Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Massachusetts surged by more than 50 percent in November compared to the same month in 2008, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. November was the fifth consecutive month that single-family home sales increased year-over-year and the third straight month that condominium sales rose.
Prices, meanwhile, showed some improvement in November. The median selling price for single-family homes in November slipped 1.3 percent – one of the smallest drops in the last two years. The median condo price climbed 1.7 percent during the month, the first increase in monthly condo prices in more than a year.
"The gain in home sales during the month of November isn’t completely unexpected. There was a lot of financial turmoil last fall that led to a plunge in home sales in November 2008 and subsequent months, so we expected homes sales to climb a bit. However, the jump was even sharper that we thought it would be. We suspect that many buyers felt pressure to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit before it was due to expire," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group.
Single-family home sales soared 59.1 percent to 4,136 from 2,599 in November 2008, posting the highest number of sales for the month of November since 2005. November’s sales gain was also the biggest jump in year-over-year sales so far in 2009. Year-to-date sales climbed 2.6 percent to 38,218 from 37,250.
The median price for single-family homes sold in November slipped 1.3 percent to $274,000 from $277,500. The year-to-date median home price dropped 8.2 percent to $284,700 from $310,000.
"Even though median prices are still declining on a year-over-year basis, the drops are far more moderate than the winter months when median prices were declining by double-digit percentages," said Warren.
Meanwhile, condominium sales in Massachusetts jumped 54 percent to 1,840 from 1,195 in November 2008. It was the biggest gain in monthly condo sales year-over-year so far in 2009. A total of 17,133 condo sales transactions have been recorded in the first 11 months of the year, down 9.1 percent from 18,854 a year earlier.
For the first time in 16 months, the median selling price for condos rose. The median price for condos sold in November inched up 1.7 percent to $244,000 from $240,000 during the same month last year. The year-to-date median condo price tumbled 8.2 percent to $252,500 from $275,000 last year.
