Stoneham and Massachusetts Homes Sales Jump in October

Homes sales in Stoneham were nearly 30 percent higher in October than compared to a year ago as statewide home sales increased year over year, according to the latest figures from The Warren Group.

In October, 18 single-family homes were sold in Stoneham compared to 14 in October 2011, more than a 28 percent year over year increase. Statewide homes sales in October were up 22 percent compared to a year ago. (Click through the photo gallery on the right to see some of the Stoneham homes sold in October, taken from Stoneham Patch's weekly Sold! column.)

Year-to-date, 159 single-family homes have sold in Stoneham, a 37 percent increase over the 116 sold during the first 10 months of last year. Year-to-date sales in Massachusetts are up almost 22 percent.

"Home sales for the first 10 months of the year have already surpassed sales in all of 2011," The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in a press release. "Record low mortgage rates, an improved economy and growing consumer confidence are boosting the housing market in Massachusetts and around the country."

The median sale price for Stoneham single-family homes in October was $317,450, down 10 percent from the median sale price of $356,000 in October 2011. The statewide median price of single-family homes remained unchanged at $270,000 in October, which The Warren Group said in the press release is the lowest monthly median price since March, when prices were $263,000.

The year-to-date median sale price for Stoneham single-family homes was $375,000, a 5.5 percent increase over the $355,500 median sale price through the first 10 months of last year. The statewide median price for homes sold January through October was $287,500, down almost 1 percent from $290,000 in the prior year.

Condominium sales continued to increase in Stoneham, too. Ten condos were sold in October compared to seven in October 2011.  Statewide in October, condominium sales statewide rose 48.8 percent, increasing to 1,607 from 1,080 a year ago.

So far this year, 79 condos have sold in Stoneham compared to 48 in the first 10 months of last year, an increase of 64.8 percent. Year-to-date statewide condo sales are up 29 percent to 16,239 from 12,559 during the same period last year.

The median sale price for Stoneham condos also increased, to $275,000 compared to $198,000 in October 2011, a 38.9 percent increase. The statewide median condo price inched up to $255,000 in October, a 0.79 percent increase from $253,000 a year earlier.

Year-to-date, the median sale price for Stoneham condos was $212,500, an 8.1 percent increase over the $196,500 median sale price in the first 10 months of last year. The year-to-date median price of condos in the Bay State is $275,000, up 0.73 percent from $273,000 a year ago.

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