FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Editorial Contacts:
Katie Curnutte
The Warren Group
(617) 896-5370
kcurnutte@thewarrengroup.com
Mass. Home Sales Continue Steady Drop in May;
Prices Fall 8%,
According to The Warren Group
Condo Sales Race Downward, but Prices Stay Steady
BOSTON, June 23, 2008 – Single-family home sales in Massachusetts continued their steady decline in May, falling nearly 13 percent when compared to May 2007. Prices, however, did not fall as dramatically as they have during the last three months, according to a report released today by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
“The first sign of a recovery in the housing market will be a rebound in home sales,” said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “We’re not there yet, but this is the second month in a row that sales have shown smaller declines than we’ve been seeing since the last quarter of last year. It could mean that more people were coming out to view and buy houses on the market as the weather warmed up earlier this year. But we still have a long way to go before we’ll see sales increase, and even longer before prices will turn around.”
Sales of single-family homes fell 12.7 percent from 4,284 in May 2007 to 3,739 in May 2008. Year-to-date sales are down 20.4 percent from 17,372 sales in the first five months of 2007 to 13,822 this year.
The median price of single-family homes dropped 7.8 percent in May, falling from $350,000 last year to $322,500. The year-to-date median price fell 8.6 percent from $342,000 to $312,500.
Condominium sales continued to fall dramatically in May, with a 29.6 percent decline, from 2,855 to 2,010. Year-to-date sales declined 29.7 percent, from 10,751 to 7,556. Condo prices rose 1 percent in May from $285,000 to $288,000. Year-to-date prices fell 1.8 percent from $276,000 to $271,000.
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.
###