Tag: Boston condo sales

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S&P Case Shiller Composite: Prices Up 9.3%

Growth continues to cool

20-city index shows yearly price growth dropped to single digits in May

Teke WigginStaff Writer INMAN NEWS

Yearly growth in U.S. home prices continued to slow in May, but still remained well above average.

The S&P/Case Shiller 20-City Composite Index showed prices rising 9.3 percent year over year in May, down from 10.8 percent in April. Annual price gains slowed in May for all cities tracked by the index besides Charlotte and Tampa.

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic
Still, prices climbed 1.1 percent month over month in May, with all 20 cities posting monthly increases for the second straight month.

Tampa registered the highest monthly price gain (1.8 percent), followed by San Francisco (1.6 percent) and Chicago (1.5 percent). Phoenix and San Diego were the only cities to show monthly increases of less than 1 percent in May, with gains of 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

The picture changes when adjusting for seasonal factors.

After factoring in the spring’s typical influence on home prices, prices decreased 0.3 percent month over month in May, with only six out of 20 cities showing gains.

 

Home to seven of the top eight cities showing the most annual price growth, the Sun Belt continued to lead price gains.

Despite seeing their annual price growth decrease by 2 to 3 percentage points, Las Vegas (16.9 percent) and San Francisco (15.4 percent) still posted the largest annual price increases.

The other cities that showed double-digit annual gains were: Miami (13.2 percent), San Diego (12.4 percent), Los Angeles (12.3 percent), Detroit (11.9 percent), Atlanta (11.2 percent), Tampa (10.2 percent) and Portland (10 percent).

Expanding home inventory has helped cool home prices in recent months. Economists generally view the trend as favorable because it will keep prices from rising too quickly, which hurts affordability and reduces buyers’ options.

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Boston Values Rise Fastest Since 1987

Good Globe article.

Boston home values rise at fastest since 1987

By Chris Reidy

| GLOBE STAFF

Home values in Greater Boston rose 2.9 percent from March to April, the greatest monthly gain for the area since 1987, according to new S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices data issued Tuesday.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices tracks repeat home sales. Other surveys, such as those issued by the Warren Group and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, look at much wider segments of the market, and they often report data on a year-to-year comparison basis.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices looks at data for 20 metropolitan areas around the country, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

“Nineteen of the 20 cities saw lower annual gains in April than in March,” the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices said in its press release. “California (Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco) saw their returns worsen by approximately three percentage points. Boston was the only city to see its annual rate improve.”

Boston’s annual rate went from 8.3 percent in March to 9 percent in April, the release said.

In a statement, David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “Near term economic factors favor further gains in housing: mortgage rates are lower than a year ago, the Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady until mid-2015, and the labor market is improving. However, housing is not back to normal: prices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories, and declining foreclosure and REO (real estate owned) sales. First time home buyers are not back in force, and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging. The question is whether housing will bounce back before the Fed begins to tighten sometime next year.”

Chris Reidy can be reached at [email protected].

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Middle Market Towns Back

 

Interesting Boston.com post by Scott.

Middle Market Towns Hot

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis June 2, 2014

The spring market has been particularly choppy this year. Sales have stalled amid a shortage of listings that has left many buyers fuming. The up today, down tomorrow economy hasn’t help things much either.

And it has been an increasingly uneven real estate market as well. A few towns and neighborhoods are super hot, with double digit increases in sales and prices. By contrast, many other communities are seeing a falloff in either sales or prices, and, in some cases, both.

Not hot right now are a growing number of the more affluent suburbs, such as Hingham and Carlisle, which have seen both prices and sales fall off this spring.

Ditto for low income cities and urban neighborhoods, which, after starting to rebound after hitting bottom during the Great Recession, are starting to see prices deflate again.

