WALTHAM, Mass. – May 25, 2010 – The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that sales of both single-family homes and condominiums experienced near-record increases in April compared to the same time last year.  Inventory also increased for the second straight month after 23 straight months of year-over-year declines.

 

 

 

April 2010 Housing Numbers Podcast with

MAR President Kevin Sears

 

 

  

“Similar to November, buyers in April made a big push to take advantage of the tax credit prior to its deadline,  resulting in big sales gains compared to the same time last year,” said 2010 MAR President Kevin Sears, broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield.  “If the key to stabilizing the market is continued activity, then the timing couldn’t be better to have interest rates starting to trend down.”

 

There were 3,520 detached single-family homes sold this April, a 43.8 percent increase from the 2,448 homes sold the same time last year.  On a month-to-month basis, home sales were up 21.8 percent from 2,890 homes sold this past March.  This is the second largest year-over-year increase since MAR has been tracking monthly data.

 

The median selling price for single-family homes in April was $295,000 an increase of 7.3 percent compared to $275,000 in April 2009.  This is the sixth straight month of year-over-year gains.  On a month-to-month basis, the April median selling price was up 5.4 percent from $280,000 in March 2010. 
 
The April condominium market was up 63.9 percent compared to the same time last year (from 956 units sold in 2009 to 1,567 units sold in 2010).  On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were up 20.9 percent compared to the 1,296 units sold this past March.  This is also the second largest year-over-year increase for condominiums since MAR has been tracking the data. 
 
Condominium median selling prices in April were up 6.8 percent from $236,000 in 2009 to $252,000 in April 2010. This is the fifth straight month of year-over-year gains.   On a month-to-month basis, the median selling price of a condominium was down 1.6 percent from a March 2010 median  of $256,000. 

 

Inventory and Days on Market:
The inventory of single-family homes as of April 30, 2010 increased 6.0 percent from April 2009 (28,404 listings in 2009 to 30,101 listings in 2010) which translates into 8.6 months of supply in April 2010.  This is down from 11.6 months of supply last year and down from 9.5 months in March 2010.  This is the second straight month that the  inventory of homes for sale has gone up compared to the same month the year before.

 

The inventory of condominiums on the market in April was the same as the year before (12,460 listings in 2009 to 12,474 listings in 2010), which translates into 8.0 months of supply, which is down from 13.0 months in April 2009 and down from 9.0 months this past March.  This is the second straight month since back in March 2008 that inventory didn’t go down compared to the same month the year before.

 

Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 123 days in April 2010 compared to an average of 155 days in April 2009, while condos stayed on the market an average of 133 days, down from an average of 140 days in April 2009.  On a month-to-month basis, days on market for single-family homes were down from 132 days and condos were down from 137 days in February.

 

About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade organization with more than 20,000 members.  The term REALTOR® is registered as the exclusive designation of members of the National Association of REALTORS® who subscribe to a strict code of ethics and enjoy continuing education programs.
 

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