Greater Boston Real Estate Market Update

In this episode of Dwell360's special series Real Estate Answers in Uncertain Times we explore what has happened in the real estate market in the Greater Boston area in the first half of this year.

As we continue to live with the pandemic, are prices up or down? Are people buying and selling homes? How does that affect you?

Greater Boston Real Estate Market with John Lynch, Realtor

In this video John Lynch, Realtor® and Co-Founder of Dwell360, presents at the data from 64 towns in the Greater Boston area.  He compares what happened with home sales so far in 2020 to the same period of 2019.

What has happened to single family home sales?

In the Greater Boston area 4,565 homes sold in June of 2020, a 28.8% decrease from the June of 2019. The average number of listings is also down by 32.5%. We had fewer homes on the market, and as a result fewer homes to sell, but the median sales price increased by 4.5%. This set a new record median sales price of $679,075 for a single family home in Greater Boston!

When we compare June of this year to last year, we see that we had more new listings, more pending sales, similar days on the market, and over a 99.9% sales price to list price ratio. But when we look at the year to date numbers, we see how the health crisis affected the overall volume during the first half of the year. The lack of supply pushed that median price up.

Much of this later in the year activity can be attributed to the many homeowners who might have sold in the spring delaying their plans and launching their home for sale later. This has pushed the spring market activity well into the summer.

Greater Boston Single Family Sales Year Over Year

What does the data show for condos and townhomes?

With just 760 units sold in June 2020, the condo and townhome market experienced a 39.3% decline in volumes over June 2019. The median sales price decreased by 4.4%, from $619,900 to $592,500 in June 2020.

This year to date the median price of condos is up by 2.9%, but we have seen a 15.5% decline in the number of condos sold and pending sales are down 21.0%. Overall, we noticed the health crisis limited the number of buyers and sellers interested in transacting a condo sale. This minor pullback was mostly due to the logistical difficulty presented by listing and showing properties in condo buildings this spring.

Greater Boston Condos Sales Year over Year

What should you take away from these statistics?

It is fair to see that we have seen a general pullback in some types of condos and an increased demand for single family homes as a result of the pandemic. Buyers are looking for those amenities like a home office, home gym, outdoor space, and patios that have become more popular since people are spending more time at home. As a result, we are advising our clients to stage around those amenities when they sell their home.

People are still buying and selling homes. The prices, for the most part, are getting higher while inventory is down substantially. This is keeping the pressure on the market in the favor of the seller. Although there are fewer buyers out looking now, with interest rates so low plenty of people are looking to purchase a home. The number of buyers, for the most part, outweighs the number of properties on the market.

We hope this helped you understand the data behind the first half of the real estate market for 2020 in Greater Boston. Look for our future videos in this series, Real Estate Answers in Uncertain Times, and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss a beat. If you're interested in the real estate data for a town not seen here, please contact us and we’d be happy to send that information to you.

Dwell360 is an elite residential real estate firm based in Newton, Massachusetts, servicing the cities and suburbs of metro Boston. Dwell360 is a leader in luxury real estate throughout Boston, Brookline, Newton, Needham, and other communities of the greater Boston area. Search for homes in Massachusetts or give us a call!

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