Report: Mass. home prices post steep July decline

The median price of single-family homes in Massachusetts fell 12.3 percent in July, marking the sharpest decline in monthly home prices since it began tracking the housing market in 1987, the Warren Group reported today.

The Warren Group is the Boston-based publisher of Banker & Tradesman and a provider of local real estate data, and it said today in a monthly report that the median price for Massachusetts single-family homes sold in July dropped to $320,000 from $365,000 in July 2007.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts condo sales continued to fall on a volume basis by double-digit percentages in July, but at less dramatic rates than in previous months this year, the Warren Group said.

Yesterday the National Association of Realtors reported that the sale of existing homes in the Northeast declined nearly 12 percent in July from a year ago, with the sales of distressed properties dragging down prices in the entire region; the median price in the Northeast was $278,700, down almost 5 percent from July 2007.

In Massachusetts, the Warren Group said today that the number of single-family homes sold in July slipped 6.4 percent to 4,495 from 4,800 sold in July 2007. July is the only month this year that monthly Bay State sales haven’t declined by double-digit percentages, the Warren Group added.

As for Massachusetts condos, the number of units sold continued to fall by double-digit percentages, but the drop was less dramatic than in previous months this year. A total of 2,236 condos were sold in July, down 12.5 percent from the 2,556 sales recorded a year earlier. Condo sales have fallen by more than 20 percent for eight consecutive months, said the Warren Group, which added that the median condo price fell 2.5 percent to $287,750 in July 2008 from $295,250 in July 2007.

“The good news in July was that home sales didn’t decline as precipitously as they have in the previous six months of the year," Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group "Unfortunately, prices dipped even more than they did this past April, when prices were 12 percent lower than a year earlier. The drop is a dramatic turnaround from five to six years ago when prices were escalating by double-digit percentages. Foreclosure activity has certainly dragged down home prices and will continue to affect the overall market.”

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors issued its own monthly report on the local housing market this morning.

There were 3,928 detached single-family homes sold this July, a 10 percent decrease from the 4,363 homes sold the same time last year, according to the association's calculations.

The median selling price for Massachusetts single-family homes in July was $326,500, a decrease of 10.7 percent compared with $365,775 in July 2007, the association said.

The local condominium market experienced a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of units sold this July when compared with the same time last year, from 1,933 units sold in July 2007 to 1,804 units sold in July 2008, the association said.

Condominium median selling prices in July were down 2.9 percent from $293,500 in 2007 to $284,900 in 2008.

“While there has been some positive change in the fact that sales declines narrowed in July compared to other months this year, the economy continues to keep some buyers out of the market,” Massachusetts Association of Realtors president Susan M. Renfrew said in a statement. “With that being said, the condo market has seen a significant increase in activity, especially after the first half of the year when condo sales were down at least 20 percent or more each month.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)