Today, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for May again showing the truly dismal and deteriorating circumstances that have befallen the Bay State’s housing market.Whether it was a slow depression brought on by a local economy that has been eroding slowly for over eight years, well over two years of steadily declining home sales and prices, the credit crunch, a looming recession, a palpable sense of inflation of necessities like food and fuel or just simply a change in attitudes toward the notion of a house as a vehicle for untold wealth creation, the regions housing markets have now crossed a dangerous tipping point.
It appears that we have actually now entered the “price freefall” phase of the housing decline where elevated inventory, declining sales, and negative sentiment all combine to result in plunging home prices which, quite possibly, may continue to decline substantially even through the rest of the spring and summer months which are typically strong periods in any selling season.
With the report the Massachusetts Realtor leader Susan Renfrew makes another attempt at a self interested spin by suggesting that the month-to-month increase to prices indicates that the regions housing markets are moving “in the right direction”.
“While the number of sales for both single-family homes and condos were down in May, these decreases continue to narrow since the start of the year, which is definitely a move in the right direction,”
MAR reports that in May, single family home sales slumped 10.1% as compared to May 2007 with a 5% decline in inventory translating to a stark 10 months of supply and a median selling price decline of 9.2% while condo sales plunged 24.5% with a 9.0% decline in inventory translating to a lofty 9.5 months of supply and a median selling price decline of 2.6%.
Tomorrow, Standard & Poor’s will release their April installment of their S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices for Boston possibly showing the first month-to-month price decline since 1995, a very bad sign of things to come.Check back as I will post the results when they become available.
As in months past, be on the lookout for the inflation adjusted charts produced by BostonBubble.com for an even more accurate "real" view of the current home price movement.
May’s Key MAR Statistics:
- Single family sales declined 10.1% as compared to May 2007
- Single family median price decreased 9.2% as compared to May 2007
- Condo sales declined 24.5% as compared to May 2007
- Condo median price decline of 2.6% as compared to May 2007
- The number of months supply of single family homes stands at 10 months.
- The number of months supply of condos stands at 9.5 months.
- The average “days on market” for single family homes stands at 143 days.
- The average “days on market” for condos stands at 135 days.
