Marblehead Mid-Year Housing Market Report

Single Family Homes (SFH)
The median price of Single Family Homes (SFH) sold in the 6 months to June 30, 2022 (H1) increased 8% to $875,000, while sales, reflecting the reduced inventory, dropped sharply to the lowest number this century, just above the numbers of 2008/09.

Condos
There were 19 condo sales in H1 2022, down from 25 in 2021, while the median price increased 4.1% to $505,000.

Inventory

For the last few years one of the main topics in discussions about real estate has been the decline in inventory. In fact, as the chart above shows, in Marblehead the decline has been steady over the last decade, reaching a nadir in 2021.The increase in 2022 reflects a surge in new listings after July 4. What is interesting is that, excluding this week’s 13 New Listings, the median days on market for the other 15 active listings is 36 days. In the 4 months from March to June, the median number of days the houses which sold in that period were on the market before receiving an offer was just 7.

Mortgage rates
While I have been writing since March 2021 about the risk that the Federal Reserve’s continued pumping of massive amounts of cash into a rapidly recovering economy would trigger renewed inflation, for a long time markets believed that the Fed would not significantly change its policy. That belief changed dramatically at the end of 2021 when the Fed acknowledged that inflation was not, in fact, transitory. Markets reacted and the yield on the 10-year Treasury – the benchmark used in calculating mortgage rates – more than doubled from around 1.5% in late 2021 to almost 3.5% in mid-June, driving the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage to 5.8%, the highest level since 2008.

The Federal Reserve finally responded to the rapid increase in inflation and started raising interest rates, but the Fed’s rate influences banks’ prime rates – used for things like credit cards and auto loans – not the 30-year Fixed rate Mortgage (FRM) which is more closely tied to the market yield on the 10-year Treasury Note (10T). And that yield was already climbing before the Fed acted, driving the FRM rate sharply upwards. On June 25 I published Have Mortgage Rates peaked? when the national average rate was 5.81%. This week it fell to 5.3% as the yield on 10T fell on renewed fears of a recession.

And these recent articles:
Economic and mortgage commentary
Has Inflation Peaked?
Have Mortgage Rates peaked?
Are we already in a Recession?
Federal Reserve in Fantasyland: Implications for Housing Market
Time to Consider an Adjustable Rate Mortgage
How Marblehead’s 2022 Property Tax Rate is calculated
Essex County 2022 Property Tax Rates: Town by Town guide

Market Reports
How quickly are houses selling?
Have Home Sales slowed?
June Housing Inventory: still way below 2020 levels.

Other
Free Property and Mortgage Fraud alert notification for homeowners
Guide to Buying and Selling in Southwest Florida

If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, please contact me on 617.834.8205 or ajoliver47@gmail.com.

Andrew Oliver, M.B.E.,M.B.A.
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®

m 617.834.8205

www.OliverReportsMA.com

“If you’re interested in Marblehead, you have to visit the blog of Mr. Andrew Oliver, author and curator of OliverReportsMA.com. He’s assembled the most comprehensive analysis of Essex County we know of with market data and trends going back decades. It’s a great starting point for those looking in the towns of Marblehead, Salem, Beverly, Lynn and Swampscott.”
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Andrew Oliver, M.B.E., M.B.A.
Real Estate Advisor
Andrew.Oliver@Compass.com
www.TheFeinsGroup.com
www.OliverReportsFL.com

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Compass
800 Laurel Oak Drive, Suite 400, Naples, FL 34108
m: 617.834.8205