The Cape Cod housing market slowed down in October as the lack of housing inventory continued to decline.

The Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors released data this week outlining the drop in home sales from last year, while median sales prices continued to grow. 

“We continue to see a healthy demand for Cape Cod housing and those seeking to make their home on the Cape,” CCIAOR CEO Ryan Castle said in a release. “However, we fully expected this decline in market activity as the available homes for sale continues to decline, and you cannot expect to keep pace with a record-breaking 2020 housing market.”

In October, 473 homes sold on the Cape, including 365 single-family homes and 108 condominiums, at median sales prices of $640,000 and $415,500, respectively. A year ago, 715 homes (575 single-family homes and 140 condos) sold at a median price of $549,900 and $404,500, respectively. 

Pending sales of single-family homes were down 22.2% from October 2020, while pending condominium sales had a 38.9 % decrease. 

Citing the recent census numbers, Castle said there are now more year-round Cape Cod residents than ever. That’s good news for the market, but by adding more year-round residents, the available housing just isn’t quite there yet. 

October’s new listings included 469 single-family homes and 152 condominiums, a decrease of 46.2% and 44.9%, respectively, from last year. 

“As we are adding more year-rounders, we do not have the available housing to house them and as such, prices are escalating and making it harder for existing year-round Cape Codders to stay here,” he said. “We simply need more housing inventory.”