The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported recently that despite the troubles in the subprime market and the tightening of credit, 2007 finished as the eighth best year on record for residential home sales. Residential sales were down only 4.4 percent compared to 2006, while median prices were down less than one percent. On a monthly basis, single-family home sales and condo sales were down substantially in December at 20 and 28 percent respectively. "There is no question that 2007 was a challenging year for the real estate market for many reasons, yet people continued to buy and sell homes on a daily basis, contributing $25.7 billion to the Massachusetts economy," said MAR President Susan M. Renfrew, broker/co-owner of Renfrew Real Estate in Greenfield. "When you take a step back and look at the year in historical context, it was actually pretty good. In fact, it was the eighth best year on record for sales, and median residential prices remained essentially unchanged."
Year End Sales and Prices:
The number of detached single-family homes sold in 2007 declined 4.3 percent from 2006 (from 43,379 to 41,510 homes). The number of condominiums sold in 2007 went down 4.4 percent (from 20,747 to 19,789 units), but despite this drop, it was the third highest year on record since 1990.
The median price for a single-family home declined a modest 1.3 percent from 2006 (from $350,000 to $345,500). This is a 7.9 percent decline from the peak of $375,000 in July-August, 2005, but a gain of 23.8 percent since 2002, when MAR first started reporting median prices. . In 10 years, the average price of a single-family home has increased $239,456 (or 120 percent since 1997).
The condominium market saw median prices increase 2.5 percent from 2006 (from $275,000 to $282,000). Since 2002, the median condominium price has increased $82,000 or 41 percent. In 10 years, the average price of a condominium has increased $213,390 (or 167 percent) since 1997.
Single-family homes stayed on the market 139 days on average in 2007, as compared to 122 days on average in 2006. The average monthly inventory (34,039 homes) was 15 percent lower in 2007 than it was in 2006 (39,833 homes). This translates to 9.8 months of supply on average for 2007 compared to 11 months of supply on average in 2006, and is down significantly from the high of 15 months of supply in February 2006. The market is considered "balanced" when 7.5 to 8.5 months of housing supply exists. Condominiums stayed on the market 135 days on average in 2007, compared to 116 days on average in 2006. The average monthly inventory (15,876 units) was 20 percent lower than 2006 average level of 19,956 units statewide. This translates to 9.6 months of supply on average for 2007, compared to 11.5 months of supply on average in 2008, and down significantly from the high of 15 months of supply in February 2006.
Multi-family home sales were down 24 percent in 2007 compared to 2006 (from 6,674 homes sold in 2006 to 5,070 homes in 2007). Median sales prices for multi-family homes were down 10.6 percent from 2006 ($360,000 in 2006 to $321,750 in 2007).
December Sales and Prices:
There were 2,532 single-family homes sold in December 2007, a 20 percent decrease compared to the year before (from 3,166 homes sold in 2006). On a month-to-month basis, there was a 15.2 percent decrease compared to the 2,986 homes sold this past November.
In December, the median selling price for single-family homes was $323,000, a decrease of 3.6 percent compared to $335,000 in December 2006. On a month-to-month basis, the December median selling price went down 2.1 percent from November at $330,000.
The condominium market experienced a large decrease in the number of units sold this December, with a 28.3 percent drop compared to December 2006 (from 1,544 units sold in 2006 to 1,107 units sold in 2007). On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were down 11.1 percent compared to 1,245 units sold in November.
The median selling price of a condo in December 2007 was $270,000, and was unchanged from December 2006. Compared to this past November, the median selling price of a condominium was down 1.8 percent (from $275,000).
"December is typically not a month in which sales accelerate," said Renfrew. "Hopefully, the folks who are on the fence about owning a home will take advantage of this buyer's market - great inventory, stable prices, last week's Fed rate cut, and the potential increase of conforming loan limits - to get sales moving in the first quarter." The inventory of single-family homes fell 2 percent from December 2006 levels (from 30,651 listings in 2006 to 30,022 listings in 2007) which translates into 11.9 months of supply in December 2007. This is up from 9.7 months of supply in December 2006 and up from 11.0 months of supply in November 2007. Inventory continues to drop in the condominium market as well. December inventory went down 16 percent (from 16,581 listings in 2006 to 14,007 listings in 2007), which translates into 12.7 months of supply, up from 10.7 months of supply in December 2006 and up from 12.2 months this past November.
Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 138 days in December 2007 compared to an average of 134 days in December 2006, while condos stayed on the market an average of 144 days, up from an average of 134 days in December 2006.
