February Real Estate Update for the Pioneer Valley Region

Pioneer Valley

Sales up 3.7%

Feb 2014 - Number of units closed - 215

Feb 2015 - Number of units closed - 223

Feb 2014 - Average Sales Price - 190,972

Feb 2015 - Average Sales Price - 211,661

Franklin County

Sales down 8%

Feb 2014 - Number of units closed - 25

Feb 2015 - Number of units closed - 23

Feb 2014 - Average Sales Price - 151,270

Feb 2015 - Average Sales Price - 187,474

Hampshire County

Sales up 23%

Feb 2014 - Number of units closed - 48

Feb 2015 - Number of units closed - 59

Feb 2014 - Average Sales Price - 241,516

Feb 2015 - Average Sales Price - 277,700

Key Points - Pioneer Valley Single Family Homes

• Sales - Up 3.7 percent from 215 in February 2014 to 223 in February 2015.

• Median Price - Up 11.2 percent from $169,900 in February 2014 to $189,000 in February 2015.

• Inventory is down 5.8 percent from 1,922 single family listings at the end of February 2014 to 1,811 single family listings at the end of February 2015.

• Supply - At the end of February 2014 there 8.9 months of supply at the current rate of sale.  At the end of February 2015 there were 8.1 months of supply at the current rate of sale.

• Days on Market - The average days on market is up 6.5 percent from 138 days in February 2014 to 147  in February 2015.

• A Six-Year View - The median price is up 9 percent from $173,250 in February 2010 to $189,000 in February 2015. 

• Mortgage Rates - 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.80 percent with an average of 0.6 points for the week ending February 26, 2015.  Last year at this time the 30 year FRM averaged 4.37 percent with an average 0.7 points. (Source: FreddieMac.com)

This information is provide by the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley

How Does the White House Compare to a Typical Home Purchased - Happy President's Day

President’s Day: How does the White House compare to the typical home purchased?

In the spirit of President’s Day we can use data from the 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers to see how the typical home differs from the White House.

Typical Home Purchased in the U.S.

• 84% of buyers purchased a previously owned home, with 79% of buyers choosing a detached single-family home.
• Looking at first-time and repeat buyers, both also purchased detached single-family homes more often with 75% of first-time buyers and 81% of repeat buyers.
• 50% of all buyers purchased their home in a suburb/subdivision. The typical detached single-family home purchased was 2,000 square feet.
• Homes purchased also had a median of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and was built in 1993.
• Of all buyers, the expected length of tenure in the home purchased was 12 years.

The White House

• The White House was built in 1792, and in comparison is located in an urban or central area.
• The White House contains 6 levels, has 132 rooms, including 35 bathrooms.
• It also includes features such as: a tennis court, jogging track, swimming pool, billiard room, movie theatre, and bowling alley.
• While tenure in the median expected tenure in home lasts around 12 years, in the White House the expected tenure is between 4 and 8 years.

Posted in Economist Commentaries, by Brandi Snowden, Research Survey Analyst 

Yearly Real Estate Sales of Single Family Homes since 2003 in Franklin County, Ma of the Pioneer Valley Region

I've been keeping track of single family sales for all Franklin County towns since 2003.  I recently added 2014 and you can see a trend of where real estate sales are headed.   Interesting to see the rise and fall of the market over the past 12 years.  It appears we are now at 2004 to 2005 prices and an increase in values should continue over the next few years.  I do have the breakdown of sales for each town since 2003.  If you are interested in knowing the activity in your specific town, feel free to email me at wanda@mooneyandroberts.com.   

This information is gathered from MLS and does not include private sales.

October Real Estate Market Review for Massachusetts

Massachusetts Real Estate off to a positive start!

Massachusetts Real Estate is off to a positive start in 2014

The market momentum of 2013 has continued through the new year and into January as home sales and prices were up again to start the year. While inventory continues to be down, the return of equity is giving homeowners a better opportunity to put their homes on the market – if that’s what they want to do. Unfortunately, inventory can’t come back if sellers don’t list their homes. 

Highlights from the release:

•     January single-family home sales – Up 0.7% over last year.
•     January Single-family median prices were UP 14.3% to $320,000. Sixteen straight months of increases.
•     January condo sales up 4.1% and median prices UP 20.2% ($300,500)
•     Inventory in January Down 20.4% to 15,246 and Condominium available Down 27.0% to 4,232
•     SF listings added to the market in January Down 11.1% over last year. (4,167 from 4.685 in 2013)
•     Condo listings added to the market Down 11.4% over last year. (1,700 from 1,919 in 2013)

This information is provided from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors

Franklin County, Ma Single Family Sales since 2003

The chart below represents the average sale price and average days on market since 2003 for single family sales in the Franklin County.   You can see the ups and downs in the real estate market and hard to believe the average sale price in 2004 was higher than it is today.  This also shows that the amount of time to sale a house has not changed much in the past few years.   Is the real estate market getting better?  The next 10 years will be interesting.  

This information was taken from the Multiple Listing Service and does not include private sales.

The following spreadsheets is the breakdown of Single Family Sales in each Franklin County town since 2003.  

Good News in April for Pioneer Valley Real Estate Market

Pioneer Valley Real Estate update for April is reporting an influx of buyers looking and sales down due to lack of inventory.      The interest rates are still at an all time low and this is one of the main reasons why the real estate market is continuing to do well.   You will continue to see positive news throughout this year and possibly into the next. 

In April, Franklin County, sales rose 37.5 percent from 24 to 33 and the median sales price fell 5.9 percent from $168,450 to $158,500. 

For more information about the latest local real estate news, check out the complete article with quotes from Pioneer Valley real estateagents.

Massachusetts Pending Sales Are Up!

Pendings Sale for April

Despite the low inventory of homes for sale, buyers made a huge push in April to make offers on homes. In fact, the push was so huge that more single-family homes were put under agreement in April 2013 than in any month since MAR began tracking pending home sales data in January 2004. While condos didn’t hit an all-time high, they did hit their 2nd highest total.

Link to April 2013 Pending Sales News Release

Here are the highlights:

• Single-family pending home sales were up 32.8% compared to April 2012 – biggest increase since April 2010 (last month of tax credit)
• 5,948 is the most homes ever put under agreement in any one month
• Condo pending home sales were up 37.4% compared to April 2012
• 2.435 is the 2nd most condos put under agreement in any single month (March 2005 – 2,501 units was the most)

This information is provided by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors

Yearly Sales since 1995 for West County! Take a Look!

West County Single Family Yearly Sales History since 1995

Interested in knowing:
1)  The average sale price for West County Single Family homes since 1995?
2)  What has been the average days on market since 1995?
3)  What was the average list price?

                                                    Take a look - West County Sales

I prepared the attached sales history chart that I find very interesting.  Do you think it supports what some are saying that the real estate market might be improving.   Take a look and let me know your thoughts.

These statistics come from the multiple listing service and does not include private sales.