ESSEX COUNTY 2023 MARKET REPORT and 5-YEAR REVIEW
Go HERE to download a pdf of this report
Median Price and Sales
The median price of the Single Family homes (SFH) sold in Essex County increased 44% from $475,000 in 2019 to $684,000 in 2023. Sales declined slightly from 2019 to 2021, but dropped sharply in 2022, and again in 2023, when they were almost 40% lower than in 2019.
The median price of the Condos sold increased by 40% from $320,000 in 2019 to $446,500 in 2023. Sales followed a similar pattern to that for SFHs, declining 30% from 2019 to 2023.
Single Family Sales by Price
Another way to look at sales is the distribution by price. In 2019, 55% of SFH sales were under $500,000, and by 2022 that had dropped to just 16%. Conversely, the share of sales over $750,000 went from 13% to 35% in the same period. (more…)
How to use Oliver Reports
The goal of Oliver Reports is to help buyers and sellers (and owners) of real estate to have a better understanding of what is happening in the market. As such, we produce reports every quarter on several of the 34 cities and towns of Essex County as well as for Essex County overall and also for Massachusetts. We believe that statistics can be helpful to understanding a market, but they can also be dangerous if taken out of context. Read the comment on the Beverly condo market to appreciate the importance of having informed commentary in addition to the basic numbers.(Market reports include the option to download a pdf of the report.)
As my colleague Kathleen Murphys says: “Not everyone likes numbers and statistics but if you are thinking about buying or selling a home, information on local real estate sales and inventory is a great benefit. A good Realtor will use this data to effectively develop a pricing and marketing strategy to support your goals.”
In addition to data about the market, Oliver Reports writes on real estate related topics such as mortgage rates, property taxes (we publish a map showing property tax rates every year) and flood insurance. A new feature will be devoted to topics such as staging and design,, as well as tips for both buyers and sellers.
We also publish New Listings and Open Houses each week for several cities and towns.
Beyond statistics, we also publish some lighter articles. We have published posts about Hugh Hefner, Elvis Presley, student housings that looks like a Ritz Carlton, the smallest castle in England, the largest palace in France – in other words, short articles (most posts can be ready in under a minute) that make interesting reading.
Oliver Reports is structured so that all the posts written in a 24 hour period go out in one email at 8 a.m. When you received the email, you can quickly scan to see if there is an article you are interested in. If so, click on it. If not, ignore the email.
If you have any interest in real estate (who doesn’t want to know what her home may be worth?) or any real estate related matters (an article is pending about shipping container homes – made from the thousands of surplus containers that sit on docks around the world, these homes can be an eco-friendly alternative to traditional building materials: one can even be ordered on Amazon), please try Oliver Reports. You should find something you enjoy reading.
Finally, all the posts are available on the website www.OliverReports.com with the market reports collected under Market Reports at the top right.
Happy – and we hope, informed – reading.
Essex County inventory: where have all the sellers gone?
During this mild winter, buyers have remained active, taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates, but Essex County inventory remains low.
While the end of February is low season for real estate sales in New England, some of the changes in inventory at different price levels are startling. I include a chart showing the overall numbers, followed by a breakdown by price, for both SFHs and Condos.
Single Family Homes (SFH)
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Condos
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].
Read Which broker will find the buyer for my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Essex County 2015 Housing Market Review
The SFH market in Essex County continued its recovery in 2015, with the median price increasing by 3% and sales by 10%. Both numbers are just below their prior peaks.
Median Price
The median price increased 3% in 2015 and is now just 1% below the 2005 peak.
There are always quarterly fluctuations, but for the seventh year in a row the highest median price was recorded in Q3.
Sales
Sales have bounced almost 50% from their great recession lows and were almost back to the 2004 peak.
Summary
2015 was another solid year in the recovery of the housing market in Essex County. With the Massachusetts economy strong – and the pending move of GE to Boston can only help – and mortgage rates still below 4%, the outlook for 2016 is for another year of increasing prices, which will very likely reach a new high.
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my home?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Is this the end of mortgages under 4%?
The “will they won’t they” saga of when the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates took another yesterday as the jobs report saw with 271,000 new jobs added, a decrease in the official unemployment rate to a flat 5 percent, and a pick up in wage growth to an annualized rate of 2.5 percent, the fastest pace in about 6 years. The yield on the 10 year Treasury (the bench mark for 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgages – FRM) jumped to 2.34%, bringing speculation that we could be about to see the end of mortgages under 4%. (more…)
Home sales: from feast to famine?
The old saying is that there are three things that matter in real estate: location, location and location.
In the same vein there are three things that matter in real estate statistics: never rely upon one month’s numbers, never rely upon one month’s numbers….well you can guess the third one. (more…)
Supply of houses for sale after Labor Day
As we enter the second phase of the 2015 home-buying season, I have looked at the supply of houses for sale after Labor Day and compared it with this time last year for every city and town in Essex County.
Overall, the supply has dropped from 4.4 months* to 3.9 for Essex County overall (and from 5.4 months to 4.7 for the whole of Massachussetts). The number of towns with supply of less than 3 months has increased from 6 to 10, while the number with more than 10 months of supply has dropped from 4 to 1. (more…)
Sales and Median Prices Town by Town
As promised in my Are home sales really booming? article this weekend I am now publishing a town by town guide to Sales and Median Prices for the year through August. (more…)
Today’s Open Houses
Today may not be a great beach day so it is a good day to go to Open Houses. (more…)
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