In its latest report on the state of the local housing market, the Greater Boston Association of Realtors stated that Boston’s 2016 housing market has, thus far, performed “as predicated at the beginning of the year,” with sales, prices, and inventory all moving in their assumed direction.
Below, we parse through GBAR’s statistics on those three aspects of the market:
1. Home Sales – While single-family and condo sales were modest in June (up 2.5 and down 0.1 percent year-over-year, respectively), year-to-date sales were much more positive. On the single-family side of the market, sales for 2016’s first six months totaled 6,301, a 12.1 percent increase over 2015; condo sales, meanwhile, totaled 5,160, a 13.3 percent uptick.
Things are more mixed for pending sales. Although positive by year-to-date measurements for both areas of the market – 8.0 percent for single family and 6.7 percent for condos – contract signings declined in June, falling 5.0 percent for single family and 10.7 percent for condos.
2. Housing Inventory – It’s hardly surprising that inventory fell in Greater Boston (next to the Red Sox and Colonial historical relics, falling inventory is one of the area’s pastimes), but the June inventory drops were particularly stark. Single-family inventory declined 18.5 percent to 3,015, driving down months supply 26.5 percent to just 2.5-months.
The declines were even worse for the condo market. With just 1,457 condos for sale, inventory is down 24.6 percent from last year, and months supply is down 30.4 percent to 1.6-months. Even worse, new listings were down for both single family and condos, dropping 6.2 and 8.4 percent.
3. Home Prices – Lastly, with demand surging and supply falling, prices continue to climb in Greater Boston. At $585,000, the single-family median price was up 4.5 percent year-over-year, with units receiving 99.8 percent of their original asking price and time on market falling 5.8 percent to just 49 days.
For condos, median price rose 9.8 percent to $505,000. The average time on market is just 41 days, and sellers receive an incredible 101.7 percent of the original asking price.