also decreased from a month ago, when there were 3,651 sales. Year-to-date sales, buoyed by the popular homebuyer tax credit, were up 6.5 percent from the same period a year ago. A total of 31,844 homes have sold during the first nine months of the year, compared to 29,895 during the same period last year.
"The continuing decline in sales in September was expected," said The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. "The market has clearly slowed, and comparisons with the sales in the fall of 2009 are unfavorable due to the expiring tax credit."
The median price of single-family homes crept up 0.35 percent to $287,000 in September, up from $286,000 a year earlier. Median prices of single-family homes in Massachusetts dropped from a month ago, when the median price was $316,500. The median price for homes sold January through September was $299,000, up 6.5 percent from $285,000 in the prior year.
Prices of single-family homes were up slightly in the third quarter, increasing to $310,000, from $300,000 during the third quarter 2009.
"We’ve seen 10 straight months of increases in the median price of single-family homes. Prices have remained steady for this entire year, showing increases around 5 percent and as high as 11 percent," Warren said. "However, in September, prices crept up by under 1 percent, indicating we could see a reversal of this trend in coming months."
In September, condominium sales also dropped in the Bay State, declining 21.5 percent from a year earlier. A total of 1,326 condos sold in September, down from 1,690 in September 2009. Year-to-date condo sales were up 5.2 percent, increasing to 14,158 from 13,454 during the same period last year.
This is the second-lowest number of condo sales in any month this year, just above February’s number of 943. Sales were also down compared to August, when there were 1,622 condos sold in Massachusetts. Condo sales also declined during the third quarter. There were 4,430 sales in the third quarter, down from 5,988 during the third quarter 2009.
Median prices for condos inched up in September. The median selling price was $262,425, up almost 1 percent from $259,900 a year earlier. Year-over-year quarterly median sales price also edged up. The median price rose to $285,000 during the third quarter, compared to $273,000 during the same period a year ago.
The year-to-date median price of condos in the Bay State is $265,000, up just more than 3 percent from $257,000 a year ago.
