Mass. home, condo sales rise in August

BAY STATE home sales continued to rise in August, with a 16 percent year-over-year gain, the third consecutive month of double-digit increases, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP
BAY STATE home sales continued to rise in August, with a 16 percent year-over-year gain, the third consecutive month of double-digit increases, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – Bay State home sales continued to rise in August, with a 16 percent year-over-year gain, the third consecutive month of double-digit increases, according to data released Tuesday by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
“This year we’ve been experiencing the strongest Massachusetts real estate market since housing started its long, steep decline in 2005. August’s sales numbers have continued that trend,” Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “The months of June, July and August are the months with the most sales every year as the homes shopped during the spring season come to their closings. With double-digit increases for all three months, we can say the market is booming. The fact that median price gains statewide have been steady, but moderate gives us assurance that a new price bubble is not forming.”
Altogether, there were 6,284 single-family home sales in August. The Warren Group said last month marked the first time single-family home sales rose above 6,000 in August since 2005, when there were 6,570 sales.
Year to date, Massachusetts has had 35,031 single-family home sales, an 8.1 percent increase from last year’s total through August of 32,404.
The median sale price for single-family homes climbed in August to $359,000, a 3.2 percent increase from August 2014’s median of $348,000. The year-to-date median price for single-family homes is $345,000, a 3 percent increase from last year’s mark of $335,000 through August.
The Warren Group said that the condominium market also was strong in August, with 2,433 sales statewide, a 9.3 percent jump from August 2014 when there were 2,226 sales.
There have been 14,566 condo sales through August, a 3 percent increase over last year’s year-to-date total of 14,143.
The median condo price in August was $330,000, an increase of 1.9 percent from the year-ago period when the median was $323,950. The year-to-date median price is $320,000, rising 1.6 percent from $315,000 at this time last year.
In Bristol County, single-family home sales followed the statewide pattern, climbing 32.3 percent to 455 in August from 344 in August 2014. However, year to date, single-family home sales slipped 0.57 percent to 2,250 from 2,263 in the county.
The median sales price for single-family home sales in Bristol County increased nearly 5 percent to $267,000 in August from $254,500 in August 2014. Year to date, the median sales price increased 1.2 percent to $255,950 compared with the year-ago period.
Condo sales in Bristol County did not follow statewide trends, falling 7.3 percent to 64 in August from 69 in August 2014. Year-to-date sales also declined, 22.8 percent, to 359 from 465. The median condo sales price in August rose 11.2 percent in Bristol County to $190,000 in August. Year to date, it rose 5.7 percent to $185,000.

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