March 2020 Massachusetts Closed sales stats

[Timothy Lewman]

There are two sets of data that I cover to compile my information. 1) The Warren Group, reports ALL transactions recorded by the Registry. This encompasses not only the 3 MLS services but also the intra-family transfers and unlisted properties that are sold. They provide limited data to the public. 2) Massachusetts Association of Realtors, reports only transactions on the MLS, providing insight into the retail market. Their public data set is more robust and provides a clearer picture of the monthly data.

Median Sales Price: Warren Group shows $402,000, up 6.3% from 3/2019's price of $377,000. MARealtors.com shows $416,000, up 6.67% from 3/2019's price of $390,000.

Closed Sales Volume: Warren Group shows 3,571 homes switched hands, down 2.6% from 3/2019. MARealtor shows 3,471 retail transactions, up a miniscule 0.03% from 3/2019 (it doesn't register on the chart below). As far as a rolling 12 month total, we are on pace to expand what we did in the preceding 12 months by 1 house! (55,666 vs 55,665).The rest of these numbers are exclusively MARealtor.com

Inventory: Number of houses for sale during the period. We had 8,374 SFH's for sale, -22.61% from 3/2019. This is not a Covid-19 stat, for Feb we were -20.45%, Jan -22.49%, Dec 2019 -20.87%...the last increase was recorded 6/2019. Inventory is an ongoing problem in MA, certainly won't be helped by the lockdowns. It's hoped that a severe inventory shortage will help prop up prices in these difficult times.

New Listings: We had 6,061 new listing for the month, down 6.34%. Again, not a Covid-19 stat. We had Feb +11.21%, Jan -9.09%, December -13.73%... the last increase was Jan 2019, so we have had 2 increases in 15 months. The national media is showing trends of 30 to 50% drop in listings depending on the market so these listings numbers will be the 1st Covid-19 state in April numbers, stay tuned!

Months Supply: Where 6 months is considered a market neutral figure between buyers and sellers, we had a paltry 1.8 months, tipping the balance heavily in favor of sellers.

S and P Case-Schiller Index for Boston region showed flat again.