Median price for a single-family home here hits $610k

Massachusetts buyers are scooping up homes and paying more for them  — a lot more.

The median sales price for a single-family home in Massachusetts hit $610,000 in April, a nearly 10% increase over April 2023, according to a report The Warren Group released Tuesday. The record high, $615,000, was set in June 2023.

“The number of single-family homes sold in Massachusetts increasing by such a large percent over the year prior is a positive sign for both buyers and sellers,” said Cassidy Norton, associate publisher and media relations director for the real estate analytics firm. “The market has been exceedingly tight in recent years as mortgage rates and building costs rose.”

The sales price increase for condos in the commonwealth was a little more modest: 3.4% to $532,500 — a record high.

Both of these jumps were records for the month of April, illustrating that the demand for housing won’t be dulled by high long-term mortgage rates, which stayed above 7 percent last month. In fact, the state saw the largest year-over-year increase in single-family home sales since 2021: 6.8%. The condo market was even hotter, with a 7.8% jump, according to the report.

“The condo market faces the same headwinds as the single-family market, and a rise in the number of sales is a welcome change,” Norton said.

Dukes and Nantucket counties led the way in year-over-year single-family home price increases (38.1% and 25%, respectively), but these figures are based on only a small number of sales in the state’s summer playgrounds  — 16 in total — which can change the home price analytics dramatically. Compare this with Middlesex County, which recorded 643 sales and a 16.1% leap in the median home price to $850,000.

In the condo market, Suffolk County (home to Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop), sales were up nearly 16% year over year, but the median sales price was down 2.8%. The Warren Group’s deep dive into the Boston neighborhoods finds a 44.4% increase in sales in Dorchester with a price jump of 15% to $615,000.

On Tuesday, the Greater Boston Association of Realtors hailed the rising number of sales in the region as “increasing evidence a rebirth in the Boston area housing market has begun.”

“It’s been slow going for the last of couple of years, but we’ve started to see signs of a modest market rebound in the early part of this year,” Jared Wilk, GBAR president and a broker with Compass in Wellesley, said in a report released Tuesday. “The softening in mortgage rates that occurred in the first two months of the year has helped to boost buyer optimism and spur activity, making it feel like a more normal spring market. On top of that, listings for single-family homes and condos are at their highest level in six months, which is providing buyers more choice and room for negotiation when entering the market.”

The association attributed the price increases to the shortage of listings and the ratcheting up of buyer demand.

“Even though inventory is at its highest level since last October, we still don’t have nearly the number of listings needed to meet buyer demand, and that’s allowed prices to remain at or near record highs,” Wilk said. “Inventory is especially tight in the single-family home market, where the supply of listings is about 25 percent less than that for condos, which is why prices for these properties have been appreciating more rapidly over the first four months of the year.”

Most listings sold for at or above the list price in Greater Boston, according to the GBAR.

“Homes that are priced right and well-maintained continue to attract multiple offers, bids above asking price, and even the waiver of some contingencies, which just adds to our already high housing costs,” Wilk said.

And sellers are eager to tap into that demand. “In today’s competitive market, sellers also are being more aggressive on their pricing, which is putting even more upward pressure on home prices,” he said.

According to The Warren Group, these were the median home prices in Greater Boston in April:

(The GBAR reported that the median home price for a single-family home hit $950,000 in April. The Warren Group total is lower because it encompasses all 139 towns located within Interstate 495.)

See the firm’s breakdowns by county and by city/town/Boston neighborhood.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported on Monday that the number of new listings in Massachusetts increased by 22.3% for single-family homes and 18.4% for condominiums year over year.

“April showed signs of increased market activity, but demand continues to outweigh supply for the Massachusetts housing market,” said Amy Wallick, president of MAR and a realtor at Lamacchia Realty. “Housing costs continue to compound these market conditions, as evidenced by the housing affordability index reaching its lowest point thus far this year. The market continues to favor sellers, with median home prices still on the rise, and we’re hopeful that this plus the summer season will encourage more sellers to enter the market.”