May Housing Inventory shows sharp Jump
Inventory always starts the year at a low level, before picking up in the spring and early summer. There has, however, been a very sharp jump in inventory in the last month.
Single Family Homes (SFH)
May 2024 was the first month t0 show a year-over-year increase for some time. That trend has continued and was supercharged as of May 1. It will be interesting to see how inventory builds over the next 2-3 months; there has not been a reduction in sales YTD.
Condos
Condo inventory has increased sharply in the last month, reaching withing striking distance of the highest level in the last 5 years.
Mortgage rates
Mortgage rates have stayed withing a narrow range for most of 2025:
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 [email protected].
Andrew Oliver, M.B.E.,M.B.A.
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.”
“Thank you for the wonderful, wonderful job you do for the community (explanation of property tax process and calculation) – it is so helpful and so clearly explained.”
Licensed in Massachusetts with Stuart St.James
Licensed in Florida with Compass
www.OliverReportsFL.com
Essex County Inventory: Town by Town
Conventional wisdom is that a market is in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when the inventory represents 6 months of supply.
The table below lists inventory in terms of months of supply from the lowest to highest and suggests that nearly every town in Essex County is still seeing a seller’s market:
Inventory : rising trend continues
The number of Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County increased again in February, the 8th consecutive month of increase Year-on-Year. The first chart below shows January-June and the second one July-December:
Condos
It is the same story with condos, except that here the increase in February was the 9th consecutive month of Year-on-Year increases:
Comment
Translating inventory into months of supply is complicated this early in the year for two reasons: inventory is always low in the winter, as is sales activity. I will, however, write another post soon showing the current inventory by price for each of the towns and cities of Essex County.
Andrew Oliver
Realtor, Sagan Harborside
Sotheby’s International Realty
www.andrewJoliver.com
www.OliverReports.com
Tel: 617.834.8205
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Housing Inventory continues to climb
The recent trend has continued with year-over-year (YOY) increases in the inventory of Single Family Homes (SFH) in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County for the 6th month in succession and of condos for the 7th month.
SFHs
The first chart shows the first half of the year when inventory was still declining YOY. The second chart shows YOY increases for every month in July to December. Note that inventory levels are pretty well back to 2016 levels, while still well below those of 2014/15:
Condos
The first chart shows the first half of the year when inventory was declining YOY until June. The second chart shows YOY increases for every month in July to December. Note that inventory levels are not yet back to 2016 levels, while still well below those of 2014/15:
Comment
The December numbers continue the trend commented on for the last several months as rising inventory offers more options for home buyers. Read Is a recession coming soon? for my view on the outlook for the economy and housing market.
Andrew Oliver
www.OliverReports.com
Realtor
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
Tel: 617.834.8205
Housing Inventory increases for 2nd month in a row
(Click here to download a PDF of this report.)
After 26 months of declining inventory year-over-year, August marked the second consecutive monthly increase for Single Family Homes (SFH) in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County. But read on to the section about supply which shows that inventory remains extremely low despite the modest recent increases.
Condo inventory declined for 44 consecutive months, year over year, until June and has now increased for 3 months in a row.
Supply
A market is normally regarded as being in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when the current supply is equivalent to 6 months of sales. Anything less than that is seen as a sellers’ market, meaning there are more buyers than sellers.Thus, while inventory has shown some modest year over year increases in the last couple of months, supply remains very tight in most markets in Essex County. Overall, the supply of SFHs is just 2.6 months,with only 6 towns showing supply of 6 months or more.
The Condo market is even tighter, with only 1.9 months of supply and no individual town recording 6 months.
Comment
While inventory has shown a welcome year over year increase recently, overall supply still strongly favours sellers – at the right price.
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
www.SaganHarborside.com
How low is housing inventory?
While housing inventory may appear to have bottomed in terms of the number of properties listed for sale, as reported last week in Has Housing Inventory finally bottomed?, a more meaningful statistic is the number of months’ supply that current inventory offers.
Bering in mind that 6 months’ supply is generally regarded as representing a market in equilibrium, the following tables – for Single Family Homes (SFH) and Condos – show that Essex County and Massachusetts, as well as the vast majority of individual towns and cities, remain very strong sellers’ markets.
