Archive for the 'Buyer Brokers Realty News' Category

Seeing A Light at the End of the Tunnel - Really?

Spring is here and with the season comes a growing sense of confidence amongst those of us in ‘the biz’ that the real estate market may be truly improving – finally!  Yes indeed, there is definitely some ‘bustling’ going on now which is lending to the positive vibe in the real estate community throughout Massachusetts and I’ll share with you the reasons why there is such optimism.

To begin with, know that real estate, like politics, is local. In Massachusetts, housing trends and statistics will differ from region to region within the state and then again from town to town within each region. Every month and for each quarter, the Plymouth and South Shore Association of Realtors® (PASS) prepares for its members an analysis of real estate trends and stats for the whole south shore region. Most recently, they provided a report comparing the real estate numbers for March 2011 vs. March 2012 using the information compiled by the Multiple Listing Service (MLSPIN). Following are the highlights, listed by category, as reported by PASS:

Sales of single family homes and condos combined – up 25% (from 240 sold in March 2011 to 300 sold in 2012).

Prices – the median price of single family homes and condos sold was up 1% (from $291,350 in March 2011 to $293,700 in March 2012).

Pending Sales – the total number of single family homes and condos put under agreement was up 35% (from 368 in March 2011 to 497 in March 2012).

Days on Market – the average number of days on market for single family homes and condos combined decreased from 177 days at the end of March 2011 as compared to 169 days at the end of March 2012.

Inventory of single family homes and condos combined – up less than 1% (from 2,697 on March 31, 2011 as compared to 2709 on March 31, 2012).

Supply – at the end of March 2011 there was 11 months supply of properties (single family and condos combined) at the current rate of sale. By contrast, at the end of March 2012, there was 9 months supply at the current rate of sale. The market is considered balanced when there is between 7.5 and 8.5 months of supply.  A balanced market does not favor  either the seller or the buyer.

For homebuyers, this last point pertaining to the supply of homes is significant and bears watching closely as this current trend suggests that the advantage for buyers to having a ‘buyer’s market’ is slipping away.

Overall, these numbers are positive, yet it should be noted again that the real estate market will also vary from town to town within the region.

Coming very, very soon I will post a complete recap of sold homes (single family and condos) by town for the first quarter January 2012 through March 2012 as compared to the same period January 2011 through March 2011. So please stay tuned…

As always, thank you for visiting and feel free to contact me directly with your questions.

Until the next time,

Jackie Farrell, Realtor®

BuyerBrokersRealty

Twitter @BuyerBrokersRE

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About the author – Jackie Farrell is the Broker/Owner of Buyer Brokers Realty, a South Shore MA Exclusive Buyer Agency specializing in representing residential buyers in the purchase of homes throughout Boston’s South Shore.

Jackie’s service area includes the Massachusetts towns of Kingston, Plymouth, Carver, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanover, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke and Scituate.

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