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WALTHAM, Mass. – July 28, 2009 – The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that median home prices for single-family homes are back above $300,000 for the first time since August 2008.  On a year-over-year basis, median prices were down 8.6 percent for single-family homes and down 6.6 percent for condos.  Despite those decreases, single-family home sales were down only 1.9 percent compared to June 2008 while condo sales were down 13.4 percent.  The number of pending sales (homes put under agreement in June) was up over five percent from the same time last year.

     
“Based on what we experienced in June, it is quite clear that the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is helping to move the market in the right direction,” said MAR President Gary Rogers, a broker at RE/MAX First Realty in Waltham.  “We still have a way to go, especially with continuing concerns about unemployment; but with the number of pending sales up over the same time last year we do have reason to feel optimistic.”

      
There were 4,146 detached single-family homes sold this June, a 1.9 percent decrease from the 4,226 homes sold the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis, home sales were up 39.4 percent from 2,975 homes sold this past May.  This is the second largest May-to-June increase since 1996. 

 
The condominium market experienced a decrease of 13.4 percent in the number of units sold this June compared to the same time last year (from 1,874 units sold in 2008 to 1,623 units sold in 2009).  On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were up 26.9 percent compared to the 1,279 units sold this past May.  This is the fifth straight month of month-to-month increases.  *Please see note at bottom of release regarding condo sales.   
 

Condominium median selling prices in June were down 6.6 percent from $294,500 in 2008 to $275,000 in 2009.  The June median price was up 35 percent from the 2009 low of $204,000 January. On a month-to-month basis, the median selling price of a condominium was up 3.8 percent from a May median of $265,000.  The May median selling price for a condominium is back to 2007 levels.

Quarterly Information: 
The condominium market experienced a drop of 19.7 percent in the number of units sold in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year with 4,802 units sold in 2008 to 3,858 units sold in 2009.  Median selling prices were down 8.4 percent from $285,000 in 2008 to $261,121 in 2009.

Quarterly Regional Sales Data:
Regionally, every part of the state saw a decrease in sales of single-family homes compared to the same quarter last year, except the Southeastern part of the state, which saw an increase of 2.3 percent (390 homes sold in 2008 compared to 399 homes sold in 2009).  Of the seven regions, Cape Cod experienced the largest drop in sales at 27.1 percent with 932 homes sold in Q2 2008 compared to 679 homes sold in Q2 2009.   

 Greater Boston had the smallest decrease in median prices at 5.6 percent increase in median prices (from $360,000 in 2008 to $339,500 in 2008).  The Southeast region experienced the biggest drop in median prices, with a significant 42 percent drop compared to the same quarter last year (from $250,000 in 2008 to $145,000 in 2009).