Bay State home sales: Worst June since 1991
Home sales plunged more than 23 percent in June, the fifth straight month of double-digit declines, reports The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
In fact, the 4,313 homes sold last month marked the worst June since 1991, when there were 4,243 sales.
Of course, that low point was set during another brutal recession that hit Greater Boston and New England particularly hard compared to the rest of the country.
The early 1990s were a tough time for the Massachusetts economy and real estate market here in particular. The 1990s may have ended amid the happier times of the tech boom, but the decade started with an epic bust that featured a collapse in home sales and prices after a big run up during the Reagan years.
Sounds familiar, but with national bankruptcy looming, it's not clear whether we get the happy ending this time around.
Still, home prices currently present a more muddled picture.
While sales plunged in June, the median home price in Massachusetts actually rose last month - albeit by a tiny $850 - from $325,000 in June 2010.
However, year to date, prices are down 1.7 percent, to $290,000, according to the Warren Group.
Either way, home prices remain stubborn here in the Boston area, giving ground more slowly than in many parts of the country.
Stay tuned, for the Case-Shiller home price numbers will be out later this morning.
Zillow.com has taken a guess at what the numbers will show, forecasting a 3.5 percent price decline in Case-Shiller's 20 city index.
