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Mass. home prices broke records in January
"Relief for prospective home buyers with realistic budgets seems unlikely."
The median sales price for a single-family home jumped 10.2% in January to $550,000, a new high for the month, according to a report The Warren Group released Tuesday.
In the condo market, the median sales price also went up, but not at such a breakneck pace. The median cost of $507,000 reflects a 5.5% rise — a record high for the month, the data analytics firm reported.
Meanwhile, condo sales fell roughly 17% to the fewest closings in the month of January since 2011.
“Condos are a hot commodity, but supply can’t keep up with demand,” said Cassidy Norton, associate publisher and media relations director of the analytics firm.
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In the single-family home market, sales edged up only 0.2%.
“Single-family sales were relatively flat from January 2023, but the slight uptick is the only year-over-year increase we’ve recorded since the middle of 2021,” Norton said. “The issues that pained the Massachusetts housing market in 2023, like limited inventory, economic uncertainties, and higher interest rates are still at the forefront of prospective buyers. … Relief for prospective home buyers with realistic budgets seems unlikely.”
In Greater Boston, the trends were more pronounced:
| HOME TYPE | JAN. MEDIAN SALES PRICE | % CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR | NO. OF SALES | % CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Condo | $625,000 | 13.4% | 671 | -20.5% |
| Single-family | $690,000 | 10.4% | 1,110 | 3.2% |
In Randolph, sales of single-family homes fell 25%, but prices climbed 4% to $520,000. In highly sought-after Needham, sales of single-family homes were down 33.3%, and the median sales price slipped 20.6% year over year to $1,545,000.
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In Everett, which the Globe declared a “housing boomtown,” condo sales were up 400% last month (one sale compared with five), and sale prices soared 67.5% to $335,000.
By county, Nantucket and Suffolk counties saw the biggest increases in single-family home sales, by roughly 83% and 20%, respectively. For condos, home purchases were up last month only in Duke (200%) and Hampshire (7.1%) counties, according to the report.
More on the housing market
View the breakdown by county.
The Greater Boston Association of Realtors offered a brighter outlook for the region’s housing market in its report, also released Tuesday. The GBAR analysis noted a 6.6% uptick in single-family listings and a 12.4% increase in condos hitting the market last month compared with January 2023.
Homes are also spending less time on the market; single-family homes were on the market a median of 21 days before they sold, a 22.2% decrease. Condos were spending two days longer on the market, but this reflects a nearly 32% change year over year, according to the GBAR.
“Buyers have been slowly returning to the market since mortgage rates started to drop in mid-November, and demand has grown increasingly stronger in the last month and a half with the holidays over and rates now under 7 percent,” said Jared Wilk, association president and a broker with Compass in Wellesley. “Inventory is still tight, which has limited overall sales volume, but listings are up about 20 percent since the start of the year and that’s providing buyers a larger selection of properties to choose from and more room for negotiation on price, which has made the market much more attractive.”
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Spring is 28 days away, but it seems that the real estate market is already awake.
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