But the middle market towns out there right now are the hot ones, posting big increases in both sales and prices this spring, according to April numbers recently posted by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Towns seeing the biggest jumps in sales and prices this spring include:

Danvers: Median price rose 18 percent, to $377,500, while sales rose by more than 18 percent;
Dedham: Median price surged to nearly $400,000 – a 20 percent increase – while sales jumped 13 percent;
Barnstable: Median price jumped more than 35 percent, to $469,950, while sales soared nearly 41 percent;
Beverly: Sales up 42 percent while prices increased nearly 12 percent to $369,959;
Milford: Sales rose by more than 41 percent while the median price hit $270,000, an increase of more than 17 percent.
Norwood: Sales increased by more than 46 percent while the median price rose more than 9 percent, to $377,450
Wakefield: Median price jumped to nearly $420,000, or a 13 percent increase, while sales rose by nearly 10 percent;
Waltham: Median price hit $441,000, an increase of 11 percent, while sales jumped more than 17 percent.

 

 

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10 Most “Out Of Touch” Housing Markets

On the face of it this headline is dramatic, but all it refers to is the conforming loan limits throughout the U.S and their relationship to local market conditions. A very interesting perspective from Housing Wire and Trulia.

Trulia: 10 most out-of-touch housing markets

The vast divide in conforming loan limits and reality

April 28

As the whispers of housing reform start to grow into greater fruition, the topic of conforming loan limits is brought up as well.

In his latest blog, Jed Kolko, chief economist with Trulia, noted that the current system of conforming loan limits falls far short of reflecting the actual differences in local home prices and ends up favoring borrowers in lower-cost markets.

“The housing finance system – as well as other national housing policies – needs to serve a country where local home prices in some markets are 10 times as high as in others, and where local and state laws affect how much new construction is allowed, how long foreclosures take, and more,” Kolko said.

In the current system, the conforming system sits at $417,000. However, in 2008, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act granted “high cost area” higher conforming loans limits to reflect local price differences.

But as housing regulators markup the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform bill on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, Kolko pointed just how the conforming loan limits fall short.

Using Trulia’s database of homes for sale, Kolko listed the top 10 housing markets with the highest share of for-sale homes above the local loan limit, showing just how out of touch conforming loan limits are.  

10. Boston, Mass.

Currently,  $470,350 is the conforming loan limit, while 30% of homes for sale are above the local loan limit.

Massachusetts

9. Oakland, Calif.

Right now 30% of homes for sale are above the local loan limit, with the conforming loan limit sitting at $625,500.

8. New York, N.Y.

The conforming loan limit sits at $625,500 for New York, with 30% of homes for sale above the local loan limit.

NYC

7. Middlesex County, Mass.

The city’s conforming loan limit weighs in at $470,350, with 33% of homes for sale above the local loan limit.

6. San Diego, Calif.

So far, the city’s conforming loan limit is  $546,250, with 33% of the homes for sale above the local loan limit.

5. Ventura County, Calif.

The conforming loan limited is $598,000, with 34% of the homes for sale above the local loan limit.

4. Orange County, Calif.

Orange County has a conforming loan limit of $625,500, with 38% of the homes for sale above the local loan limit.

3. Fairfield County, Calif.  

In Fairfield County, the conforming loan limit is $601,450, and 39% of homes for sale are above the local loan limit.

2. San Jose, Calif.

This city posted a $625,500 conforming loan limit, with 43% of the homes for sale above the local loan limit.

Bridge

1. San Francisco, Calif.

San Francisco posted that its conforming loan limit sits at $625,500. With a whopping 61% of the homes for sale above the local loan limit, it is the nation’s most out-of-touch housing market.

 

Brena Swanson joined the HousingWire news team in February 2013. Prior to serving HW in the role as Reporter and Content Specialist, Brena attended Evangel University in Springfield, MO.
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Will Success Ruin Boston?

Another interesting post by Scott.

Will success ruin Greater Boston?

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis

Boston is one of those hot cities increasingly favored by the global business elite.

It’s easy to gaze at all the posh new apartment and condo towers on the city’s skyline and wonder who can afford to live there, but the wealthy buyers just keep on coming, whether from the suburbs or from any number of distant lands.

We’ve got the best colleges and universities, one of the biggest concentrations of bio-tech and life science companies and talent in the world, and a thriving tech sector.

But success can come sometimes with a hefty price-tag, and rising real estate prices tops the list.

Writes Bynxers, a regular contributor to the comment board of this blog:

Eventually- the city will drown in its own success. Is it the natural evolution of a successful city? That only the wealthy can afford to reside there, and to “promote equality” affordable housing is put in place for those needing government subsidy, while no help or policy is put in place to assist the working class, middle class or even upper-middle class??

