Published November 20, 2020
MELROSE – Single-family homes here and across the state continue to sell during the pandemic, according to a report this week from The Warren Group, a provider of real estate and transaction data.
In Melrose, 27 single-family houses sold in October, up from 19 sold in the same month in 2019. The median price of the homes sold here last month was $713,000, up from the median price of $655,000 of those houses sold in Melrose during October last year.
Through the first 10 months of 2020, 209 single-families have been sold around the city, down slightly from the 215 sold through the same time in 2019.
The median sales price of the single-family homes sold in Melrose through October 2020 was $710,000, up from the $650,000 median price of the homes sold in the city through October 2019.
Last month across the state, there were 6,655 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 27.1 percent increase from October 2019 when there were 5,235 transactions. This marked the second consecutive month that the number of statewide sales increased by more than 27 percent on a year-over-year basis – a clear sign that there is no shortage of demand from buyers. Meanwhile, the median single-family home price increased 17.0 percent on a year-over-year basis to $455,000 – an all-time high for single-family homes in the month of October.
“Despite higher COVID-19 infection rates, consumers across Massachusetts continued their real estate buying binge in October,” said Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. “Strong demand from buyers, scant supply from sellers, and rock bottom interest rates continued to push the median single-family home price higher, and it has now been above $450,000 for four consecutive months.”
Year-to-date in Massachusetts, there have been 49,240 single-family home sales – a 0.7 percent decrease from the first ten months of 2019. The median sale price of $442,500 is 10.6 percent higher than last year.
Additionally, there were 2,477 condo sales in October, a 16.9 percent increase from October 2019 when there were 2,119 transactions. Meanwhile, the median sale price increased 10.8 percent of a year-over-year basis to $410,000 – an all-time high for the month of October. Year-to-date, there have been 19,516 condo sales – a 4.9 percent decrease from the first ten months of 2019 – with a median sale price of $416,000, a 9.2 percent increase on the same basis.
“The condo market slightly trailed the trends in the single-family market in October,” Warren continued. “Condo sales and prices are showing healthy gains, but not quite the frenzied interest buyers are showing for single-family homes.”
In Melrose the 13 condos sold in October fetched a median price of $645,000, up from the median price of $424,000 the 11 condos sold in October of last year.
