Cape Cod home sales fell in July, as prices held steady. The drop was expected, according to a new report from the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors, which noted a 20% decline in sales from last year. 

In July, 347 homes sold on the Cape, including 286 single-family homes and 61 condominiums, at median prices of $686,000 and $500,000, respectively. A year ago, 360 single-family homes and 96 condos sold at median prices of $600,000 and $395,750 respectively.

Pending sales also fell in July, when there were 319 single-family homes and 71 condominium sales pending at the end of the month. Pending sales for single-family homes fell 10.6% from last year while pending condominium sales had a 23.7% decrease. In July 2021, there were 357 pending single-family homes and 93 pending condominium sales.

Ryan Castle, CEO of CCIAOR, said the continued decline in activity was anticipated. 

“With rising interest rates, buyers having moved up their timeline and more travel abroad, we are seeing a decline in activity,” Castle said. “However, inventory and new listings are staying historically low, which is keeping buyers in the market still going after a small amount of listings and keeping price appreciation up.” 

By month’s end, 558 single-family homes and 119 condominiums were listed for sale in the Cape Cod & Islands Multiple Listing Service. That’s a 4% decrease in single-family home listings and a 31.6% decrease in condo listings from July 2021 

The report did find an increase in cumulative days on market for single-family homes which increased to an average of 24 days on market, up from 22 a year prior. 

Condominium days on market were down 47.8%, dropping from 46 days to 24 as demand for condos on Cape Cod continues to grow. And that demand is having an impact on prices. 

“With many condos now being a place buyers — especially retirees and first-time home buyers — are turning to, we have seen a rapid 20% price appreciation in the median sales price for the year through July,” the report said. “July itself was stronger than the rest of the year with a 26% jump in the median sales price from last July.”

Each month since May, and for the first time since January of 2019, there has been a lower monthly supply of condos on the Cape compared to single-family homes, according to the report.