by Eric Berman - eberman@marealtor.com - 781-839-5507
WALTHAM, Mass. – August 14, 2019 – The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that the number of single-family homes put under agreement in the month of July went up nine percent and the number of condominiums put under agreement went up four percent compared to this time last year. This marks 12 straight months of year-over-year increases for single-family homes. The median price for single-family homes put under agreement increased three and a half percent to $439,900, while condominiums had less than a one percent decrease to $399,000 compared to July of 2018.
July Pending Sales:
Single Family
| July 2019 | July 2018 | % Change |
Sales | 5,793 | 5,295 | +9.4% |
Median Price | $439,900 | $424,900 | +3.5% |
Condominium | July 2019 | July 2018 | % Change |
Sales | 2,117 | 2,033 | +4.1% |
Median Price | $399,000 | $400,000 | -0.2% |
“The market continued to be all about buyer demand in July as once again homes put under agreement went up,” said 2019 MAR President Anne Meczywor, broker/associate at Roberts & Associates Realty, Inc., in Lenox. “Prices are still near historic highs and there is a good chance they’ll remain there through the fall.”
July Realtor® Market and Price Confidence Indexes:
Confidence Index | July 2019 | July 2018 | % Change |
Market | 74.23 | 74.65 | -0.6% |
Price | 66.31 | 65.10 | +1.9% |
“While the Market Confidence Index is down slightly, it is still in a very positive range,” said Meczywor. “We can probably thank the very low interest rates as reason for Price Confidence Index turning around in July.”
About the Data Sets:
The tracking of signed purchase and sales agreements (also called “pending sales”) provide reliable information about where the real estate market is heading in coming months.
A pending sale or a sale “under agreement” happens when the buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale of a home and have a signed purchase and sale agreement but have yet to close and be recorded as such. MAR is the only organization, which compiles this statewide information from Multiple Listing Services each month.
Monthly pending (or under agreement) data and closed sales data comes from the three Realtor®-affiliated Multiple Listing Services in Massachusetts. They are the Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service, Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors® Multiple Listing Service, Inc.; and MLS Property Information Network, Inc. The data is compiled by 10K Research and Marketing, Inc. and updated each month. As a result, previous data may change after the reports have been run.
The Realtor® Index Methodology - The Massachusetts Realtor® Market Confidence Index (RMCI) and Price Confidence Index (RPCI) are based on monthly responses from a random sampling of Massachusetts Association of Realtors® members on the state of the housing market. More specifically, the survey asks members two basic questions pertaining to the real estate business in their market area in Massachusetts.
In addition to these standard questions, the survey each month includes one wildcard question that changes each month and is based on an industry hot topic.
The RMCI is calculated in the following way. Respondents indicate whether conditions are/or are expected to be “strong” (100 points), “moderate” (50 points), and “weak” (0 points). The results are the average score for each question. A score of 50 is the threshold between a “strong” and a “weak” condition. Similarly, the question about home prices over the next year (Realtor® Price Confidence Index) is calculated using five categories: “Rise 0-5%” (75 points), “Rise 5%+” (100 points), “Level” (50 points), “Fall 0-5%” (25 points), and “Fall >5%” (0 points).
About the Massachusetts Association of Realtors®:
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® is a professional trade organization with more than 25,000+ 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.
Editors and reporters: Please note that the term Realtor is properly spelled with an initial capital “R”, per the Associated Press Stylebook.