North Reading Home Sales Jump Up in November, Reading Sales Decrease

North Reading and Massachusetts as a whole saw a big year-over-year increase in home sales in November, which marked the largest year-over-year increase in 2012, according to the latest figures from The Warren Group, while Reading saw a decrease.

In North Reading, 20 single-family homes were sold, a 100 percent increase over the 10 sold in November 2011. In Reading, 16 single-family homes were sold, a 20 percent decrease over the 20 sold in November 2011. (Click through the photo gallery for homes sold in both towns in November taken from our Sold column, which runs every Thursday.)

Statewide home sales in November were up 38 percent from a year ago and The Warren Group that it was the best November for sales since 2005.

Year-to-date, 141 single-family homes have sold in North Reading, a 39.6 percent increase over the 101 sold during the same time period in 2011. 231 homes were sold in Reading this year, a 28.33 percent increase over 2011 when 180 homes were sold. Statewide sales are up 22 percent compared to 2011.

"We're winding down a pretty strong year of real estate in Massachusetts," The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in a press release. "It looks like sales will be the highest since 2006. We're also seeing median prices start to creep up, another positive sign of a healthy market recovery."

The median sale price of a single-family North Reading home actually dropped in November to $460,500, from $510,250 in November 2011. The median sale price of a single-family Reading home also dropped in November to $380,500, from $452,500 in November 2011, but the statewide median price rose almost 2 percent to $275,000 in November, up from $270,000 a year earlier.

The year-to-date median sale price in North Reading is down slightly to $390,000 from $395,000 in 2011. The year-to-date median sale price in Reading is up slightly to $422,450 from $400,000 in 2011, while the statewide median price is $288,000, down just a bit from $289,000 in the prior year. 

Meanwhile, The Warren Group said that both single-family homes and condominiums in the Bay State had the same median price in November: $275,000.

"The popularity of condominiums as an alternative to apartment living has increased their pricing more than single-family homes," Warren said in the press release. "Last month we saw the unusual statistic that they have exactly the same median price."

Condo Sales Up in Reading in November

North Reading condo sales stayed the same in November, with 4 sold in both 2011 and 2012. Reading condo sales increased 1000 percent with two sold in November of 2011 and 22 sold in November this year. Statewide sales rose up 33 percent.

Year-to-date, North Reading condo sales are down 10.53 percent, with 34 sold in 2012 compared to 38 sold in the same time period in 2011. Year-to-date, Reading condo sales are up 200 percent, with 93 sold in 2012 compared to 31 sold in the same time period in 2011. Statewide condo sales are up 27 percent year-to-date.

Meanwhile, the median sale price of a condo in North Reading fell year-over-year to $209,450, a 37.57 percent drop from November 2011's median sale price of $335,500. Reading's median sale price of a condo rose slightly year-over-year to $283,130, a 1.85 percent increase from November 2011's median sale price of $278,000. In contrast, the statewide median sale price jumped more than 7 percent to $275,000, up from $255,950 a year earlier. 

Information from a Warren Group press release was used in this report.