July 2019 Massachusetts Closed sales stats

[Timothy Lewman]

How about some July MA housing stats for Labor Day?

I follow 2 sets of data; starting with the Warren Group, which reports all recorded transactions shows us at a median (median = half of the houses sold for more and half sold for less; it's different than the mathematical average) selling price of $425,000, an all time high for July, up 4.40% from last July. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) only tracks properties on the three state MLS's, shows a median selling price of $439,900, also an all time high for July, up 3.53% since July 2018. Recall that the June 2019 median MAR price at $440,000, its not the drop off we see with the Warren Groups numbers at $429,000 for June 2019.

For volume - number of transactions - The Warren group shows 6,417 houses changed hands, down 4.59% from July 2018. The MAR reports 6,083 sales, down 2.31% from last July. Why is the volume shrinking? MAR shows total inventory down year over year 3.83% and new listings are tumbling down 7.67% YoY. We still have a very tight supply of houses at 2.9 months. Months supply calculation = the inventory of homes for sale (at the end of a given month) divided by the average monthly pending sales from the last 12 months.

It makes sense that with inventory and new listing dropping that prices are staying elevated; it's a great time to list your home if you're thinking about it.

I like lots of charts and graph, sometimes the pictures put things into perspective.  Enjoy!