For 2007 fourth quarter sales data comparisons by state and regions across the state, go to http://www.marealtor.com/.
About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade organization with more than 23,000 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.
Tips on Buying a Home
If you're thinking about buying a home, you'll want to carefully choose the real estate professional you work with during the process.
You should commit yourself to working with one sales associate who can learn your likes and dislikes in homes to make your home-buying process easier. Choose a professional who specializes in residential real estate and who has specific knowledge of the local real estate and mortgage markets.
The person you choose should listen to you and be interested enough in you to find out about your housing needs and preferences. Service first should be the motto of the professional you choose with services going above and beyond what you expect and need. Doing some preliminary planning before you begin your home search will make the entire process more manageable and less overwhelming. As part of your initial game plan, you should:
Check your credit rating
Even if you're sure you have excellent credit, it's wise to double-check at the outset. Straightening out any errors or disputed items now will avoid troublesome holdups down the road when you're waiting for mortgage approval.
You may see disputed items, in addition to errors caused by a faulty social security number, a name similar to yours, or a court ordered judgment paid off that hasn't been cleared from the public records. If such items appear, write a letter to the appropriate credit bureau. Credit bureaus are required to help you straighten things out in a reasonable time (usually 30 days).
Pre-qualification and pre-approval on a mortgage
A real estate professional can help "pre-qualify" you for a mortgage before you start house-hunting. This process includes analyzing your income, assets and present debt to estimate what you may be able to afford on a house purchase. Mortgage brokers, or a lender's own mortgage counselors can also calculate the same sort of informal estimate for you.
Obtaining mortgage "pre-approval" is another thing entirely. It means that you have in hand a lender's written commitment to put together a loan for you (subject only to the particular house you want to buy passing the lender's appraisal).
Pre-approval makes you a strong buyer, welcomed by sellers. With most other purchasers, sellers must tie the house up on a contract while waiting to see if the would-be buyer can really obtain financing.
The down side is that you may pay application fees to cover the lender's paperwork in verifying your employment, income, assets, debts and credit rating. If you later decide not to use that particular lender, you'd have to start all over again elsewhere - with no rebate.
Pre-approval will also speed up the entire mortgage procedure once you've found the house you want. The only remaining question will be whether the house will "appraise" for enough to warrant the loan.
Become an educated buyer:
Once you have made an offer on a home, you will need to schedule a home inspection, conducted by an independent authorized inspector. It is extremely important to hire a reputable inspector so that you know exactly what you are buying. Do not hesitate to ask friends, family, and co-workers for advice. If you are satisfied with the results of the inspection, then you can proceed to the Purchase and Sales agreement. If the inspector finds problems with the property, you may want to negotiate with the seller to lower the price, or to pay for certain repairs.
Appraisal
Your lender may require you to get an appraisal of the house you want to buy, to make sure it is worth the money that you are borrowing. You may select your own appraiser, or you may ask your real estate broker to help you with this task.
Homeowner's Insurance
Lenders require that you have homeowners insurance, to protect both your interests and theirs. Like everything else, be sure to shop around for insurance that fits your needs.
Settlement or Closing
Finally, you are ready for the closing. Be sure to read everything before you sign! You should have both your real estate broker and an attorney present at the closing to ensure that all is in order.
Finally make sure before you buy
Making sure you end up with the right home involves figuring out exactly what features you need, want and don't want in a home. Before starting your search, you should make a "wish list" to decide which features are absolutely essential, which are nice "extras" if you happen to find them, and which are completely undesirable.
The more specific you can be about what you're looking for from the outset, the more effective your home search will be. Also keep in mind, that in the end, every home purchase is a compromise.
Create your own personalized "wish list" and when you're finished filling it out, share it with your real estate agent.
Call me today for more information or to schedule a private consultation
Cidalia Mendonca Matukas
Keller Williams Realty
781-389-7252
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Good Afternoon,
It is a great day !
I am excited to announce that I am considered the Realtor of choice for the Greater Brockton area by Fox 25 news. I will be promoted by their news station and on their website. Click on the link below and take a look.
http://1877mlsexperts.com/Boston/Cidalia_Mendonca_MatukasKeller_Williams_Realty you can also go to the main page at www.myfoxboston.com and take a look at the mlsexpert portion on the right hand side of the page.
Please share this with anyone you know. I thank you all for your support it means a great deal to me.
Cidalia Mendonca Matukas
Keller Williams Realty
781-389-7252
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Cidalia's goal is to achieve superior customer service for all her clients. She also can help all clients who speak Portuguese Visit www.homesbycidalia.com or call direct 781-389-7252
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