FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Editorial Contact:

Aglaia Pikounis                                                                        

The Warren Group

617-896-5370

apikounis@thewarrengroup.com

Bay State Sees Worst Monthly Price Drop In

More Than 20 Years

Single-Family Home, Condo Sales Decline Sharply

BOSTON, Dec. 23, 2008 – After climbing for two consecutive months, single-family home sales in Massachusetts tumbled 18.4 percent in November from a year earlier, according to the latest report from The Warren Group. And the median price for homes sold in November plummeted 16.7 percent – the steepest decline in year-over-year monthly home prices since The Warren Group began tracking the housing market in 1987.

“The slow sales volume in November reflects what was happening in the late summer and early fall when most of these sales transactions were being negotiated. Fear and panic gripped consumers as the stock market tanked and financial firms and other companies reported heavy losses which caused many would-be homebuyers to pull back,” said Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. “A similar sales picture is likely to emerge in the next two months, which means the price declines we’ve been seeing won’t level off for quite some time.”

Single-family home sales fell to 2,620 from 3,211 in November 2007. It was the slowest home sales pace for the month of November since The Warren Group started collecting real estate statistics more than 20 years ago. A total of 37,257 single-family homes sold from January through November, down 12.5 percent from 42,594 last year.

The western part of the Bay State and the islands had the sharpest declines in home sales this year. Year-to-date single-family home sales have plunged 38.6 percent in Nantucket County and 25.1 percent in Dukes County. Single-family home sales in Franklin and Hampden counties are off more than 18 percent from January through November compared to a year ago, while sales fell 17.4 percent in Hampshire County during the same period. 

The November median home price slumped 16.7 percent to $275,000 from $330,000 during the same month in 2007. November’s percentage decline exceeds the monthly price drops in September and October, when median home prices were down 15.3 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively. The median price for homes sold in the first 11 months of the year was $309,900, 10.8 percent lower than the $347,500 median price recorded for the same months in 2007.

Meanwhile, the condominium market, which experienced more moderate sales declines in September and October, saw double-digit percentage declines in sales and prices in November.

Sales sank 27.5 percent to 1,204 from 1,660 in November 2007. Sales through November decreased 23.1 percent to 18,862 from 24,514. The median condo price retreated 12 percent to $240,000 in November from $272,700 a year ago. It was the biggest price decline in monthly median condo prices year-over-year since January 1992. But condo prices have held up better so far this year than single-family home prices. Year-to-date the median condo price slipped 2 percent to $275,000 from $280,525.

About The Warren Group

The Warren Group, based in Boston, is the publisher of Banker & Tradesman, The Commercial Record and a series of association publications. As the premier provider of real estate data in New England, The Warren Group offers a range of real estate products and services for professionals and consumers searching for real estate and financial information. For more information about The Warren Group, please visit www.thewarrengroup.com or call 617-428-5100.