Home Buying

Home sales in Mass. fall to 12-year low

Soaring prices continue to break monthly records despite high interest rates.

A lack of homes for sale ratchets up the demand for the listings we do have, which drives up prices. Adobe Stock

January 25, 2024

3 minutes to read

Massachusetts is unwillingly leading the charge to housing unaffordability.

Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts hit a 12-year low in 2023, but prices continued to soar to record-breaking heights, according to a report The Warren Group released on Jan. 16.

If your shopping for your first home, the road is full of potholes: Soaring home prices and high mortgage rates mean you have to shell out more money every month: for principle, interest, and private mortgage insurance (if you take out a conventional loan and put down less than 20%).

Housing in 2023

It’s a domino effect. High mortgage rates have prospective sellers sitting on the sidelines. This depletes the inventory of available homes. A lack of homes for sale ratchets up the demand for the listings we do have, which drives up prices.

When inventory was low in 2022 and the market suffered, 2023 popped off the bench and said “Put me in, coach.”

Big mistake.

“With 40,828 single-family home sales in 2023, we’ve witnessed a staggering 22.4% decline from the previous year, marking the lowest number of sales since 2011,” said Cassidy Norton, associate publisher and media relations director of The Warren Group, a data analytics firm. “Amid this decline in sales, the year-end median single-family home price has climbed 2.6% to a record high of $570,000.”

The news was the same in the condo market — often the first foray into the housing market for many.

“With 19,199 condo sales, we’ve experienced an 18.7% decline from the previous year, marking the lowest number of condo sales since 2012,” Norton said. “Meanwhile, the year-end median sale price has surged to an unprecedented all-time high of $510,000, reflecting a 4.4% increase from 2022.”

Last month

In December 2023, the news was more of the same. The 3,150 single-family home sales in Massachusetts reflected an 18.4% year-over-year decline and the fewest since 2008, The Warren Group reported. “Meanwhile, the median single-family sale price increased 5.9% on a year-over-year basis to $540,000, a new all-time high for the month of December.”

In the condo market, sales were down 13.8% year over year in December 2023, but the median sales price jumped 11.6% to $496,744 — a record for the month.

In Greater Boston

In Greater Boston, where demand is particularly acute, the news was more of the same: a 21.8% year-over-year decrease in single-family home sales in December 2023 and an increase in the median sales price of 10.2% to $699,900. In the condo market, sales were down 13.8%, while the median sales price climbed 8.7% to $580,000.

Keep in mind that home sales slow in December, as people hunker down for the winter, but The Warren Group is comparing apples and apples here with its look at December 2022 and December 2023 numbers.

Sales of single-family homes were particularly slow in a popular destination: Cambridge. Sales of single-family homes were down 66.7% in December (from nine to three), and the median sales price for those properties fell 26.8% to $1,500,000.

Miles away in Needham, sales were down 24%, but prices climbed 54.8% to $1,935,000.

In the condo market, sales and the median sales price were down 37.1% and 4.2%, respectively, year over year in Dorchester. In Malden, sales fell 16.7%, and the median sales price climbed 5.4% to $441,500.

State of the state

Can’t afford Greater Boston? Looking to head west? Single-family home sales in Worcester were down 12.2% year over year in December, but prices climbed 3.8% to $405,000. Check out the town-by-town breakdown.

Franklin County was the only county to report an increase in single-family home sales in December (27.8%), and the median sales price in this Western Massachusetts locale rose 19.7% to $344,000. In Worcester County, sales were down 12.2%, and prices climbed 3.8% to $405,000.

In the condo market, vacation counties ruled the market. Barnstable, Berkshire, and Dukes counties all reported increases in sales as everyone fervently waits for summer. Check out the county-by-county breakdown.