Home Sales in MA Climbing Steadily

We found the following article regarding the increase in home sales overall in the month of June in Massachusetts and wanted to share it here with our readers. Even in the absence of government tax credits, the prices and rates for homes make this a great time to buy.


Mass. June home sales hit 4-year high
Expiring US tax credit sparks 5,726 deals as median prices edge up
By Jenifer B. McKim
Globe Staff / July 28, 2010

Motivated by the looming expiration of a federal tax credit, Massachusetts buyers snapped up 5,726 single-family homes in June, the highest number of monthly sales in four years, according to new data released yesterday.

Sales increased 28 percent in June compared with the same month last year, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks real estate data. Year-to-date numbers also rose 28 percent, to 21,400, over the same period last year.

Condominiums were popular with buyers as well, with 2,511 sales in June, 31 percent more than last year, Warren Group said. Condo sales from January to June rose to 9,735, a 30 percent jump from the same time last year.

Kevin Sears, the president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, attributed the sales increase to the federal home buyer’s tax credit, which required a binding contract on a home purchase to be in place by April 30 to qualify for up to $8,000 in savings. Buyers originally had until June 30 to close, but Congress recently extended the deadline to Sept. 30.

“The tax credit did its job and got the market moving again,’’ said Sears, a broker and co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield. “The activity over the next couple of months will answer whether the momentum was sustained.’’

Along with sales, median prices increased last month. The median price of a single-family home hit $325,000 in June, a 7 percent increase from June 2009 and the first time this year that median prices surpassed $300,000, Warren Group said.

The median condo price remained at $282,000 in June, a 1.8 percent increase from a year earlier. Median prices for the year so far were up 5.7 percent to $259,000, compared with the first six months of 2009.

Timothy M. Warren Jr., Warren Group’s chief executive, said June is typically a good month for the real estate business. “That factor paired with the tax credit made for a very strong month,’’ he said.

Other real estate data released yesterday also indicated Boston-area housing values may be stabilizing. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices, which measure repeat home sales, showed that Boston home val ues increased by 1.6 percent in May compared with the month before and 4.8 percent from a year ago. Nationwide, home values rose about 1.3 percent in May compared with April, according to the Case-Shiller data.

David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, said economists will be watching what happens in the housing market over the next few months to see if the improved numbers can be sustained without the incentive of a lucrative tax break.

“It still looks possible that the housing market might bounce along the bottom for the foreseeable future, before showing any real improvement that will filter through to the rest of the economy,’’ Blitzer said.

Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.
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