Home sales, prices fall in March; condo market continues to grow
The number of single-family homes sold in Massachusetts, as well as the median price of those homes, declined 1.5 percent in March, according to a new report released today.
The Warren Group, a Boston-based financial and real estate research firm, reported that 4,416 homes sold statewide in March, fewer than the 4,482 that sold in March 2005. The median house price dipped to $325,000, from $330,000 a year ago.
"The [sales] activity's about the same as it was in 2003 and 2004," said Joseph Hare, executive vice president of Hammond/GMAC Real Estate in Chestnut Hill. After a scorching sales pace in 2005, he said the market slowed somewhat due to "a combination of more listings on the market" -- much of it new construction -- buyers having "more to choose from, and they can work at a slower pace than they might've in times past."
For the first three months of the year, the number of single-family sales dropped 8.4 percent, to 10,534 compared with 11,497 last year, a record year for home sales in Massachusetts.
By contrast, condominium sales continued to increase in March: 2,554 condos sold, a 1.4 percent rise from year-ago sales of 2,520 last year, Warren Group said. The median price for a condo surged 6.2 percent, to $276,119, up from $260,000 in March 2004.
Real estate agents attribute the gains in the condo market to baby boomers and empty nesters buying second homes or downsizing and first-time homebuyers who cannot afford to buy a home in one of the country's most expensive housing markets.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff)