Right on, Bynxers. Too much success, unless treated properly, can prove to be a fatal disease.

The tendency is to keep on keeping on, despite diminishing and increasingly toxic returns.

Here’s more:

Hop in a plane and ride east for several hours to Europe or West to San Francisco. And behold, there you will see the future of Boston…..

Eventually- the city will drown in its own success. Is it the natural evolution of a successful city? That only the wealthy can afford to reside there, and to “promote equality” affordable housing is put in place for those needing government subsidy, while no help or policy is put in place to assist the working class, middle class or even upper-middle class??

Those original property owners are long gone: residents of Southie sold their triple deckers and now live on the South Shore…. Other neighborhoods have similar outcomes. Is this natural??? Is this the price of success???

I argue, in part, yes…. With a MAJOR “but” at the end….. Housing prices have been pushed up by artificial scarcity for years (atleast 20 or so). Not just in Boston- but eastern mass as a whole. Large lot requirements for single families, height restrictions and density restrictions…. its simple supply and demand. Now the city and state are just trying to catch up, but its too little too late.

There is no vindication at the end of this, no “gotcha” moment, no fairness, really. The middle class will have a choice: pay up or leave. There’s a constant new influx of young grads to fill the void for a while though and it will be a revolving door. Those born and raised here will likely stick it out. However, many will pack up and leave. The fate of the city and region at this point is more or less cast in stone, I’d assert.

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Q1 Goode and Farmer Report Boston

 

The national real estate pundits are talking about the lack of available inventory and declining sales numbers. These first quarter results for downtown Boston condominium sales tell a different story. The average sales price for condos in downtown Boston neighborhoods increased 21%. Sale were up by 12%. Total sale volume was up by 35%.

The South End and Back Bay neighborhoods reflect the more  standard state of the real estate industry here in eastern MA. Prices are up because of buyer demand, but sales are down and volume is flat – the effect of the critically depressed inventory of available condos for sale.

 

Boston chart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Boston is  standout neighborhood! Average sales price up 20%.  Sales up 41%. Volume up 71%…and interestingly enough the only neighborhood with an increase in days on market, a result of additional inventory.

The all important spring market will be very important in determining the state of the real estate market in Boston.

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Condos Sizzle

Interesting post by Scott.

Condos party like it’s 1989

 

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis

Condos haven’t sizzled like this since the crazy condo boom of the 1980s.

OK, I took a little liberty with the headline. After all, by 1989 the great 80s condo boom had already started to go bust, but you get the point.

Condo prices are on a tear, rising 18.4 percent during the first two months of 2014 compared to last year, reports The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Even stranger still, condo prices have almost caught up with home values, which they traditionally lag by a considerable margin.

The median sale price for a condo in Massachusetts this February topped $281,000, just $4,000 below the median home price of $285,500, Warren Group numbers show.

So what’s going on here?

Well, for starters, the relentless decline in listings of homes for sale is doing more than just driving up Boston-area prices.

It also appears to be pushing some buyers into the condo market in search of affordable alternatives.

Of course, as more buyers switch to condos, that’s now having the unfortunate effect of driving up condo prices as well,

But we are also likely seeing the impact of empty-nesters moving into the condo market as well.

Remember all those Baby Boomers who wanted to downsize a few years ago, but couldn’t sell their homes? Well now they are finally making their move.

However, instead of buying another home, they are going condo

And, of course, let’s not forget all those luxury condos that are selling like hotcakes in downtown Boston – and skewing the median price upward.

“The 18.4 percent increase in condo median prices so far this year is an indicator that condominiums are increasingly popular and we have a strong mix of luxury condos in the sales totals,” said Tim Warren, chief executive of The Warren Group, in a statement.

“Empty-nesters are ready for a change in lifestyle and have the net worth to take the plunge,” he said.

 

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Cold Weather Hot Prices

Succinct post by Scott!

 Cold weather, hot prices

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis  January 24, 2014 10:26 AM

Hard to believe with the arctic temps, but the spring real estate market is just around the corner.

And if the latest price and sales numbers are any indicator, this spring is likely to see another big jump in prices, driven in large part by the long-standing shortage of listings.

Just take a look at what happened in December, usually the dead zone of the annual real estate cycle.

