Housing Inventory today, by price and town, versus a year ago

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This article compares today’s inventory, by price, compared with that of a year ago.We are now past the vagaries of winter weather and the dates of Easter and Passover, thus making the comparisons like for like for probably the first time this year. I will look first at Essex County and Massachusetts for the big picture, followed by Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem, Beverly and Lynn, adding comments where appropriate.

Overall, the story is of a decline in inventory at lower price levels and an increase at higher price points, a trend consistent with a rising market.

Massachusetts and Essex County
Overall inventory is down in the entire State by 9% for SFHs and 6% for condos; in Essex County the decline is 10% for SFHs and 12% for condos. But…. there is a marked difference between supply under $500,000 and above that figure, with large declines in supply below $500,000 and increases above that figure, particularly at the top end.

Housing inventory

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

Marblehead
While Marblehead is one of the few towns to show an increase in inventory over 2015, it still shows a sharp drop from the 92 and 100 SFHs for sales on this date in 2013 and 2014, while condo inventory is more in line with numbers from those years. The increase in SFH inventory is concentrated in the $750,000 – $999,999 and over $2 million brackets for SFHs and, rather surprisingly, in condos under $250,000.
Housing Inventory                                                                                      Source:MLS, Oliver Reports

Swampscott
The story in Swampscott continues to be the incredibly low level of supply, most markedly for SFHs below $500,000, where the number available has collapsed from 25 to just 3. And there are just 5 condos for sale in the entire town.

Housing Inventory

Source:MLS, Oliver Reports

 

Salem
While overall supply in Salem is down just slightly from last year, here again we see declines in inventory at the lower price levels:

Housing Inventory

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

 

Beverly
The total number of SFHs for sale is much the same as last year but the mix has changed, with a huge drop under $400,000 and increases in most of the higher ranges. Condos for sale under $250,000 plunged from 16 to just 4.

Housing Inventory

Source:MLS, Oliver Reports

Lynn
The decline is most pronounced in SFHs under $300,000 where supply has more than halved from 48 to 23.

Housing Inventory

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

If you are considering selling your home please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected] for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer.

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Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated

@OliverReports

 

 

 

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