Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Real Estate Sales Up

Things are looking better for the Massachusetts Real Estate market according the Warren Group as reported by boston.com this morning. Home sales increased by over 3% in January the highest tally since 2007. On the flip side of this good news is the fact that prices decreased while the number of sales increased. Median prices of single family homes dropped to $260,000 and median condo prices dropped to $247,500. This represents the fifth month in a row that prices have dropped. Obviously, these lower prices are driving the sales numbers up.

I firmly believe that much of the fate of the real estate market is predicated on consumer confidence as do others:
We’re pleased to see that January was another positive month for home sales in Massachusetts,” Trisha McCarthy, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “With each month of improved economic news, buyer confidence continues to build. It is this confidence combined with the ongoing low interest rates and home affordability that will lead to a real estate market recovery (boston.com)

1 comment:

Craig H said...

I'm continually baffled at the stubborn insistence maintained by so many, not to see the correlation between dropping prices and increased sales. Why is lower prices a "flip side"??? Why do people priced out of the market by inflated values and tight credit not count in anyone's assessment of the situation and the health of the market?

Any market is healthy when buyers and sellers are meeting to trade. The price at which those trades occur is immaterial. Only the sellers benefit from high prices. Fully half the market participants are damaged by higher prices.