Instead, home prices in the Boston area jumped 3.6 percent in December from November to a median price of more than $372,000. That’s also a more than 8 percent rise as well from December, 2012, Redfin reports.

But here’s the key stat: The inventory of unsold homes dropped nearly 20 percent from November to December, a very big one-month plunge, according to Redfin.

Overall, the number of home for sale in December was down more than 30 percent compared to December 2012.

 

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S&P/Case-Shiller: Greater Boston Values Up 10%

Good article by Chris Reidy below. November S&P/Case-Shiller numbers certainly forecast year end figures we have been reporting of Boston neighborhood sales prices up an average of 8% in 2013. The most important result of this good news is in the last paragraph which does follow what we are hearing and experiencing in the field. Sales are moderating and even declining in some neighborhoods while prices do continue to rise.

S&P/Case-Shiller: Greater Boston home values up nearly 10 percent

By Chris Reidy / Globe Staff / January 28, 2014

Home values in Greater Boston rose 9.8 percent in November on a year-to-year comparison basis, according to a report on the US housing market issued Tuesday by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The widely watched indices tracks repeat home sales around the United States.

The Boston area’s annual rate of 9.8 percent for November represented an improvement of 1.2 percentage points from the previous month. In the 20-city universe that the indices track, Boston was one of nine cities where values accelerated on an annual basis.

From October to November, home values in Greater Boston rose 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices added.

The November report included a statement from David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, commenting on the latest US results.

“Beginning June 2012, we saw a steady rise in year-over-year increases,” Blitzer said. “November continued that trend with another strong month although the rate of increase slowed.”

The Warren Group and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors are expected to issue separate reports on the state’s housing markets later this week. Those reports will focus on Massachusetts home sales in December.

In reporting on November sales, Warren Group chief executive Timothy M. Warren Jr. stated: “This has been a banner year in local real estate, but one with a focus on rising prices. The sales volume growth has been more restrained and now we see a modest decline. We’re seeing the same thing in Massachusetts that the rest of the country is experiencing: a slight slowdown in home sales, driven by increasing interest rates and tight supply.”

Chris Reidy can be reached at [email protected].

© Copyright 2014 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Goode & Farmer Report – Boston Year End 2013

 Goode & Farmer Report – Boston Year End 2013

January 15, 2014

The challenge remains lack of inventory.

The Big Numbers are 6, 8 and 44! Combined, all Boston neighborhoods saw a 6% increase in the number of condos sold in 2013 to 4,605 from 4,361 sales in 2012. The average sales price of condominiums increased 8% to $608K from $563K in 2012. Average days on market dropped 44% to an average of only 46 days from an already historic low last year of 82. This real estate market is healthy except for the continuing decrease in inventory levels. There are only 374 condominiums for sale in downtown Boston, a slight increase from the 347 last year at this time, but still a very low number.

The Back Bay, saw a 4% increase in the average sales price of a condominium to $1.228 from $1.18M. Total sales of condos were down 12% to 474 from 537 in 2012 with the average days on market down a remarkable 44% to only 59. There are only 58 condos available for sale in the Back Bay today.

The South End saw a 7% increase in the number of condo sales to 578 from 540 condos sold last year. The average price of a condo sold increased 14% to $802K compared with $704K last year. Total sales volume was up 22% to $463M. Interestingly there are only 28 condos for sale today.

South Boston saw an 8% increase in the number of condos sold to 630 from 585 in 2012. The average sales price of a condo increased by 10% to $467K compared with $423K in 2012. South Boston had the largest drop in average days on market to only 32. There are only 54 condos on the market today.

It is so evident that inventory remains the problem in all of the downtown Boston markets, but as I have said repeatedly this market is so resilient and so desirable that declining inventory levels have not  affected the steady increase in prices in most neighborhoods. Although in some neighborhoods like Beacon Hill sales have decreased 25% to 140 from 186 last year – due to the total lack of inventory available for sale. There are a total of only 6 condos for sale on The Hill. Time will tell if this dynamic continues. The addition of Ink Block and numerous other condominium projects just may signal an end to the seemingly endless lack of inventory.

 

Boston chart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this clean and simple year end analysis of some favorite and important Boston neighborhoods has been interesting.