SFH
Condos
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
Has Housing Inventory finally bottomed?
Housing inventory in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County has been declining steadily since 2014, but the latest figures suggest that the decline may finally be coming to an end. Inventory is still down about 30% from 2015 and 15% from 2016, but there has actually been a slight increase in the last month. More detailed analyses for individual towns will be published in the near future.
Housing Inventory continues to shrink
The number of Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale in Essex County as of February 1 is down 23% from a year ago and down 42% compared with 2015.
The chart below shows the overall numbers for Essex County and Massachusetts, followed by tables for each city and town.
OliverReports.com
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 Andrew Oliver on 617.834.8205 or Kathleen Murphy on 603.498.6817.
If you are looking to buy, we will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Andrew Oliver and Kathleen Murphy are Realtors with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Essex County: inventory down, prices up
The number of Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale in Essex County dropped almost 10% compared with a year ago and is down over 30% from the level of two years ago.
The number of SFHs for sale under $400,000 has dropped from 627 in 2015 to 375 in 2016 and to 291 today.
Comment
I shall report on the median price next week, by which time Q3 sales will have been report in MLS. Meanwhile, preliminary numbers suggest that the median price of a SFH in Essex County through the first 9 months of the year increased by 7%.
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 [email protected].
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Fall Season Starts as Strong Sellers’ Market
A market is generally regarded as being in equilibrium when there is enough supply to accommodate 6 months of sales. When there is less than 6 months of supply it is called a sellers’ market – i.e. the market favors sellers rather than buyers.
Here is the current situation based upon sales Year to Date (YTD).
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
The numbers above are for the markets at all price points. In general there is more supply at higher price points, meaning that the market for buyers at lower price points is even tighter than these figures imply.
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected] for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Housing inventory: a town by town guide
The number of SFHs for sale in Essex County is down 16% from a year ago, while there are 28% fewer Condos for sale. In Massachusetts overall those numbers are declines of 24% and 19% respectively.
Here is a breakdown for each city and town in Essex County;
Single Family Homes (SFH)
Oliver Reports, MLS
Condos
AndrewJOliver.com, MLS
Comment
The law of supply and demand is quite straight forward: if demand exceeds supply prices rise. With mortgage rates also expected to rise this year, buyers are demonstrating urgency. With so little supply, sellers are also able to ask higher prices.
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected] for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Housing Inventory guide by price
This report breaks down inventory by price for 5 North Shore towns, plus Essex County and Massachusetts. Overall, inventory is down 15-20% from last year’s low numbers and there is a pattern that is repeated pretty well everywhere: a decline, in many cases a sharp one, of inventory at lower prices.
Marblehead and Swampscott
Total inventory is unchanged, but note the drop under $500,000 and the increase in the $500,000 – $1 million range:
Salem, Beverly and Lynn
Salem has experienced an extraordinary drop in inventory of both SFHs and Condos. The biggest changes in Beverly and Lynn are, as elsewhere, at the lower end.
Essex County and Massachusetts
And so in both Essex County and Massachusetts: a big drop in inventory a the lower end
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Are you thinking about selling? Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected] for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
Housing inventory: what is available in your town?
This article, the third in a series after Demand up, supply down and Inventory by price, looks at the current supply of Single Family Homes (SFH) and Condos in each of Essex County’s 34 cities and towns and compares it with the numbers for the last two years. Bear in mind that in February 2015 we were in the midst of the polar vortex winter of record cold, while both 2016 and 2017 (at least so far) have been quite mild. (more…)
Essex County Housing Inventory by price
This report shows housing inventory, broken down by price, for both Single Family Homes (SFH) and Condos on February 1st for the last three years. Read also Essex County Housing Market: demand up, supply down for an analysis of the market over the last three years. (more…)
Essex County Housing Market: demand up, supply down
Some things don’t change around here: the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl and housing inventory continues to decline.
The number of Single Family Homes (SFH) for sale
I show below the number of SFHs for sale on the 1st of each month since 2014 and the average number for the year. Between 2014 and 2016 the average number of SFHs for sale dropped 25% from 1,648 to 1,236. (more…)
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