Housing Inventory drops even further: a breakdown by price
This will come as no surprise to anybody who has been looking for a home to buy, but the number of both Single Family Homes (SFH) and Condos for sale throughout the North Shore, Essex County and Massachusetts as a whole has continued to drop, in many cases sharply, from already low levels a year ago.
First, I’ll show the percentage declines in the different market, followed by a detailed breakdown of inventory by price (note that the percentage change shown in the tables is from 2017 to 2018).
Oliver Reports, MLS
In line with the principle of shopping locally, I will start with 5 North Shore towns, followed by Essex County and Massachusetts.
Marblehead
Swampscott
Salem
Beverly
Lynn
Essex County
Massachusetts
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 Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports
What’s the current supply of houses for sale locally?
This report sets out to analyze the current supply of houses for sale in Marblehead, Swampscott and Salem.
Single Family Homes (SFH)
First, let’s look at sales so far this year to May 20. The pace of sales is slower in winter so these numbers overstate the supply. Bear in mind that a market is generally regarded as being in equilibrium between buyers and sellers when there is 6 months of supply.
Next I looked at recent activity, namely the number of SFHs which had offers accepted since the beginning of April and compared that with current supply. April, May and June are generally the three largest months for accepted offers in these markets, so these numbers may slightly understate supply going forward, but they provide a stark indication of how little supply there is today, especially in Swampscott and Salem:
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Condos
While sales numbers for SFHs are similar for the three towns, they are very different for condos, where only Salem has a large market. Thus the supply number for Salem is more significant than for the other towns:
Turning to accepted offers since the beginning of April, the supply drops sharply in all markets. Note that in Salem there have been 47 accepted offers so far in May alone and there are just 61 for sale.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Comment
This report quantifies just how short of supply the market is, especially in Swampscott and Salem. And bear in mind that these numbers are for the total market; at lower prices there is even less supply, as higher priced properties generally take longer to sell.
The supply numbers are somewhat better in Marblehead where there is some evidence that list prices of SFHs have increased this year, possibly in advance of the market.
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.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
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 has dropped since 2013_14
This report shows the decline in inventory in recent years, first for local towns:
Source:MLS, Oliver Reports
And for Essex County and Massachusetts as a whole:
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.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
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 today, by price and town, versus a year ago
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
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
Swampscott Q1 Housing Market by the Numbers
This report gives a picture of the Swampscott Q1 Housing Market by the Numbers, followed by a snapshot of current inventory compared with a year ago, a comparison which shows a huge drop.
Median Prices and Sales
Sales of both SFHs and condos were down slightly from last year, while the median price for both categories increased somewhat. Always remember that quarterly numbers can be – and frequently are – volatile, especially during the winter months. We will get a truer picture of the underlying market trends when we get the numbers for the first half of the year.
Source: MLS, Oliver Reports
Current Inventory
The big story is the shortness of inventory compared with a year ago. The number of SFHs for sale under $500,000 is just 5 compared with 19 a year ago. Overall inventory for both SFHs and condos is about half that of a year ago.
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.
Read Which broker should I choose to sell my house?
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 after Easter still low
It is quite common for houses to come to market right after Easter. Unfortunately – for the housing market at least – the date of Easter varies from year to year – rather like the weather. Easter was in late March in 2013 and 2016, April 20 in 2014 and April 5 last year. What this means is the inventory tables and charts below are post Easter for all except 2014.
Marblehead, Swampscott, Beverly and Salem
The biggest message from the tables below is that while inventory is flat to down compared with last year, there is a much larger drop compared with 2013 and 2014. These tables and charts show the numbers for each year and the change since 2013.
Where have all the sellers gone?
I am sure I am not alone in expecting that housing inventory would be higher this (early) spring, given the mild winter and continuing low interest rates,but that has not happened. In this post I look at inventory for both Single Family Homes (SFH) and Condos for local towns, Essex County and Massachusetts.
Marblehead, Swampscott, Beverly and Salem
None of these markets has higher inventory than last year – the big snow year, remember? All are sharply down from 2013 and 2014.
Similar story for condos – look at the drop in Salem.
MLS, Oliver Reports
Essex County and Massachusetts
These don’t show well in a chart so here are the numbers, which show a similar, but less pronounced pattern.
Changes in inventory since 2013
The last two charts show the percentage decline in inventory since 2013.
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 should list my house for sale?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
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@OliverReports
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