Published in the July 26, 2016 edition.
BOSTON – The median sale price of a single-family home in June reached $372,000, the highest monthly median in Massachusetts’ history, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. August 2005 held the previous record with a median sale price of $370,000.
In short, the housing market is back in a big way.
The June median sale price of $372,000 is 1.9 percent above the median in the same month last year. Year-to-date prices also remained relatively flat, with a median sale price of $339,000, up 1.2 percent from the same period in 2015.
In Wakefield, the median sale price of a single family home sold last month was $479,000, up $36,000 from the median sale price of a home sold in June 2015. The year to date median sale price through June 2016 was $472,000, up from $447,500 at this time last year.
The median condominium sale price also hit a record at $345,000, a 4.5 percent increase from $330,000 in June 2015. Year-to-date, condo prices are up 3.5 percent to a median sale price of $321,000, compared with $310,000 in the same time period last year.
In Wakefield, there were 11 condos sold last month, compared to seven the year before. Year-to-date, there have been 45 condos sold in town, compared to the 34 sold through June 2015.
The median sale price of a Wakefield condominium in June 2016 was $420,000, compared to $309,000 in June 2015.
“Sales in Massachusetts are starting to hit their peak,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “There have been double-digit percent gains every month for 13 straight months. The summer months are always the strongest for closings with July usually the biggest month. Even with prices at record highs, homebuyers will still be out closing deals at a high rate.”
The number of single-family homes sold rose 14.9 percent in June, to a total of 7,387, compared with 6,430 in June of 2015. This was the third highest number of sales in a single month since The Warren Group began its current method of data compilation in 1987. Year-to-date, sales were up 24.2 percent, with 26,941 homes sold in the first half of 2016 compared with 21,688 sold during the same time last year.
Condominium sales for the month rose by 2.3 percent, with 2,828 condos sold compared with 2,764 sold in June of 2015. This marked the 13th consecutive month of increases in condo sales. Year-to-date, condo sales increased by 14.3 percent to 10,673 condos sold compared with 9,337 in the same timeframe last year.
