MA Home Sales Hit 2011 Low With Slow Start To Spring: Report

MASSACHUSETTS — The spring home-buying season in Massachusetts is starting off slow, with a new report finding that sales are at a low not seen since the aftermath of the 2008 recession and housing collapse.

The Warren Group's monthly report on home sales in the Bay State released Wednesday showed double-digit declines in single-family and condo sales year-to-date compared to the same period in 2022. A combination of low inventory and economic factors have combined to make buying a home more difficult this spring, Warren Group CEO Tim Warren said.

"A lack of inventory across Massachusetts continues to be the biggest factor in the declining sales volume. But when paired with rising interest rates and uncertainties about the economy, we can expect to see similar trends as the spring housing market starts to heat up," Warren said in the firm's monthly report.

There were 2,756 single-family home sales in March compared to 3,600 in March 2022. Year-to-date sales hit 7,200 in March compared to 9,728 over the same period in 2022, according to the report. Condominium sales were also down at similar levels.

The single-family figures were the lowest for any March dating back to 2011, Warren said.

Every county in Massachusetts saw declines in March compared to the same month in 2022 except one. Dukes County covering Martha's Vineyard had 19 home sales in March compared to 18 in 2022.

But the poor sales volume hasn't slowed home prices in Massachusetts, even with 30-year mortgage rates near 7 percent as of Friday. The median statewide price was $540,000 in March, about $25,000 higher than in March 2022.

Some communities in the state did see higher home sales in March, but largely due to a few sales in towns that typically don't see much turnover. Ashby, for example, saw a 200% increase in sales in March: three homes were sold compared to one in March 2022.

• Abington 27.3%
• Adams 33%
• Asburnham 80%
• Ashby 200%
• Athol 15.4%
• Ayer 200%
• Boxborough 200%
• Braintree 85.7%
• Brewster 33.3%
• Bridgewater 41.7%
• Brimfield 100%
• Brookfield 100%
• Brookline 50%
• Canton 9.1%
• Carlisle 50%
• Centerville 22.2%
• Charlton 60%
• Concord 15.4%
• Conway 200%
• Eastham 11.1%
• Edgartown 80%
• Granville 100%
• Greenfield 125%
• Hadley 100%
• Hamilton 66.7%
• Hampden 50%
• Hanson 100%
• Haverhill 4%
• Hyde Park 10%
• Ipswich 42.9%
• Jamaica Plain 100%
• Lakeville 71.4%
• Lee 75%
• Leicester 100%
• Lenox 20%
• Lexington 12.5%
• Lincoln 100%
• Lunenberg 37.5%
• Marblehead 7.7%
• Marshfield 11.1%
• Marstons Mills 25%
• Mendon 50%
• Milford 27.3%
• Millbury 77.7%
• Millville 200%
• Monson 11.1%
• Montague 66.7%
• New Bedford 4.3%
• New Marlborough 100%
• Newburyport 16.7%
• Norfolk 66.7%
• North Attleboro 11.1%
• Northbridge 266.7%
• Oxford 175%
• Palmer 9.1%
• Pittsfield 3.7%
• Plympton 50%
• Quincy 47.8%
• Randolph 12.5%
• Rehoboth 33.3%
• Revere 22.2%
• Rockland 300%
• Roslindale 40%
• Rowley 40%
• Scituate 7.7%
• Sheffield 100%
• Somerset 42.9%
• South Hadley 37.5%
• Spencer 66.7%
• Sterling 100%
• Stoneham 16.7%
• Swampscott 80%
• Topsfield 25%
• Uxbridge 25%
• Warren 100%
• West Bridgewater 100%
• West Brookfield 50%
• West Roxbury 10%
• West Tisbury 100%
• Westford 62.5%
• Westwood 33.3%
• Williamstown 33.3%
• Winchendon 14.3%
• Winthrop 100%

Read the full Warren Group report on March home sales in Massachusetts here.