September was another month for the record books in Massachusetts real estate as the median sales price for single-family homes and condos grew from last year and inventory levels continued to shrink. 

The Warren Group’s Massachusetts Sales Report for September 2021 found the median single-family home price rose 7.4% year over year to $509,000, up from $474,000 last year and up 27.8% from 2019, marking a new high for the month of September. It was also the sixth consecutive month it was above $500,000, according to the report. 

Despite the increase in median price, September’s single-family home sales fell 10.4%, with 5,771 sales, compared to 6,439 transactions the year before. Last month’s sales were 14.7% higher than September 2019’s 5,031 transactions. 

Warren Group CEO Tim Warren said the third consecutive monthly decline single-family home sales the result of a few different factors, including lack of inventory and continued high prices. 

“First, there just aren’t enough homes for sale in Massachusetts,” he said in a release. “Historically, prospective buyers would just expand the radius of their home search to find a market with less competition, but with more people working remotely, this tactic doesn’t work like it used to. Second, single-family homes have just gotten too expensive for a lot of buyers. The people who can afford homes already have them, while those with more modest budgets have been left with next to no options.”

Condominium sales started to slide in September, falling 1.4% to 2,471 sales, compared to 2,507 transactions last year but up 25.2% from September 2019. Last month the median condominium sale price rose 6.7% year over year to $445,000, a new high for the month. It also marks the 14th consecutive month it’s been above $400,000.  

“This is the first slip we’ve seen in condo sales in 2021 when examining transactions on a year-over-year basis,” Warren said in the release. “Like single-family homes, every month there are fewer and fewer condos available on the market, which is limiting buyers and pushing prices higher.”