Worcester MultiFamily Market Update

[Ian Hogan]

Worcester Listing Inventory has been incredibly low, even considering annual market cycles, but has finally bounced back in March to compare with this time last year. Sales have remained steady with most inventory not sitting very long. You can see this as Market Supply matches a similar trend to Listing Inventory, indicating that the buyer’s remain constant despite the lack of inventory and fluctuation of pricing. Sold Price vs List Price indicates that as more inventory creeps into the market that on average the difference between what a property is listed at and what it sells at is shrinking. As more inventory hits the market, depending on condition this will likely follow trends of the previous year.

[Brian J Allen]

These number are interesting as that inventory of Multis is low. Historic average is about 60 buildings for sale at any time, so we are way down. What we are seeing is that there is more off market activity going on. People are only paying appraised price for properties so sellers are simply finding someone off market to pay appraisal price and not have to show the properties at open houses and disturb the tenants. The other interesting statistic worth looking into is the number of residential rentals for sale in Worcester. Typically there are about 20 units listed for rent at any given time on the MLS over the last 5 years or so. Right now there are 103 apartments listed for rent. THAT IS A HUGE NUMBER. This shows that there are buyers for the multis, but at the same time those new owners appear to be picky about the tenants they choose.